Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, National park and preserve in Alaska, United States
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve covers the central Brooks Range in northern Alaska, including the Endicott Mountains and part of the Schwatka Mountains. Its layered grey and brown ridges rise to sharp peaks above green valley slopes, with scree on the upper flanks and a narrow stream draining the central valley. Six Wild and Scenic Rivers run through it, among them the 110-mile Kobuk and the 102-mile North Fork of the Koyukuk.
Explorer Robert Marshall traveled through the region in the 1920s and gave it its name after seeing two peaks, Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain. Congress created the preserve in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
The Inupiat and Athabaskan peoples have lived alongside this wilderness for thousands of years, following caribou migration routes through the valleys. Their traces and camp sites remain visible today in remote valleys where hunters once tracked the herds.
Access is by small plane from Fairbanks to communities like Bettles, as no roads reach the area. Hiking and paddling trips are off-trail only, so experience with navigation and self-sufficiency is required.
The two peaks Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain form a natural gateway through which the North Fork Koyukuk River flows. This narrow valley separates the central Brooks Range from the eastern foothills and has served as a passage for animals and people for centuries.
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