White Mountains National Recreation Area

The White Mountains National Recreation Area is a vast protected landscape in Alaska's northern wilderness featuring mountains, rivers, and valleys. The terrain includes dense forests, alpine regions, and multiple waterways that offer visitors different ways to experience the remote backcountry.

Indigenous peoples have inhabited this region for thousands of years, adapting to the harsh climate and using the land's resources for survival. The formal designation as a recreation area came much later to protect this ancestral homeland.

Indigenous peoples maintain connections to the land through seasonal activities, including hunting and gathering of traditional resources.

The area offers more than 400 kilometers of marked trails used mainly in winter, plus public cabins that require advance booking. Visitors should prepare for extremely cold temperatures and isolated conditions since the terrain is remote and difficult to access.

In winter, regular path markers are replaced by wooden tripod structures that remain visible above the snow and guide hikers safely. This traditional marking method has proven effective for maintaining direction across the snow-covered landscape.