Aerial view of the Alatna River as it winds through a valley NPS Photo / Sean Tevebaugh
Overview
This vast landscape does not contain any roads or trails. Visitors discover intact ecosystems where people have lived with the land for over ten thousand years. Wild rivers meander through glacier-carved valleys, caribou migrate along age-old trails, endless summer light fades into aurora-lit night skies of winter. Virtually unchanged, except by the forces of nature.
Traveling through the park on foot affords opportunities of exploration and discovery. Mountain ridges and passes reveal splendid vistas and can take you to the most remote and least traveled areas of the entire National Parks system.
From wide glacial valleys to sweeping vistas in the headwaters, to rolling tundra, the wild rivers of Gates of the Arctic can take you on an adventure you’ll never forget. Rivers have been byways for wildlife and humans for centuries. They are the veins and arteries through the heart of the Gates of the Arctic wilderness.
Aerial view of the Alatna River as it winds through a valleyAlpenglow on the granite cliffs of mountainsA hiker crosses a stream with mountains in the backgroundHandful of blueberriesTwo hikers climb up a mountain pass
