Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is a national park in the United States that protects parts of the Central Brooks Range in northern Alaska. It is the northernmost national park in the United States, located entirely north of the Arctic Circle. The total area of the park and preserve is the second largest in the U.S., covering 8,472,506 acres (13,238 square miles; 34,287 square kilometers). The national park portion alone, which covers 7,523,897 acres (30,448.1 square kilometers), is the second largest in the U.S., following the national park portion of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
Gates of the Arctic was first created as a national monument on December 1, 1978. It later became a national park and preserve in 1980 when the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was passed. About 85% of the combined park and preserve area is protected as the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness, which spans 7,167,192 acres (2,900,460 hectares). This wilderness area is next to the Noatak Wilderness. Together, these two areas form the largest connected wilderness in the United States.
Geography
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is located west of the Dalton Highway, centered on the Brooks Range. It covers the north and south slopes of the mountains and includes the Endicott Mountains and part of the Schwatka Mountains.
The park’s eastern boundary is generally a few miles away from the Dalton Highway, while the westernmost part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is about 10 miles (16 km) farther east. Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge is near the park’s southeast boundary. Noatak National Preserve borders the western side of the park, and the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska borders the northwest corner. Most of the park is set aside as wilderness, except for areas around Anaktuvuk Pass, which is an Iñupiat settlement in the middle of the park. A small part of the park surrounds Fortress Mountain and Castle Mountain to the north.
The Brooks Range has many mountain lakes, some formed in rock basins shaped by glaciers or blocked by glacial deposits. Walker Lake, located on the south slope of the Brooks Range, is the largest lake in the park, measuring 14 miles long and 1 mile wide.
The park includes six Wild and Scenic Rivers:
– Alatna River (83 miles or 134 km)
– John River (52 miles or 84 km)
– Kobuk River (110 miles or 177 km)
– North Fork of the Koyukuk River (102 miles or 164 km)
– Part of the Noatak River
– Tinayguk River (44 miles or 71 km)
Most of Gates of the Arctic is designated as national park, where only subsistence hunting by local rural residents is allowed. Sport hunting is permitted only in the national preserve, where hunters must have all required licenses, permits, and follow state rules.
Ten small communities outside the park’s boundaries are classified as "resident zone communities." These communities rely on park resources for food and livelihood. They are Alatna, Allakaket, Ambler, Anaktuvuk Pass, Bettles, Evansville, Hughes, Kobuk, Nuiqsut, Shungnak, and Wiseman. About 259,000 acres (105,000 ha) of the park and preserve are owned by native corporations or the State of Alaska. The Gates of the Arctic Wilderness, which covers 7,263,000 acres (2,939,000 ha), is the third-largest wilderness area in the United States. This area has no roads, trails, visitor facilities, or campgrounds, though some informal ATV trails exist near Anaktuvuk Pass. The Dalton Highway (Alaska State Highway 11) is within five miles (8 km) of the park’s eastern boundary but requires crossing a river to reach the park.
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve has a Subarctic with Cool Summers and Year-Round Rainfall Climate (Dfc). The plant hardiness zone at Anaktuvuk Pass Ranger Station is 2b, with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of −42.6 °F (−41.4 °C). Perennial snowfields and glaciers, which are important to ecosystems in the park, are shrinking quickly due to rising temperatures. Between 1985 and 2017, the size of these snowfields decreased by 13 km². Rising temperatures have also caused permafrost to thaw, affecting soil stability. As permafrost thaws, exposed soil is more likely to erode and cause slope failures.
Geology
The park covers much of the central and eastern Brooks Range. It reaches east to the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River, which is next to the Dalton Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The park crosses the continental divide, separating areas where water flows into the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The northern part of the park includes small areas of Arctic foothills tundra. The Brooks Range is in the center of the park, stretching from east to west. To the south of the Brooks Range, the Ambler-Chandalar Ridge also runs from east to west. Between the mountains are many remote valleys shaped by glaciers, with alpine lakes scattered throughout.
The southern part of the park includes the Kobuk-Selawik Lowlands, where the Kobuk River begins. The Brooks Range has experienced repeated glacier activity, with the most recent event called the Itkillik glaciation, which occurred from about 24,000 years ago until around 1500 to 1200 years ago.
Ecology
The boreal forest is found near 68 degrees north latitude. It has black and white spruce trees mixed with poplar trees. North of this line, which is part of the Brooks Range, lies the tundra. The tundra has mosses and lichens, along with small shrubs like willows. During long winters, temperatures can drop to −75 °F (−59 °C), but in summer, they can rise to 90 °F (32 °C). The park is located above the Arctic Circle.
Wildlife in the area includes brown bears, black bears, muskoxen, moose, Dall sheep, Interior Alaskan wolves, wolverines, coyotes, lynxes, Arctic ground squirrels, lemmings, voles, marmots, porcupines, river otters, red and Arctic foxes, beavers, wood frogs, snowshoe hares, collared pikas, muskrats, Arctic terns, bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, ospreys, great horned owls, and northern hawk-owls. Rivers in the area have fish such as grayling, Arctic char, and chum salmon. Birds of prey, like eagles, often fly overhead searching for prey.
Over 500,000 caribou, including the Central Arctic, Western Arctic, Teshekpuk, and Porcupine herds, travel through the central Brooks Range twice a year. They move north in summer and south in winter. Caribou are an important food source for native peoples. However, shrinking snowfields in the park may reduce the number of caribou. The park is the northernmost place where Dall sheep live. About 132 brown bears live in the park, with one bear for every 100 square miles (260 km²).
History
Nomadic peoples have lived in the Brooks Range for up to 12,500 years, relying mainly on caribou and other animals for food. The Mesa site at Iteriak Creek shows signs of people living there between 11,500 and 10,300 years ago. Later, sites from about 6,000 years ago have uncovered tools such as spear tips, stone knives, and net sinkers. A tool-making tradition called the Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt), which began about 4,500 years ago, has also been found. A later stage of this tradition, known as the Ipuitak phase, existed between 2,500 and 950 years ago and was discovered at the Bateman Site near Itkillik Lake.
The earliest Iñupiat people arrived at the coast around 1200 AD and later moved to the Brooks Range, where they became the Nunamiut, meaning "people of the land." In the early 1900s, caribou numbers dropped, so the Iñupiat moved to the coast. They returned to the Brooks Range in the late 1930s and began hunting caribou again. In 1949, two groups of Iñupiat joined in the Anaktuvuk River valley and formed the community of Anaktuvuk Pass over the next decade. The Gwich'in people, a group from the Northern Athabaskan culture, lived in the area for the last 1,000 years. At times, the Iñupiat and Gwich'in had conflicts, which led to a major battle in the mid-1800s. After this, the Gwich'in moved south of the Brooks Range.
The Alaskan interior was not well recorded until the late 1800s, just before gold was found in the Klondike. This discovery brought many explorers to Alaska. Some camps and survey teams were found in the park. A few small mining operations started in the early 1900s but were not large.
The park’s name comes from 1929, when wilderness activist Bob Marshall explored the North Fork of the Koyukuk River and saw two mountains, Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain, on either side of the river. He named the area the "Gates of the Arctic." Marshall later wrote about the region in his 1933 book, Arctic Village. He also helped create the Wilderness Society to protect natural areas. In the 1940s, writer Olaus Murie also suggested preserving Alaskan lands.
Plans to create a national park in the Brooks Range began in the 1960s. In 1968, a National Park Service team recommended a 4.1 million-acre park. That same year, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall asked President Lyndon B. Johnson to use the Antiquities Act to protect the Brooks Range, but Johnson refused. In the 1970s, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) led to discussions about federal land use. Bills to protect land were debated, but the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) was delayed in Congress. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter used the Antiquities Act to create the Gates of the Arctic National Monument. In 1980, Congress passed ANILCA, and the monument became Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.
A proposed road called the Ambler Road would cross 26 miles of the southern part of the national preserve to reach a copper mine.
Activities
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is a protected area with no roads or official trails. Visitors must travel by bush plane or hike in, usually starting from the Dalton Highway, which is five miles east of the park. Activities allowed include hiking, pack-rafting, and sightseeing tours. Hunting is only permitted by Nunamiut Corporation shareholders. Camping is allowed throughout the park, but may be limited when crossing lands owned by Native Corporations.
The Arrigetch Peaks and Mount Igikpak are among the most visited mountains in the park for hikers.
Because of its remote location and few facilities, the park is the least visited national park in the United States. In 2021, the park had 7,362 recreation visitors, while Grand Canyon National Park had about 4.5 million visitors in the same year, which is over 600 times more.
The park headquarters is in Fairbanks. The Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in nearby Coldfoot is open from late May to early September. It provides information about parks, preserves, and refuges in the Brooks Range, Yukon Valley, and North Slope. Park Service operations are managed from the Bettles Ranger Station, which is south of the park, and from a ranger station inside the park at Anaktuvuk Pass.
The Simon Paneak Memorial Museum in Anaktuvuk Pass is located in the center of the park (even though it is not on park land). It has exhibits about the natural environment of the Brooks Range and the tools and traditions of the Nunamiut people.