Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska

"The trail I dream of walking? Any caribou trail in Gates of the Arctic National Park or Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can hear their clicking ankles on the tundra, and I imagine walking behind them in silence in that vast expanse of wilderness". —Terry Tempest Williams

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, one of the finest wilderness areas in the world, straddles the Arctic Divide in the Brooks Range. It is the northernmost National Park, lying entirely north of the Arctic Circle, as well as the second largest - 8,472,506 acres (3,428,702 ha), slightly larger in area than Belgium. It extends from the southern foothills of the Brooks Range, across the range's ragged peaks and down onto the North Slope.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve lies to the west of the Dalton Highway, centered on the Brooks Range and covering the north and south slopes of the mountains. The park includes the Endicott Mountains and part of the Schwatka Mountains. The majority of Gates of the Arctic is designated as national park, in which only subsistence hunting by local rural residents is permitted. With the exception of the Dalton Highway, the park is far from any roads and is home to only one village, Anaktuvuk Pass. Eight more Native villages dot the perimeter but all have less than 400 permanent residents.

The park's name dates to 1929, when wilderness activist Bob Marshall, exploring the North Fork of the Koyukuk River, encountered a pair of mountains (Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain), one on each side of the river. He christened this portal the "Gates of the Arctic." Marshall spent time in Wiseman during the early 1930s, publishing an account of the place in his 1933 book Arctic Village. In the 1940s writer and researcher Olaus Murie proposed that Alaskan lands be preserved.

The majority of the park is located within the Brooks Range Mountains. Arete-topped mountains and glacier-carved valleys are the predominate landscape. The park contains mountains such as the Arrigetch Peaks and Mount Igikpak. The park also features six Wild and Scenic Rivers:

• Alatna River 83 miles (134 km)
• John River 52 miles (84 km)
• Kobuk River 110 miles (177 km)
• the North Fork of the Koyukuk River 102 miles (164 km)
• part of the Noatak River
• Tinayguk River 44 miles (71 km)

Most of the park is a maze of glaciated valleys and gaunt, rugged mountains covered with boreal forest or treeless slopes. There is little in the way of vegetation as most of the land is Arctic tundra. Mosses and grasses survive and bloom in the summer months. There are almost no trees in the park.

Fauna include moose, barren-ground grizzlies, Dall sheep, black bears, wolves, and caribou. Caribou are common in the park, and one of Alaska's best known populations, the Porcupine herd, may spend some time in the park. Caribou are important as a food source to native peoples. Brown bears are also present in the park and preserve. There are about 132 brown bears in the park and preserve, based on a density of about one bear per 100 square miles.

Birders can find a wide variety of birds common to Alaska within the park, such as ptarmigan, grouse, loons, and raptors. A total of 145 species of birds have been observed in the Park and Preserve over the past 30 years.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is a vast and essentially untouched wilderness park – with no roads, no trails, and no established campsites. The park has no set routes in place and visitors may wander at will across 8.4 million acres of superlative natural beauty. This is a place for discovery and exploration. Access is only by bush plane and hiking in – requiring careful planning and a taste for two-week camping in remote wilderness. The remoteness of the park attracts mostly experienced backcountry travelers for float trips, backpacking treks or base camps set up to enjoy day hiking and fishing. This park is one of the last truly wild places left in the US.