Kobuk Valley National Park is about as far away from anything as you can possibly get. Set in the northwestern tundra of Alaska’s Arctic Circle, this 1.7 million acre park is indeed, the definition of the “middle of nowhere”.
Guide to Kobuk Valley
Kobuk Valley National Park
The least visited of all national parks with just over 15,000 recorded visitors in 2016, it should be understood from the outset, this park is for the hardcore. There are no services here, none. No visitor centers, no restrooms, no lodges, no roads, no campgrounds… nothing… This is truly isolated wilderness.
Visiting this park requires a flight into one of the small villages that lie nestled on the banks of the Kobuk River, which originates in the mountains of Gates of the Arctic National Park and flows westerly, peacefully meandering nearly 60 miles through the placid Kobuk Valley, from which the park takes its name.
Bordered by the Baird Mountains of the western Brooks Range to the north and the shorter Waring Mountains to the south, Kobuk Valley is home to hundreds of thousands of caribou. This large mammal’s migration route makes necessary that it cross the Kobuk River twice annually, providing lucky photographers with stunning images of swimming herds, antlers held high above water, framed against the backdrop of snow capped mountains set far in the distance.
This same migratory journey provides local native Inupiaq hunters the opportunity to take game that will sustain their communities during the harsh winter that lies ahead. Alaska’s dark months are unforgiving and a bounty of preserved caribou meat is an absolute necessity.
The most common activity for visitors to Kobuk Valley is a 65-mile float trip down the Kobuk River, beginning east of the park in Ambler and ending west of the park in Kiana. Many accentuate time on the water, with backcountry hikes into the park’s rarely visited forests of birch and spruce that lie bordered by untold miles of tundra and the massive 200-foot-high Great Kubuk Sand Dunes, which cover more than 25 square miles and seem oddly out-of-place here in the Arctic. Summer temperatures in the dune fields can top 100 degrees, so bring water and sunscreen.
The floating season on the Kobuk is short, with ice sometimes not melting out until June and fall freezes arriving in September some years. Mid June through early July sees 24-hour daylight in this northern park, while August welcomes the migratory passing of the caribou and usually provides a slightly more enjoyable environment thanks to the lessened numbers of mosquitoes.
The park is today home to Inupiaq natives who still live and hunt in this northern wilderness oasis. A float down the Kobuk will pass by several private camps and Inupiaq villages, these being the only other humans such a voyage will likely encounter.
A visit to Kobuk obviously requires considerable planning and logistical support. See the activities and visiting pages for a list of authorized air-taxi services that can arrange guided hiking, backpacking, sightseeing or fishing trips into the valley. These companies can also provide drop-off and pick-up services for those who wish to set forth on the voyage of a lifetime… a float down the Kobuk River!
See ya there…
Guide to Kobuk Valley
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