Guide to Gates of the Arctic National Park – Solitude in the Wild

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve: True Wilderness

If you want to visit a truly natural wilderness with the least amount of human fingerprint, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is your ticket!

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is full of superlatives.  It is:

• The second largest National Park in the United States, at 8.4 million acres.  This park is bigger than Maryland, and only a bit smaller than Taiwan.
• The northern most National Park in the United States.
• It is entirely inside the Arctic Circle, within 1,650 miles of the North Pole.
• It’s the least visited National Park in most years.  9,457 people visited Gates of the Arctic in 2022.
• Temperature gets below minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 degrees Celsius).
• There is continuous daylight in June, and continuous darkness in December.

Why do People Visit Gates of the Arctic?

People visit because it’s there, because it’s wild, because it’s remote, and because of the scenery.

There are two types of people who visit Gates of the Arctic, the true adventure seekers and the bucket list visitors.

True Adventure Seekers

For the true adventure seekers, Gates of the Arctic represents freedom and a challenge.  In general, you don’t need a permit to hike, boat, or camp in the park.  There are no trails and you can go anywhere you want.  You have the freedom to explore, only limited by your ability to survive in the wild.

Multiday hiking, camping or float trips to immerse yourself in total wilderness is what these folks are looking for.  They get dropped off by bush planes, arrange for pickup at a specific time and location, and must survive in between.

The reward is fantastic scenery, total seclusion, great flora and fauna, and the satisfaction of being in a place where very few other people have been.  You have to be hardy and skilled to be in this group.

Bucket List People

The second type is people like us, who visits a place because it’s there, or because it’s part of a list.  Our goal is to visit all the National Parks in the United States.  Gates of the Arctic is a National Park, so it’s a must visit for us.  It is the 61st park out of 63 (as of September, 2023) we’ve visited.

For these people, being able to say we’ve visited a place is meaningful in and of itself.

For people like me, sightseeing via a small plane is the way to go.  We landed on Walker Lake, explored the shoreline for about an hour, and got back on the plane.  We can legitimately say we’ve been to Gates of the Arctic National Park, and we have a sign (that we brought with us) to prove it.

The scenery is mesmerizing from the air and I enjoyed every minute of the six and half hour trip to Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley National Parks.

Get Away from it All

While Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is the second largest National Park, it has less than 10,000 visitors each year.  That is about 50 visitors per day during the season.  50 people in a place the size of Maryland!

With so few visitors in such a vast area, you just won’t find people in the park.  You are truly isolated.  Cell phones don’t work here and you are on your own.  The only hint of civilization is the noise from the occasional airplane.

The Scenery

Brooks range, the northern most mountain range in North America, is the main part of the park.  While not especially tall, with the peak just shy of 9,000 feet, it is rugged.

Arrigetch Peaks is dramatic, rising 3000 – 4000 feet above the valley.  Arrigetch means the fingers of the hand extended, a landmark for Eskimos.

While the mountains are not the tallest, they are still majestic.  From the air, you see lots of winding and twisting rivers in broad valleys flanked by mountains that rises several thousand feet.  The rivers double back so river miles are much longer than air miles.

At this latitude, the tree line is at only 2,500 feet of elevation and the peaks are snow covered even in the summer time.

Is Gates of the Arctic National Park Worth the Visit?

It depends.  Gates of the Arctic is hard and expensive to reach.  There is no “auto touring” here.  The scenery is spectacular, but hard to reach.  If you value solitude, wilderness, and capable to survive and defend yourself in the wild, then this is a must do park.  Similarly, if you are on a bucket list quest (like me), then this is, by definition, a must visit.

However, if you want the facilities and the convenience of civilization, you should pass on this park.

How to Visit Gates of the Arctic National Park

Since there are no roads in the park, it is difficult and expensive to visit Gates of the Arctic.  Anaktuvuk Pass ranger station in the town of Anaktuvuk Pass is the only visitor center inside the park boundary.  It’s only staffed on weekdays during the summer.  There are no established trails, no established camp sites, and no facilities.  This is true wilderness.

The gateway town of Bettles (population 21) has a very nice visitor center, though it’s outside of the park boundary.  It was not staffed in 2023 because, according to the owner of Bettles Lodge, the park service can’t find anyone to work there.

Coldfoot, also a gateway town, is on the Daulton Highway, has the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center.

By Plane

Most people fly from Fairbanks to Bettles or Coldfoot.  Some will drive the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Coldfoot, a journey of more than 6 hours.  From Bettles or Coldfoot, charter a small plane to be dropped off if you are the adventure type, or do flight seeing if you are the bucket list type.

Keep in mind that everything is subject to weather.  There can be days when the planes can’t fly, so build in plenty of buffer in your schedule.

By Hike

You can hike to the park.  The closest point from a road is five miles from the Dalton Highway.  While five miles may not sound like a lot, keep in mind there are no trails and 6 miles of hiking in one day is considered good for this terrain.  There are many streams in the park, and chances are very good that as you hike, you will need to cross these streams, whose water level can be unpredictable.

Once you enter the park boundary, you probably will need to turn back because there isn’t really a destination per se.

When to go to Gates of the Arctic National Park

It won’t be any surprise to you if I say Gates of the Arctic is a cold place.  The season is short, only from May to September.  The weather ranges from bone chilling cold, as in minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, to cool, as in 60 degree Fahrenheit during the day.   Snow and freezing temperatures happen every month of the year.  Weather and temperature can change rapidly, even during the summer.

The 6 rivers inside the park, and the lakes start to thaw in May, but not navigable until mid-June.  They freeze starting in mid-September.

Mosquitos can be really bad in June and July because of all the wetness from the melting snow, rivers and ponds in the park.  Be sure to bring bug spray and head net.

If you are willing to brave a bit of freezing temperature, May and mid-August to mid-September are the best times of the year to go.  There is dark sky for some part of the day, so you may get lucky and see the Northern Lights, and the mosquitos are not as bad.

Where to Stay

If you use Bettles as the jump off point, Bettles Lodge is the only game in town.  The lodging is rustic, comfortable, some with shared bathrooms.  Meals come with the tour package and it is pretty good (you get what they serve, no choice).  They will even stay up and wake you up if the Northern Lights are active.  Eric the owner is passionate and a great host.

There are several places to stay at Coldfoot and Wiseman, all of them rustic.

Thought for Gates of the Arctic National Park:

Gates of the Arctic National Park transports you back thousands of years, to a land nearly untouched by humans.  What a privilege to experience it, and be away from it all while maintaining the comfort and security of modern civilization.

Impressions of Gates of the Arctic National Park:

Isolated, pristine and mostly untouched by modern civilization, this park is for the truly adventurous.  It’s difficult to reach, so very few people have been here.  That is the main attraction, the ultimate place to avoid National Park crowds.  The journey is part of the experience.  The rewards are beautiful scenery, a break from most of civilization, and be part of the wild.

Have you visited Gates of the Arctic National Park?  Leave a comment below on your experience.   

National Park Rating:

(Note: Ratings are on a bell curve, which means there are as many 5 star ratings as 1 star ratings.  All National Parks are wonderful, which makes this a very strict rating scale)

Guide to Gates of the Arctic National Park:

Top Attractions at Gates of the Arctic National Park:

There aren’t “attractions” per se at Gates of the Arctic.  The park is huge and you can go (fly) to anywhere a plane can land.  It really depends on what you want to do.  Walker Lake is a beautiful mountain lake but unless you bring your own watercraft on the plane, which is difficult, you are limited to shore activities.

Arrigetch Peaks is dramatic, rising 3000 – 4000 feet above the valley.

Hiking and camping are for the hardy and truly skilled, since there are no established or marked trails.  Going with a guide is highly recommended.  You can hike and camp anywhere you would like with total freedom.

Anaktuvuk Pass is a small town with a NPS visitor center, and a museum.  Land ownership at Anaktuvuk Pass is complicated but they have set aside places where visitors can camp and hike around the town.  You can do a one day trip from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass.

One Day Visit Plan:

• Hire a flight seeing plane from the gateway communities of Bettles or Coldfoot and sightsee from the air.  In one day, you can land at Walker Lake and fly over Arrigetch Peak.  Of course, all of this depend on the weather, which changes rapidly, OR
• Take a full day trip from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass, a small, historic town in Gates of the Arctic National Park

Practical Info for Visiting Gates of the Arctic National Park:

• Planning and flexibility are essential.
• Weather is unpredictable.  Flight times are estimates and subject to change.  Build flexibility into your schedule.
• Flight seeing or multiday hiking / boating adventure
  • For flight seeing, book a tour from the list of sanctioned tour operators.  We took the all inclusive package from Bettles Lodge, and added an extra day for flexibility in case of weather.  It was a wonderful experience.
  • For a hiking / boating adventure, hire a guide and be prepared to rough it.  We saw people at Bettles Lodge who just came back from many days in the wild and they all look very happy to be back in some semblance of civilization
• Start at Fairbanks
  • Arrive in Fairbanks the night before your continuing flight north to the gateway community.
  • Even though most flights leave Fairbanks in the afternoon or at night for the lower 48, don’t count on flying to Fairbanks from the northern gateway communities on the same day.  The flights can easily be delayed.  Better to fly out of Fairbanks the next day.
  • If everything works out and you are on time, Fairbanks is a nice place to hang out for a day with plenty of sights to see.
  • Visit Alaska Public Lands Information Center to get information about visiting the parks, including Gates of the Arctic, and to get a passport stamp
• Book well ahead of time for the lodges and tours from the gateway communities of Bettles and Coldfoot.  We booked our mid-September trip, which is near the end of the season, 6 months ahead and many dates were sold out.
• If you don’t mind a bit of cold, spring or fall are great times to go.  The weather is cold enough to keep the bugs at bay.
• If you go during the summer, be sure to bring bug nets for your face and neck
• It’s expensive to get to Gates of the Arctic – several thousands of dollars per person for even a short stay.
• You have to be willing to fly on tiny planes.  We are talking about 10 seaters from Fairbanks to Bettles, and 4 seater for the flight seeing trip from Bettles into the park.

Gates of the Arctic National Park Facts:

• Size: 8,472,506 acres, ranked 2nd
• Visitors: 9,457 in 2022, ranked 62nd.  Record was 12,669 visitors in 2014
• Peak Month in 2022: 3,125 visitors in July
• Low Month in 2022: 0 visitors from October to April.  This is according to the National Park Service, but I find it hard to believe its actually zero.
• Entrance Fee: None

Date Visited: 9/14/2023