Gates of the Arctic National Park

🧭

You're on your own

Top hazard

💵

Entrance fee

🛣️

Zero

Roads & trails

🏔️

8.4M acres

Brooks Range wilderness

🌊

6 rivers

Wild & Scenic

🥾

14,923

2025 visits

⚠️Extreme Remoteness & Safety"You're on your own"▾

🧭 NPS's exact wording: "You're on your own. This is the number one message visitors must know." There is no cell service, no amenities, and no rescue infrastructure. Two forms of communication are recommended in the backcountry — satellite phones offer better polar-orbit coverage than some satellite messengers. Visitors should leave detailed trip plans with family and their air taxi pilot, and pack extra food for weather delays, since bush planes can't fly in fog or high winds. Bear-resistant food containers are required for overnight visits (free, first-come-first-served, at the park's visitor centers). NPS safety info ↗

Quick Stats

Established1980

Wilderness Area~85% of park

Mountain RangeCentral Brooks Range

Lodging In-ParkNone

🛩️Access & EntryNo fee · No roads▾

🎫 No entrance fees or registration are required to enter the park. Nearly all visitors charter a bush plane and must be fully self-sufficient — there are no roads or developed trails anywhere in this designated wilderness. NPS fees info ↗

Main Air HubBettles

~20 mi south of the park boundary

The main air-taxi staging point, with an NPS ranger station and visitor center.

NPS Bettles info ↗

Dalton Highway AccessColdfoot

Arctic Interagency Visitor Center (staffed summer only)

Anaktuvuk Pass is a Nunamiut village NPS describes as located "inside the park's boundaries" — a good starting point for exploration.

NPS Coldfoot info ↗

Entry Fees

Entrance FeeNone

PermitNot required

Organized groups must contact the park in advance

🌊Wild & Scenic Rivers6 designated rivers▾

Fully Within the Park4▾

North Fork KoyukukFlows through "the Gates" — Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain, the park's namesake feature

John RiverCentral, flows south

Alatna RiverWest, flows south

Tinayguk RiverEast, flows south into the North Fork Koyukuk

Headwaters Only2▾

Noatak RiverHeadwaters in GAAR; most of its length runs through neighboring Noatak National Preserve

Kobuk RiverHeadwaters in GAAR; most of its length is outside the park

🦌Caribou MigrationWestern Arctic Herd▾

🏔️ The Western Arctic Caribou Herd — NPS calls it the largest herd in Alaska — migrates through the central Brooks Range within the park, moving to the North Slope in summer and the south side of the mountains in winter. Combined, the Western Arctic, Teshekpuk, Central Arctic, and Porcupine herds number over half a million animals. NPS wildlife info ↗

🏕Camping & PermitsNo permit required▾

⛺ No permit is required to enter or camp in the backcountry (organized groups must contact the park in advance). NPS strongly encourages — but doesn't require — a backcountry orientation at one of four visitor centers: Bettles, Coldfoot, Anaktuvuk Pass, or Fairbanks. Bear-resistant food containers are mandatory for overnight visits and are loaned free at those same visitor centers. NPS permits info ↗

Park Contact Information

📞 Phone: (907) 459-3730 (Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center) · Mailing Address: 101 Dunkel St. Suite 110, Fairbanks, AK 99701 · Official NPS contact page ↗