Published September 5, 2025 10:36AM
Free of established trails, roads, campgrounds, signs, or infrastructure, Gates of the Arctic National Park is one of the last truly wild places in the United States. Located above the Arctic Circle in the interior of Alaska, it’s the least visited national park—but not for lack of spectacular recreation opportunities. Would-be hikers must charter a bush plane or book a scheduled flight on a small craft from Fairbanks into Anaktuvuk Pass, a village within the park’s boundaries that relies primarily on subsistence caribou hunting. For adventurous backpackers, the journey is worth the effort: Alaska’s Brooks Range offers otherworldly scenery of sweeping tundra, wide open valleys, and jagged peaks. Wildlife sightings from grizzly bears to wolverines are all but guaranteed for those who stick around long enough. And the solitude is second to none.
In August, I joined two hiking partners for a week of backpacking in the heart of Gates of the Arctic, beginning and ending in Anaktuvuk Pass. We spent weeks poring over maps, gear checklists, and meal-planning spreadsheets, knowing the trip would test all of our skills as backpackers. After two days of flight delays, we finally landed inside the park, having scaled back our planned route to fit into the shorter window. We crossed mushy tundra, rocky riverbanks, willow patches, and scree fields on a multi-day journey up a valley fit for giants. While it was cold and rainy, the infamous hordes of mosquitoes were blessedly absent. Contending with constantly wet feet, uneven terrain, and a late-summer snow storm, we got a worthy introduction to Alaska backcountry travel.
Over five days, we barely scratched the surface of what the Brooks Range has to offer. Soaring over the park on our flight back to Fairbanks, I peeked into shadowy river canyons and came eye-to-eye with its steep ridgelines, already imagining a return trip.
