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Gates of the Arctic National Park
Roadless Brooks Range wilderness entirely north of the Arctic Circle
There is no road into Gates of the Arctic, no trail, no campground and no visitor center inside its boundaries. The northernmost national park in the United States lies entirely above the Arctic Circle, spreading across 11,756 square miles (30,448 km²) of the central Brooks Range, and with its adjoining preserve it covers about 8.5 million acres, second only to Wrangell-St. Elias. The name comes from forester Bob Marshall, who explored the North Fork of the Koyukuk River in 1929 and called the twin peaks flanking the valley, Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain, the gates to the Arctic.
Visitors arrive by bush plane from Bettles, Coldfoot or Anaktuvuk Pass and travel on foot or by raft along six designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. The granite spires of the Arrigetch Peaks draw climbers and backpackers, while caribou of the Western Arctic herd cross the passes each year. Iñupiat and Gwich'in peoples have lived here for thousands of years, and the Nunamiut village of Anaktuvuk Pass sits in the middle of the park, with subsistence hunting protected by law. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a national monument in 1978, and Congress made it a national park and preserve in 1980.