Arctic Alaska

Arctic Alaska, also referred to as Far North Alaska, is a vast region of Alaska extending from around the Arctic Circle to the Arctic Ocean.

Regions

• North Slope Borough
• Brooks Range mountains

Cities

• Barrow
• Coldfoot — very small town, although an important stop with services on the Dalton Highway
• Deadhorse — town of oil operations at the northern end of Dalton Highway, just a few miles south of Arctic Ocean coast
• Nome
• Kotzebue
• Teller
• White Mountain
• Wiseman — small town 3 miles off Dalton Highway, with several historical buildings

Other destinations

• Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Yes, that one.
• Gates Of The Arctic National Park - home to six Wild and Scenic Rivers that offer opportunities for unparalleled wilderness experiences
• Inupiat Heritage Center - On the rooftop of the world, the Iñupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska tells the story of the Iñupiat people

• Western Arctic National Parklands [1] - Western Arctic National Parklands is a unit which includes:
• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve - During the Cold War the people of Beringia were separated.
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument - stretches 70 miles along the Chukchi Sea shoreline
• Kobuk Valley National Park and Preserve – Ancient arctic sand dunes and a sub-arctic river that traverses the boreal forest, this park harbors archeological sites more than 10,000 years old, and supports small communities of inland Inupiat peoples.
• Noatak National Preserve – As one of North America's largest mountain-ringed river basins with an intact ecosystem, the Noatak River environs features some of the Arctic's finest arrays of plants and animals.

Talk

Native Inuit languages are spoken in many small towns. However, English is the primary language, spoken by most Inuits except perhaps most elderly. There are only a handful of persons fluent in any other languages.

Get in

The main method of arriving in Arctic Alaska is by air. Alaska Airlines offers almost daily commercial flights to the cities of Barrow and Deadhorse. Additionally, many small turboprop services offer service to towns/airstrips throughout the region.

The Dalton Highway connects Deadhorse and the Prudhoe Bay oilfield with Fairbanks. The highway, one of only two roads across the Arctic Circle in North America and provides a unique experience, running through the Brooks Range, Atigun Pass, North Slope and Coastal Plain. The highway can be accessed via the Steese and Elliot highways from Fairbanks.

Get around

Small planes, including ones with skis or pontoons, are the best way of accessing this remote and vast region. Most small towns have an airstrip or are located near a lake. Air travel in this region provides spectacular views of remote terrain.

The Dalton Highway runs through the Brooks Range, North Slope, and Coastal Plain to Deadhorse. This road is a great way to view these remote areas without a plane. Additionally, several roads extend outward from Barrow into surrounding areas.

Sled dogs may be used in wintery months, but the extreme cold of this region in the middle of the winter can be very treacherous.

See

Itineraries

• Dalton Highway

Stay safe

See travelling in cold weather.

Get out

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