Gates of the Arctic National Park

Like several of the parks in Alaska – this is among the most remote parks in the entire system. It averages around 10,000 visitors per year. Similar to Kobuk Valley National Park – there are no roads or trails in. You are going to walk in, boat in, or fly in. There are a couple of gateways into this park – Kotzebue or Fairbanks and there is one community inside the park – Anaktuvuk Pass – where a visitor center is located. Like many of the parks in the Last Frontier – this one is going to take more planning than you are used to.

When to Go

Anytime in the summer or early fall should work here. Keep in mind the sun does not set for almost all of June and into early July – so you’ll have 24 hours of daylight during this time which is a fun experience by itself. Scott has actually done this park two times now – once in May and once in August (Amanda joined this trip). During May, the mountains are still very snow capped which makes for an even more scenic flight. During August, you don’t get as much snow – but the fall colors are on full display before another long winter hits. The later you get into summer/fall though – the more tricky the weather gets which can limit your already very limited options for experiencing the park. Weather can wipe out any plans you have in visiting this park, so plan a few extra days in the area just in case.

How to Get Here

You have a couple options for this park – but neither is going to be easy. There are outfits in Fairbanks which will fly into Anaktuvuk Pass which is on the northeast side of the park. In addition, you could also fly into the park via Kotzebue, Alaska which is an extra flight from either Fairbanks or Anchorage via Alaska Airlines. The advantage of Kotzebue is you can combo the flight into Gates of the Arctic with a stop in Kobuk Valley National Park as well.

Trip Length

This really depends on what you want to do. If you are going to take the time to hike into the park or boat down the river – you will likely be here for a week or more. If you are here to fly into the park and maybe some of the surrounding parks for some photos with the intent of flying right back out – you can accomplish that in less than a day. However, keep in mind that the weather is not a guarantee at any point of the year. What you don’t want to do is fly in with the plan of seeing the park in one day and then flying back out the next day. One bad weather day and you are you ruined. Therefore, we would recommend giving yourself 2 days at least in either Kotzebue or Fairbanks depending on which gateway you choose. If you are in Kotzebue and your flight goes off without a hitch on Day 1 and you don’t have anything else you want to see, you can always change your flight on Alaska and fly back to Fairbanks or Anchorage a day early. These are not typically sold out flights. If you are in Fairbanks – there should be plenty to keep you busy for 2-3 days to ensure you get the weather you need for the flight.

Where to Stay

You are not going to find any familiar chain hotels in Kotzebue. There are a couple bed and breakfast spots and one main hotel – Nullagvik Hotel. All are super expensive and you are not going to find a way around that here. We chose to stay at an Airbnb right next to the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center which also serves as the park’s visitor center. Even that was over $200 a night.

If you choose Fairbanks – it is the complete opposite. You should be able to find about any chain hotel you could desire and the rates will be quite a bit cheaper than in Kotzebue.

What to Do

The first choice you need to make is the gateway you are going to use to get into the park, Kotzebue or Fairbanks.

Kotzebue

We spent a ton of time researching this trip and trying to find a way to make it cheaper which is not easy to do while also feeling like you truly experienced the park. Many of the flight operators were charging thousands of dollars PER person to fly into the park and land for a few minutes and then fly out. Then we came across Golden Eagle Outfitters while searching online. They actually have options to fly to both Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley National Park along with three other national park units in the area all within one long day. And they don’t charge per person. They charge by flight.

We chose the Kobuk / Gates of the Arctic combo tour instead of trying to do all 5 stops in one day (though we may come back and do this someday for sure). The original price of this combo flight (in 2019) was $2,275. This was less than half of the price other outfits were looking to charge, and they had good reviews, so we jumped on it. When we arrived at the office in the morning, we were told there were 2 other people looking to fly into both Kobuk and Gates as well. They were on a quest to visit all of the national parks like Scott, and these were their last two. We were given the option to allow them to fly with us or go on a private trip. Given this is a per flight cost, allowing them to go with us dropped our flight charge down to $1,137.50 which was simply incredible. We of course obliged and it was fun to participate in this group’s grand finale to the National Parks.