Collection of Published Guides for Kobuk Valley National Park in Northwest Arctic Alaska

Arctic sand dunes and caribou migration corridor in northwestern Alaska

Kobuk Valley National Park

Kobuk Valley National Park protects a remote and ecologically significant landscape in northwestern Alaska, positioned between the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge to the west and the Noatak National Preserve to the east. The park encompasses the broad wetlands valley through which the Kobuk River flows, bordered to the north by the Baird Mountains and to the south by the shorter Waring Mountains. This ring of mountains defines and encloses the Kobuk Valley, creating a distinct geographic container. The park includes about 81,000 acres of lands owned by native corporations and the State of Alaska as inholdings within the federal protection zone. The middle two-thirds of the Kobuk River, from just above Kiana to just below Ambler, runs through the park, along with major tributaries including the Salmon River and Hunt River. A significant portion of the park, some 174,545 acres south of the Kobuk River, is designated as the Kobuk Valley Wilderness, providing the highest level of federal wilderness protection. The park is managed by the National Park Service from the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center in Kotzebue, with seasonal ranger stations at Kallarichuk at the western end and Onion Portage at the eastern end.