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We've compiled the best of the best in The Bush - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
North of Nome, look for the landmark seen by sea, air, or land. Anvil Mountain offers a panoramic view of Nome, the Bering Sea, Cape Nome, and the Kigluaik Mountains. It takes about an hour to hike up the mountain and back down, and promises a chance to see birds, musk oxen, and maybe other animals, as well as wildflowers in bloom during the warmer months. As this is the city's lone peak, anyone in town will be able to direct you there. Be sure to carry mosquito repellent.
The most northern of national parks, in the central Brooks Range, Gates of the Arctic encompasses 8.4 million acres and six National Wild and Scenic Rivers: the Alatna, John, Kobuk, Noatak, North Fork Koyukuk, and Tinayguk. To the north are both Arctic foothills, with colorful tilted sediments and pale-green tundra, and tundra mountain terrain that cups lovely, albeit buggy, lakes. Wherever you go, prepare for dense vegetation, tussocks, boggy ground, and frequent stream and river crossings that significantly slow your progress. Experienced hikers consider 6 miles a good day.
People have lived in relationship with this landscape for thousands of years. Private and Native Corporation lands within the park, along with cairns and other signs of prior inhabitants, demonstrate how much life still thrives in the area. Once you get into the park, you will understand why the landscape caught the attention of Robert Marshall in the 1930s. Known as an early conservationist, Marshall explored much of the region with local guides, and he gave Western names to many of its features, including Frigid Crag and Boreal Mountain, two peaks on either side of the North Fork Koyukuk River. These were the original "gates" for which the park is named.
The park nourishes wildlife like caribou, grizzlies, wolves, musk oxen, moose, Dall sheep, wolverines, and smaller mammals and birds. The communities of Anaktuvuk Pass, Bettles, and Coldfoot are access points for Gates of the Arctic. Park rangers stationed in these communities can provide information and guidance for those going into the park, including the mandatory orientation films and bear-resistant canisters.
