Tantalizing for backcountry adventurists, RVing Kobuk Valley National Park is a little bit of a problem – you’ll want a base camp in Anchorage or Fairbanks. Once you’re within the park, you’ll be immersed within the Arctic Circle’s huge mountain landscapes, forests, rivers, an astounding abundance of wildlife, and each climate anomaly recognized to mankind.
Yes, this 1.75-million sq. mile nationwide park acts as a palette for a few of Mother Nature’s most superb handiwork, but it can’t be explored by typical means. Visitors should enter and exit by bush aircraft, as no roads phase this unchecked setting.
The additional effort required to see into the key world of the Kobuk Valley is actually outweighed by the rewards obtained. Here’s our information to visiting Kobuk Valley National Park.
Why Visit Kobuk Valley National Park?
Kobuk Valley National Park is an expertise exterior the norm, attracting those that are decided to discover the wilderness with out the trimmings of in the present day’s conveniences. Self-reliance is a should right here, however ready adventurers will get pleasure from experiences you actually can’t discover wherever else on Earth.
An RV could make it to Anchorage or Fairbanks however should take a bush aircraft into the park from there. Visitors who put Kobuk Valley on their record of locations to go to ought to be avid explorers skilled in backcountry tenting and security, as there aren’t any providers inside the park.
Groceries, drugs, and equipment for inclement climate should be introduced alongside, and there aren’t any campgrounds, roads, or potable water. In different phrases, self-sufficient adventurers will expertise the journey of a lifetime right here.
When to Visit Kobuk Valley National Park
The park is open year-round, however the very best time to go to is from late June to late July. Even then, your journey plans will likely be dictated by climate methods. Plan additional days for inclement circumstances, as they decide whether or not a aircraft can get you and your gear into or out of the park.
Choose what season you wish to discover, however keep in mind that snow and chilly temperatures can happen any month of the yr. There’s potential for hypothermia and different cold-related diseases year-round, so be ready with the right clothes and equipment.
Kobuk Valley National Park within the Spring
Snow and ice can nonetheless cowl the park all through a lot of the spring, particularly at excessive elevations. March highs common within the teenagers, with highs remaining close to freezing all through April and eventually climbing into the excessive 40s and low 50s by the top of May.
In phrases of cloud cowl, this is among the clearer instances of the yr, making it a very good possibility for guests wishing to see the Northern Lights. Average daytime in March are 11.9, with that quantity climbing to twenty.6 hours by May.
Kobuk Valley National Park within the Summer
Summer supplies a lot of alternatives for exploration, because the solar doesn’t set from June third by July ninth. A bright-colored tent could make it laborious for a lot of guests to sleep, and plenty of carry a darkish eye masks as an support.
Summer highs common within the mid-60s, nevertheless it’s not unusual for daytime temperatures to achieve the 80s in July. Even within the coronary heart of summer season, chilly temperatures, wind, rain, clouds, and even snow are doable.
Kobuk Valley National Park within the Fall
Fall can arrive in Kobuk Valley within the early weeks of August, with the potential for snow rising as September creeps nearer. November is often the snowiest month of the yr, with a median accumulation of 8.1 inches.
August is the valley’s cloudiest month of the yr, however common temperatures stay within the mid-50s to low-60s. By November, nonetheless, the common excessive temperature not often climbs out of the one digits.
Kobuk Valley National Park within the Winter
Winter affords its personal exhilarating landscapes, however winter days are extraordinarily brief. The solar solely creeps above the horizon for 1.5 hours on the shortest day of the yr, December twenty first. That means a singular probability to expertise prolonged twilight hours and the Northern Lights, that are most seen on the darkest winter nights.
Where to Stay
There aren’t any campgrounds inside Kobuk Valley National Park. There aren’t even any roads to the park, a lot much less inside it. However, cities like Fairbanks have non-public campgrounds the place you might be welcome to park your RV, then hop a aircraft to the park.
Backcountry tenting is allowed all through the park, and particular person campers aren’t required to have a allow. Groups do must register, nonetheless. Come ready for all types of climate and animal interactions – carry insect repellent and bear spray, and preserve all meals in bear-resistant containers.
There aren’t any designated campsites, as backpackers can arrange camp wherever they enterprise. It is strongly steered, nonetheless, that each one guests be adept at utilizing a map, compass, and GPS.
Learn extra about backpacking and tenting within the park.
Staying Outside the Park
Here are a couple of campgrounds you need to use to arrange an RV basecamp for explorations into Kobuk Valley:
Anchorage
- Anchorage Ship Creek RV Park: Offering full hookups, Wi-Fi, and quite a few outside facilities just some blocks from downtown Anchorage.
- Golden Nugget RV Park: This park affords full hookups with pull-thru websites that may accommodate automobiles as much as 45 ft lengthy.
Fairbanks
- River’s Edge RV Park & Campground: Right alongside the banks of the Chena River, this RV park supplies full hookups, Wi-Fi, a restaurant, and a self-service RV wash.
- Tanana Valley Campground: This RV park affords electrical hookups, fireplace pits, sizzling showers, and laundry, all in a scenic forested setting.
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Tips on your Camping Stay
Here are a couple of extra suggestions should you’re planning a backcountry journey within the park:
- Hone your orienteering expertise earlier than visiting the park.
- The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes is the most well-liked location for backcountry tenting.
- Hiking is less complicated within the mountains as a result of the bottom is drier. However, touchdown a aircraft at the next elevation is harder, that means you’ll probably must agree on a decrease elevation drop zone along with your pilot earlier than mountain climbing as much as ridgelines.
- Respect non-public property and No Trespassing indicators you encounter within the park.
- Be conscious that native residents can hunt and collect within the park. Learn extra about subsistence actions in Kobuk Valley and be respectful throughout your go to.
How to Get Around Kobuk Valley National Park
There is just one approach to entry the park: by bush aircraft. Commercial airways provide flights from Anchorage to Kotzebue and from Fairbanks to Bettles. From these areas, an air taxi is required to fly into the park.
Dependent upon the place you want to land, your aircraft might need wheels or floats. Those with wheels can land immediately on the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. Floatplanes will most probably land on the Kobuk River.
Studying topographic maps earlier than reserving an air taxi is important, as you’ll want to debate appropriate backcountry touchdown spots along with your pilot. You’ll additionally must schedule dates and instances for pick-up along with your pilot, permitting for climate delays.
Learn extra about season-specific journey choices in Kobuk Valley.
Places to Go
Put these locations in your record on your inaugural go to to Kobuk Valley National Park:
Northwest Arctic Heritage Center
The park’s heritage heart in Kotzebue affords ranger packages, data, and a museum devoted to the Arctic ecosystem and the Inupiaq tradition. Backcountry campers can borrow bear-resistant containers and get travel-related logistics and up-to-date climate forecasts.
Great Kobuk Sand Dunes
With three dune fields comprising greater than 20,000 acres, the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes are the most important lively Arctic dunes in North America. NASA actively research them to study extra concerning the polar dunes on the planet of Mars. Bush planes on wheels can land proper on the sand, and organising a campsite here’s a breeze. With any luck, guests will see caribou migrate or a brown bear enterprise throughout the sand.
Giddings Cabin
Visit this log cabin to see how archaeologist Lewis Giddings lived and explored this area for a few years, discovering the traditional cultures who hunted at Onion Portage for over 10,000 years. The cabin remains to be often occupied by scientific excavation teams however isn’t open to the general public.
Things to Do in Kobuk Valley National Park
Here are some concepts for the best way to spend your time in probably the most distant and least visited nationwide parks within the United States:
Flight-Seeing
If you don’t wish to camp within the park, experiencing it from a bush aircraft is a superb possibility. Most constitution firms provide flights for as much as 4 passengers, and also you’ll discover flights out of Bettles and Kotzebue.
Wildlife viewing will also be glorious from the sky, because the park’s animals are typically not concentrated in particular areas. Bring your digicam or binoculars to seize lasting reminiscences or get a more in-depth have a look at the wildlife your pilot factors out.
Hiking
There aren’t any marked trails inside the park, however hikers could make their very own method alongside rivers and streams, throughout dunes, by the boreal forest, and into the Baird and Waring Mountains. Good orienteering expertise are needed, particularly on the dunes.
Canoeing and Kayaking
Collapsible kayaks and canoes are a good way to expertise the Kobuk River, because the water is sluggish and shallow. Nearly 61 miles of the river circulate by the park, and it’s joined by the Salmon River, providing glorious boating and floating alternatives.
If you do plan on boating, take into account bringing your fishing gear alongside. Sheefish, salmon, grayling, Dolly varden, and pike are generally discovered within the park’s rivers. A fishing license is required, and it’s really useful to analysis Alaska fishing laws to arrange.
What to Bring and How to Prepare
Use these further tricks to plan and put together on your go to:
- Have a number of route-finding strategies. Bringing topo maps, a compass, and a GPS unit offers you a number of strategies for wayfinding within the backcountry.
- Bring insect repellent, bug nets, pants, and long-sleeve shirts. Alaska has an estimated mosquito inhabitants of round 17 trillion, and black flies are additionally widespread within the park all through summer season and fall.
- Travel with rain gear and further layers. Be aware to remain dry, as hypothermia can happen on moist, windy days even when it might not really feel significantly chilly.
- Respect wildlife and follow Leave No Trace. Know the best way to retailer your meals correctly to guard your self and wildlife. Give moose, black bears, and grizzly bears a respectful distance should you encounter them within the backcountry.
- Get high quality gear. A real 4-season tent, a heat hat, a high-quality rain jacket, and so on. Don’t skimp on gear while you’re visiting a park with the potential for excessive climate.
- Carry additional. Weather could cause delays for bush aircraft pilots. Carry additional provides should you should wait hours or days for the climate to clear for a backcountry pickup.
Check the National Park Service’s web site for extra vital security data when planning your go to to Kobuk Valley.
Brief History of Kobuk Valley National Park
Although it didn’t turn out to be a nationwide park till December 1980, indicators of man have been discovered at Onion Portage in Kobuk Valley National Park courting again over 10,000 years. In truth, 9 completely different cultures have hunted or resided within the space over that point, which is superb contemplating the local weather inside the Arctic Circle.
It is simple to see why they chose this portion of the park to inhabit. Annually, 250,000 caribou that make up the Western Arctic Caribou Herd migrate by Kobuk Valley, swimming the river at Onion Portage on spring and fall migrations. This is the place looking is best, because the animals are slowed by the water passage.
The land is encircled by mountain ranges however has the Arctic’s largest deposits of sand, with three completely different dune fields that proceed to develop, continually on the transfer. Consistent moisture virtually each month of the yr ensures all kinds of plants, together with peat bogs that may be noticed smoking after intense lightning storms.
Wildlife like grizzly bears, moose, wolves, and Dall sheep wander the countryside, at house on this huge land of tundra, forest, and peaks.
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