The incongruously named “National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska” (NPRA) is an area that we feel is of great importance. Encompassing the largest single unit of public land in our nation, this vast tract of land in the Western Arctic, lying between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean, is one of the wildest and most remote areas on the continent. Designated as a speculative “petroleum reserve” in 1923, and containing rich deposits of natural gas, coal, and hard rock minerals, this vast wilderness is also the summer home of millions of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, and the 450,000 caribou of the Western Arctic herd.

Drawn by our desire to raise awareness about the potential development threats to the most critical habitat areas of this wild land, as well as our own personal excitement to explore farther out there than we’ve ever been—we’ve led several custom trips in this rarely visited land, and now want to offer these trip options to others.

The Utukok Uplands, north of the far western Brooks Range, is a vast expanse of rolling tundra foothills, plateaus and mesas, with uninhibited views to every horizon. It’s also the calving grounds for the Western Arctic caribou herd, and we’ve timed this Basecamp trip to hopefully intersect the migration of this immense herd as the caribou move through this area after calving.

This remote, timeless land also offers a one-of a kind opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the oldest inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere—Paleoindians who hunted giant Pleistocene bison, mammoths, caribou and musk ox 12,000 years ago—or find archeological evidence of more “modern” Stone Age hunters as we stroll the plateau tops.

Because of the extremely remote location and complicated air logistics, we need a group size of 5-6 to run this trip.

Trip Details

We don’t have set daily itineraries since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and other conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

Since a basecamp trip means that we don’t have to move camp or travel from one place to another, these trips have the most flexibility and are the easiest physically. While the guide will generally lead a day hike every day, not everyone has to do the same thing, or hike the same distance and just relaxing in camp and enjoying the beauty and quiet of the wilderness is a great option!

Each year we like to offer the opportunity to watch summer come to life in the arctic, within the flexible setting of a basecamp trip. On this trip we’ll be camped in the mountains at the edge of the coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This beautiful setting offers expansive views and great hiking, with the chances of seeing caribou, wolves, and bears, along with newly arrived birds nesting after their epic flights back to the arctic, and resilient tundra plants bursting into life after the long winter.

While the early June timing adds its own exhilaration, this trip has a relaxed pace, with plenty of time for hiking and individual interests such as photography and bird watching, and endless hours under the never-setting sun.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and other conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

Since a basecamp trip means that we don’t have to move camp or travel from one place to another, these trips have the most flexibility and are the easiest physically. While the guide will generally lead a day hike every day, not everyone has to do the same thing, or hike the same distance-and just relaxing in camp and enjoying the beauty and quiet of the wilderness is a great option!

We’ve designed this unique trip for National Parks enthusiasts who are looking for an outstanding opportunity to visit both the Gates of the Arctic and the Kobuk Valley National Parks on one trip. On this basecamp trip, we’ll spend four nights and four days camping, hiking, and canoeing in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and one day visiting the Kobuk Valley National Park by float plane. Extensive small plane flying between each of the locations provides breathtaking views and an opportunity to see vast portions of both of these parks from the air.

Our basecamp is located on a private inholding within the Gates of the Arctic National Park on the North Fork of the Koyukuk River roughly twenty five miles downriver from Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain- the peaks the National Park is named for. This basecamp location includes access to a small cabin, an outhouse, floating dock, and two canoes to explore the lake with. This location also presents excellent opportunities to fish for Northern Pike. When flying west to the Kobuk Valley National Park, we’ll transect the entirety of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and land on the water near the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes before returning to basecamp. We’ll travel through Coldfoot at the beginning and end of this trip.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and other conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

Since a basecamp trip means that we don’t have to move camp or travel from one place to another, these trips have the most flexibility and are the easiest physically. While the guide will generally lead a day hike every day, not everyone has to do the same thing, or hike the same distance-and just relaxing in camp and enjoying the beauty and quiet of the wilderness is a great option!

We’ve designed this unique trip for National Parks enthusiasts who are looking for an outstanding opportunity to visit both the Gates of the Arctic and the Kobuk Valley National Parks on one trip. On this basecamp trip, we’ll spend five days camping, hiking, and exploring in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and one day visiting the Kobuk Valley National Park by float plane. Extensive small plane flying between each of the locations provides breathtaking views and an opportunity to see vast portions of both of these parks from the air.

Our basecamp will be located near the confluence of the Noatak and Kugrak rivers in the westernmost portion of Gates of the Arctic National Park. We will fly in by floatplane and set camp along a large lake in the Noatak River valley. From camp there are ample hiking opportunities, including some with serious elevation gain and breathtaking views. On whichever of the five days that the weather is most cooperative, our pilots will return to take us to the Kobuk Valley National Park, where we’ll land on the water near the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes for a short exploration before returning to basecamp. We’ll travel through Coldfoot at the beginning and end of this trip, where we can visit the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center while waiting for our flights.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and other conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

Since a basecamp trip means that we don’t have to move camp or travel from one place to another, these trips have the most flexibility and are the easiest physically. While the guide will generally lead a day hike every day, not everyone has to do the same thing, or hike the same distance-and just relaxing in camp and enjoying the beauty and quiet of the wilderness is a great option!

Rafting the Kongakut is a classic Arctic river experience. Beginning in the heart of the mountains, we paddle this fast-paced river through beautiful wide valleys and exciting canyons, to the expansive vistas of the take-out point in the last foothills before the plains. From a high point above this camp, you can get an unobstructed view of the entire coastal plain and the Arctic Ocean beyond it, disappearing into the north horizon.

We choose to avoid the crowds in June and offer trips in July, when you can experience the height of the Arctic summer, and in August. Our late August trip is timed to catch a large run of Arctic char coming up the river, so in addition to great rafting and day hiking, there are superb fishing opportunities for one of the tastiest fishes in the world! At this time of year, you’ll catch the tundra in its full fall colors, and it’s getting dark enough at night to see the northern lights if they’re out. And as an added bonus, we’re likely to have the privilege of making the last run of the season, having the river entirely to ourselves. On this trip we’ll travel through Arctic Village at both the beginning and end of the trip.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and water conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

We’ll be spending 4-6 days rafting down the river, with 3-6 hours a day on the water. There will be several layover days on the trip, where you can go for long or short day hikes or just relax in camp (not everyone has to do the same thing).

This river, its lower stretch forming the NW boundary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is one of the Brooks Range’s often overlooked gems. Its unusual beauty has attracted landscape artists, enticing them to capture its colors, moods and vibrant energy.

The beauty begins with the bush flight in from Arctic Village, through scenery so sensational it will “knock your socks off.” The river trip itself starts on an upper tributary, 20 miles from the Arctic divide. In the remarkably clear water here, the river bottom itself becomes a “captivating landscape underneath you.”

On the main Canning itself, its flat water and sweeping vistas allow for easy viewing of wildlife, including musk ox, wolves, bear and nesting falcons, hawks and eagles. We take time for day hikes and fossil hunting on gravel bars as we travel out of the mountains and through the foothills, with the last river day bringing us to the edge of the coastal plain. Our return flight will take us back across the Brooks Range to Arctic Village.

Trip Details
We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and water conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

We’ll be spending 4-6 days rafting down the river, with 3-6 hours a day on the water. There will be several layover days on the trip, where you can go for long or short day hikes or just relax in camp (not everyone has to do the same thing).

We’ve designed this unique trip for National Parks enthusiasts who are looking for an outstanding opportunity to visit both the Gates of the Arctic and the Kobuk Valley National Parks on one trip. On this basecamp trip, we’ll spend five days camping, hiking, and canoeing in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and one day visiting the Kobuk Valley National Park by float plane. Extensive small plane flying between each of the locations provides breathtaking views and an opportunity to see vast portions of both of these parks from the air.

Our basecamp is located on a private inholding within the Gates of the Arctic National Park on the North Fork of the Koyukuk River roughly twenty five miles downriver from Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountain- the peaks the National Park is named for. This basecamp location includes access to a small cabin, an outhouse, floating dock, and two canoes to explore the lake with. This location also presents excellent opportunities to fish for Northern Pike. When flying west to the Kobuk Valley National Park, we’ll transect the entirety of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and land on the water near the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes before returning to basecamp. We’ll travel through Coldfoot at the beginning and end of this trip.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and other conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

Since a basecamp trip means that we don’t have to move camp or travel from one place to another, these trips have the most flexibility and are the easiest physically. While the guide will generally lead a day hike every day, not everyone has to do the same thing, or hike the same distance-and just relaxing in camp and enjoying the beauty and quiet of the wilderness is a great option!

The Nigu River merges with the Etivluk, which then flows north into the immense Colville River drainage northwest of Gates of the Arctic National Park. These remote, rarely run rivers carve a course from within the mountains out across the rolling tundra of the north slope, offering an exceptional wilderness experience in vast, unusually beautiful terrain. The flat water allows for relaxed paddling and great opportunities to watch for birds and animals. We’re likely to see grizzly bears, moose and hundreds to thousands of migrating caribou, as well as spawning arctic char travelling up the river.

Even by Brooks Range standards, this area is “way out there”, with an other-worldly quality that’s hard to put into words. We pass through Coldfoot at the beginning and end of this trip, with phenomenal flights across the central Brooks Range and the sweeping expanse of the north slope.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and water conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

We’ll be spending 4-6 days rafting down the river, with 3-6 hours a day on the water. There will be several layover days on the trip, where you can go for long or short day hikes or just relax in camp (not everyone has to do the same thing).

One of several spectacular mountain lakes in the northwest corner of Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve is the setting for this trip, with rugged peaks soaring above the sweeping expanse of tundra. We pick these remote locations both for their remarkable beauty and the abundant wildlife. At this time of year, we can see hundreds to thousands of caribou a day, making their way south in a steady stream across the land.

This trip is a photographer’s dream—the tundra is a multi-textured tapestry, ablaze with colors, and the caribou bulls are in their glorious prime, with sleek brown sides and white ruffs, often set off by blood-red antlers as they shed their velvet. In addition, it’s possible to see the northern lights this time of year, since it’s beginning to get dark again for a few hours at night. We have a very flexible schedule on this trip, with abundant day hiking opportunities from leisurely strolls to exhilarating ridge climbs, and with plenty of time for wildlife viewing or photography. We travel through the village of Bettles both coming and going on this trip.

Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and other conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

Since a basecamp trip means that we don’t have to move camp or travel from one place to another, these trips have the most flexibility and are the easiest physically. While the guide will generally lead a day hike every day, not everyone has to do the same thing, or hike the same distance-and just relaxing in camp and enjoying the beauty and quiet of the wilderness is a great option!

Homesick Hawaiian natives, shanghied to work on whaling ships at the turn of the century, named the Hulahula river for the way it snakes across the coastal plain in the Arctic Refuge. On this outstanding river trip, you’ll experience the full range of the Arctic North Slope. Beginning high up in the mountains near the Arctic Divide, you’ll raft exhilarating Class III whitewater in the shadow of the highest peaks in the Brooks Range. The Hulahula river’s pace gentles as it breaks out of the foothills into the boundless expanses of the coastal plain, but the land comes alive with wildflowers, nesting birds and bands of musk ox and caribou. As always on our river trips, we leave plenty of time for hiking and exploring the land.

The Hulahula river journey ends only a few miles from the Arctic Ocean, at the last patch of tundra a plane can use as a landing strip. The flights into this river originate in and return to Arctic Village, a Gwitch’in village on the south slope.

Hulahula River Trip Details

We don’t have set “daily itineraries” since all of our trips are true wilderness expedition-style trips, where we build in flexibility to respond to weather and water conditions, animal sightings, etc. Here is a sense of the general flow of the trip:

Each trip leaves Fairbanks in the early morning of the trip start date, so you need to be in Fairbanks by at least the day before that. We’re scheduled to be back in Fairbanks by late afternoon/early evening of the trip end date. We recommend leaving at least a day’s leeway at the end of the trip in scheduling other travel plans, since there’s always a chance of getting weathered in at the pickup point.

We’ll be spending 4-6 days rafting down the river, with 3-6 hours a day on the water. There will be several layover days on the trip, where you can go for long or short day hikes or just relax in camp (not everyone has to do the same thing).