13 Dec Kobuk Valley & Gates of the Arctic Basecamp II
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!
