Are you in search of an genuine rustic tenting journey that’s so distant, the wildlife is untouched by expertise and folks? Then the Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is simply what you’re in search of!
Learn on to study all about this park and tips on how to put together in your go to!
The place Is Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park?
Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is a 1.7 million acre (2736 miles) nationwide park in Arctic Alaska. It’s positioned in a big valley across the center space the place the Kobuk River flows.
The Baird and Waring Mountain Ranges encompass the park, forming a form of semi-circle-shaped bowl by which the park sits. This distinctive location protects the geological options within the territory. It additionally provides safety to the migration route of the Western Arctic Caribou as they journey north and south.
The Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is positioned 75 miles east of Kotzebue. That is additionally the place the Customer’s Heart and Park Ranger Station for the park are primarily based.
Easy methods to Get to the Park
There are not any roads that result in this nationwide park. You will get to the park by solely two strategies of transportation.
The primary methodology is to catch a industrial flight into Kotzebue or Bettles, the 2 closest cities to the Kobuk Valley. From there, a bush pilot can then fly you in and drop you into the depths of the valley.
The one different choice for attending to the Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is to take a ship alongside the Kobuk River and float to the world you propose to camp.
Services and Tenting
There are not any designated campsites out there and completely no services for guests to make the most of.
The Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is way from roads, trails, or any indicators of life, aside from wildlife. It’s extremely beneficial that you simply go to the Northwest Arctic Heritage Heart in Kotzebue to talk with a park ranger earlier than journeying to the park.
As soon as you’re inside the boundaries of the nationwide park, the preferred locations to camp are on the Nice Kobuk Sand Dunes. These are positioned within the southeast part of the Kobuk River.
One other fashionable place to arrange camp is the Onion Portage. This part is positioned on the northern financial institution of the Kobuk River. One of many attracts of tenting at this specific spot is that it’s good for watching the caribou that migrate north of the valley within the springtime and south of the valley round Labor Day.
Onion Portage can also be a first-rate location for hikers to climb for a gorgeous view of the Jade Mountains. As well as, Giddings’ Cabin, in-built 1964 and an instance of conventional log constructing strategies, is positioned right here.
Please contemplate abiding by the Go away No Hint rules.
Issues to Do in Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park
There are not any formal mountaineering trails made, however guests are welcome to go the place they’re ready. Mountain climbing, tenting, backpacking, floating on rivers, fishing, and viewing wildlife are all par for the course on the Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park.
One factor to maintain a watch out for is the Kobuk locoweed. This plant is a small flowering herb that’s a part of the pea household and is just discovered inside the Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park!
Reminder: The Park Ranger Station and Customer Heart are positioned exterior the park within the city of Kotzebue. Plan to go to there prior to creating the journey to your campsite.
When Is the Finest Time to Go?
The Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is open year-round.
Summer season is taken into account the favourite time to go amongst most guests. The ice breaks on the Kobuk River in Could and doesn’t start to reform once more till mid-October. From mid-June by July the wildflowers develop in abundance, making it a favourite time for guests to camp.
August brings plenty of rain, and by September the snow will return. Late August is when the aspens start turning colours and when the southern migration of the caribou begins.
The Northern Lights are energetic all yr spherical however are finest seen on the darkest nights of winter.
Observe: The solar by no means units between June third and July ninth.
All About Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park
Historical past
The Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park was proclaimed a nationwide monument in 1978. In 1980 the park went by boundary modifications, altering its official standing to a nationwide park.
The park was shaped from glacial-outwash streams emptying into what was as soon as a big lake contained in the valley. These glacial-outwash stream deposits are how the sand dunes have been ultimately shaped hundreds of years in the past.
Archaeological websites round Orange Portage present proof of 12 thousand years of human occupation. This makes this spot one of many earliest documented locations of human inhabitants on the planet. This park has additionally been discovered to be the house to the wooly mammoth over the last ice age.
At present, the Inupiaq Eskimos nonetheless hunt the caribou simply as their ancestors did hundreds of years in the past.
Geography
The Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park is bordered to the north by the Noatak Nationwide Protect. To the south it’s fringed by the Selawik Nationwide Wildlife Refuge.
The park holds the Kobuk River Valley which incorporates the Kobuk River and Salmon Rivers. It’s additionally dwelling to a area of the Boreal Forest and the Nice Kobuk Sand Dunes.
The Kobuk River is taken into account slow-moving and flows west. This river is 1500 toes at its widest level. General, guests contemplate it to be huge and placid. It’s a nice river to journey by canoe, kayak, or by motorboat.
The Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park sits in a valley with the Baird Mountains to the north and the Waring Mountains to the south.
The Nice Kobuk Sand Dunes sit to the southeast of the Kobuk River. These dunes are well-known for having crests reaching heights of 100 toes! Close by to those are the Little Kobuk Sand Dunes and the Hunt River Sand Dunes.
The Boreal Forests are dwelling to spruce, alder, and birch timber. It sits north of the valley.
Local weather
The local weather is one thing guests will certainly wish to take into accounts earlier than planning a visit to the Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park.
Summer season temperatures common within the 60s, with 70s or 80s within the highs. Nonetheless, temperatures can attain 100 levels in summer time, so bear in mind!
Within the winter months, temperatures common -6 levels. However they will drop to under -50 levels! Plan fastidiously and converse with the Park Ranger previous to tenting presently of yr.
Winds common 5-10 mph all year long. They’ll attain as excessive as 30 mph with the method of a storm.
Warning: At any time of the yr, publicity and hypothermia are vital threats to guests.
Wildlife
With such a distant location and lack of civilization close by, this space is teeming with every kind of wildlife!
This specific territory is taken into account bear nation! Be sure you retailer your meals out of attain of all wild animals, not simply bears. Think about investing in animal-resistant containers previous to your journey.
Along with grizzly bears and black bears, this a part of the nation has moose, wolverines, foxes, porcupines, small fur-bearing animals, wolves, and waterfowl. The rivers are additionally overflowing with fish. And these waters are dwelling to the sheefish!
Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park can also be dwelling to tens of millions of birds. The Arctic tern flies in from the coast of Antarctica, making it the longest migration of any chicken on the planet. Different birds that decision the valley their dwelling are geese, cranes, loons, geese, and swans.
As said earlier than, this valley is dwelling to roughly 500,000 caribou! They start their migrations north within the springtime to achieve their calving floor. They then migrate south within the fall to search out their rutting space.
The migration of the caribou is taken into account one of many nice migrations left on the planet. In complete, the caribou make a 600-mile trek throughout their migration.
What Ought to I Carry After I Go to?
As you’ve learn above, there shall be entry to little or no when you arrive within the valley.
You have to be ready to know tips on how to orient your self and work out which path you want to head. Carry alongside maps, a compass, and a GPS. Primary cell telephones won’t get service within the valley. Carry a satellite tv for pc telephone in case you have one!
Even in the summertime, it could possibly get chilly within the Arctic. The climate can change shortly. Be ready for every kind of climate, irrespective of the season you go to.
Any outerwear you carry must be insulated with artificial supplies. Carry alongside a breathable rain jacket and rain pants.
To the most effective of your skill, keep away from sporting cotton, because it absorbs moisture and might result in hypothermia. The perfect choices for clothes are these made with polypropylene, fleece, wool, or fur.
Even when visiting in the summertime months, carry loads of heat clothes, gown in layers, and have high-quality rain gear. Be sure you have sturdy mountaineering boots. And convey alongside knee-high rubber or neoprene boots for moist terrain.
For those who plan to go to throughout June or early July, carry a face masks so you may sleep even when it’s nonetheless gentle exterior.
Within the winter, the times are quick. The solar is just above the horizon for 90 minutes on December 21. Once more, plan accordingly with this info in thoughts.
Go to Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park
And that wraps up all you might want to know concerning the Kobuk Valley Nationwide Park. Go to a chunk of historical past and plan to make a journey to this nationwide park in your subsequent tenting journey! Involved in discovering different places to camp in Alaska? We’re able to reply all of your questions with 30 of the Finest Locations to Go Tenting in Alaska!
