National Parks In AlaskaOf all the national parks in Alaska, the Gates Of The Artic is not for the faint of heart. You must be self sufficient to see the herds of caribou and survive the elements. This is a 8.4 million acre national park. This is an artic environment that has unmatched glacier valleys and is unspoiled by humans. Since there are no hotels, restaurants, stores, formal trails, roads or campgrounds, you must bring everything that you will need for your visit! To get here, you must be flown in on a bush plane or hike in five miles from the nearest city. If you are one to enjoy solitude, and mother nature's unspoiled land, then you have found the US National Park to meet your needs! Every spring and fall there are three huge herds of migrating caribou that thunder through this national park. Their thundering hooves will more than impress you. Besides the caribou this is home to 145 species of birds, muskoxen, black bears, grizzly bears, showshoe hares, beavers, the red fox, wolves, Dahl's sheep, squirrels, marmots, voles (small mice) and the lynx. This is one of the national parks in Alaska called the tundra. The tundra means, treeless plains. The high elevation prevents the trees from growing here. Weather Freezing temperatures are from September to May every year. June and July are the summer months and it stays light for 24 hours a day. Most people come and stay for about 10 days. Some stay for an entire month. The bugs are really, really bad here! Come prepared by wearing bug jackets, pants, headnets and tons of mosquito repellent. Mosquitoes are here year around. There are over 30 varieties of mosquitoes alone here. Any day of the year you can have sunshine, rain or snow. Activities To Do In The Gates Of The Artic What do you do when you are here in this vast, rugged, isolated national park? Besides being surrounded by the beautiful landscape, you do the typical outdoor activities. Hike, climb the mountains, fish, snowshoe, watch the caribou herds, photography, hunt (just in the preserve) or dogsled. Mount Igikpak National parks in Alaska are know for their high peaks. The highest peak in the gates of the arctic is Mount Igikpak. It tops out at 8,510 feet tall.
The Aurora Lights As soon as it is dark here, the aurora (sometimes also called the Northern Lights), fills the vast sky. Since there is no night in the summer months, you will see these regularly in the spring, fall and winter months here. Map
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