Anaktuvuk Pass is located above the Arctic Circle in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, between the Anaktuvuk and John rivers in the central Brooks Range.
About Anaktuvuk Pass (Iñupiaq: Naqsraq; Anaqtuuvak)
Inaccessible by road, this remote village is a Nunamiut Inupiat settlement. Wildlife in the area includes caribou, moose, grizzly bears, and a variety of birds. Residents depend on subsistence activities like hunting caribou and trapping for food, and also offer guiding services to visiting hunters.
Things to do
The village, with a stunning backdrop of the Brooks Range, is a jumping off point for backcountry adventures such as backpacking and floating the John River in Gates of the Arctic National Park. The Anaktuvuk Park Ranger Station can provide information on terrain and backcountry camping requirements.
A number of day tours operating out of Fairbanks offer Anaktuvuk Pass tours. On these full-day tours, visitors fly from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass on a small plane and spend an hour or so in the village on a guided tour. These tours give visitors the opportunity to see rural life in Alaska and learn the history and subsistence culture of the area’s Nunamiut people. These tours typically run in the summer, from June – August.
The village’s Simon Paneak Memorial Museum focuses on reviving and preserving the history of the Nunamiut. Exhibits present the early natural, geological, and cultural history of the Anaktuvuk Pass area, including the migrations of people across the Bering Land Bridge. Traditional clothing, household goods, and trapping and hunting implements are on display.
Visitor services include a grocery store, health clinic, two lodging options, and designated camping area.
Getting to Anaktuvuk Pass
The village is 260 miles northwest of Fairbanks and can be reached by scheduled airline and air taxi flights from Fairbanks.
Visitor information can be found at the Anaktuvuk Pass Ranger Station, Anaktuvuk Pass (907-661-3520).