Kobuk Valley National Park

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes cover about sixty square kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, left from glacial outwash ground to sand and blown into dunes that reach thirty metres and reach summer surface temperatures around thirty-eight degrees - which is not what people expect of the Arctic. The Western Arctic caribou herd, which has numbered in the hundreds of thousands though it has declined sharply in recent years, crosses the Kobuk River twice annually on migration, and the crossing at Onion Portage was a caribou-hunting site for the valley's first Paleo-Arctic people, part of a human story here that goes back at least 12,500 years, though the valley stood empty for long stretches in between. There are no roads, trails or facilities. Access is by bush plane or boat only, and visitor numbers are among the lowest of any park.

The landscape

• Arctic sand dunes - about sixty square kilometres, up to thirty metres high.
• Twice-yearly caribou crossings - of the Western Arctic herd.
• Onion Portage - an ancient caribou-hunting crossing.
• No roads, trails or facilities - access by air or water only.

When to go

June to September; caribou cross in late summer and spring. Several days.

What to expect

Access is expensive bush flying and weather cancels regularly. There are no facilities, trails or rescue infrastructure. The caribou herd has declined substantially and crossings are less certain than they were. Mosquitoes are severe.

Nearby

Kotzebue is west; Gates of the Arctic is east.

Key facts