Visitors can travel along Arctic Refuge’s waterways and coasts by a variety of watercraft. Many visitors plan their trips along a waterway, getting dropped off at an upstream location and picked up at a predetermined downstream location. Inflatable rafts are common on the larger waterways, but rafters traveling to the coast can be challenged by extreme headwinds. Particularly hardy visitors often use packrafts to cover long distances across this vast landscape.
People are drawn to Arctic Refuge's waterways and coasts because water is essential to life. Rivers are the arteries of Arctic Refuge's landscapes, vital for maintaining thriving populations of fish, wildlife and people. This place is home to countless named and unnamed rivers teeming with life.
Three rivers in Arctic Refuge are part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, which protects free-flowing waterways that have extraordinary natural, cultural and recreational qualities. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 established this National System to protect free-flowing conditions, water quality, and each river’s unique characteristics. These protections provide for people’s enjoyment now and ensure that these American landscape treasures remain for future generations to come.
Poster: Wild and Scenic Rivers of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge