A brief description of the … It is a clear, arctic river with excellent fishing opportunities and with great wildlife viewing … Bears are magnificent animals, but best seen from a distance. Although camping is unrestricted, wood is scarce and campfires are discouraged. Four more days, and we could have gone to the source and back. We set-up tarps to have a dry camp and paddled in our dry-suits on wet or cold days. We even observed 11 bears congregating along a half mile of river on a tributary of the Noatak River--an impressive density of brown bears so far north in the Arctic.
Noatak River. The river then proceeds through a wide tundra valley into the Grand Canyon of the Noatak and the Noatak Canyon through miles of rolling hills to its mouth at Kotzebue Sound.
The Noatak is one of the longest rivers in our National Wild and Scenic River system, flowing 425 miles … Going 1 mph to 2 mph is a big deal in this country. The Noatak is classified as a national wild and scenic river, and is popular with adventure travelers, river runners, fishermen and hunters. Igikpak, it flows west through glacier-capped peaks and rolling tundra for over 400 miles to the Chukchi Sea. Interior brown bears living above the Arctic Circle are different than the brown bears that live along the coast. You must be prepared for camping in the rain and paddling in the rain. The only permanent settlement along the Noatak River is the village of Noatak. There are small inholdings of private land within the National Preserve, some of these have private cabins. From 1986 through 1988, we studied bears within a 2, 600-mi. From its headwaters in the granite peaks around Mt. 1989g,, Appendix, Fig. You’ll then continue by bush plane southwest to one of Alaska’s most obscure and seldom visited national parks, Kobuk Valley National Park. Noatak River. Igikpak, it flows west through glacier-capped peaks and rolling tundra for over 400 miles to the Chukchi Sea. So all told, we paddled somewhere near 400 miles over 21 days out, including a zero day at the start of the trip and one right near the end. Noatak River Trip – Gates of the Arctic. Many parties have gotten 7-9 days of straight rain, we lucked out and only had 2 days of rain in 10 days. We paddled from the headwaters to Noatak Village, a small Inupiat settlement about 50 miles inland.
All were nice, and my 16 days in Noatak country was special, but 4 more days of backpacking and no river running actually would have made a good trip even better. NPS Photo/Garryck Hampton One of the things that makes Noatak National Preserve special is that both brown bears (also known as grizzly bears) and black bears call it home. 1) .