National Park Feature: Kobuk Valley
As artists and wilderness explorers, the team at Anderson Design Group believes that to create amazing original art of the iconic destinations in the U.S and around the world, one should, if they can, physically travel to those places.
Sometimes that's easier said than done, but whenever we can, we hop on planes, trains, and automobiles (and more than a few boats) to go explore national parks, American cities, college towns, state parks, and iconic landmarks around the world.
This past summer, collaborating artist Kenneth Crane and ADG staff writer Ren Brabenec (two of the three co-authors of Wilderness & Wonder: An Illustrated Guide to the National Parks) traveled to Kobuk Valley National Park, one of the most remote parks on the roster.
Pictured below: Ken snaps a photo of Ren holding his National Park Adventure Guide at the visitor center for Kobuk Valley National Park, also known as the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center.
Read on for more information on this visually stunning national park, but first, check out our highlight reel depicting Ken and Ren's adventure in Kobuk Valley:
Fun Facts about Kobuk Valley National Park
For a sneak preview, the following fun facts are excerpted from our Wilderness & Wonder national parks coffee table book:
- Kobuk Valley National Park is an undeveloped Alaskan wilderness with no roads, bridges, or trails in sight. As one steps off the air taxi or dog sled and onto the migratory paths of Arctic caribou and the Inupiaq tribes who follow them, one feels taken back in time as they walk in the footsteps of those who've lived off this land for thousands of years.
- The park's most iconic feature is by far the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, the largest dune field in the Arctic. Glaciers and prevailing winds formed dunes, some of which reach more than 100 feet high. These natural forces created a landscape (and summer temperatures) not unlike the American Southwest.
- Visit the park from late-August through October to potentially view the Northwest Arctic caribou herd make its annual migration. The migration of over 200,000 caribou from their calving grounds in the north through the park to their wintering grounds in the south is one of the last great large mammal migrations left in the world.
- From at least 6000 BC to the present, Inupiaq tribes have met at the Kobuk River to harvest caribou and process the animals for food, clothing, and tools.
- More caribou travel through Kobuk Valley National Park each year than humans, making these animals the park's #1 visitor and its keystone species. The preservation of the caribou herd and the wilderness they migrate through provides scientists with an increasingly rare opportunity to study large mammal migration. These studies, combined with conservation efforts, may one day provide the information we need to reestablish long lost mammal migration patterns in Alaska and beyond.
To learn more about Kobuk Valley National Park (and all the other national parks for that matter), we recommend reading Wilderness & Wonder: An Illustrated Guide to the National Parks, or 63 Illustrated National Parks: Updated Edition. Both books showcase the incredibly detailed and combined works of several writers, researchers, illustrators, photographers, and book designers.
Pictured below is an image of the Kobuk River. Ren was able to snap a shot of the river as the team flew over a small human settlement. Because it is both a national park and a preserve, different rules govern Kobuk Valley than other parks. For example, some individuals and members of certain Native American tribes are allowed to harvest resources and even live within the park.
A Day in Kobuk: What to Do and What to See
People choose to visit Kobuk Valley National Park in a variety of different ways. Some arrange to have bush planes drop them off and then come back and pick them up a few days later so visitors may hike, backpack, camp, and fully immerse themselves in the park. Others take a boat up the Kobuk River or one of its tributaries so they may explore the park by waterway.
If all you have is a day to see the sights, sounds, and smells of Kobuk Valley, here's what we recommend:
See the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. This is an iconic and totally bizarre natural feature, a stretch of sand dunes that looks like the Sahara Desert, but in Alaska's interior! And within the Arctic Circle no less!
Swing by Onion Portage. If you visit at the right time, you may spot the absolutely epic caribou migration.
Learn about the traditions of the Inupiaq people. Indigenous tribes have engaged in subsistence living in the park for thousands of years.
You can also learn about subsistence living at the visitor center in Kotzebue, Alaska, pictured below.
Take a flightseeing tour. Because there are no roads, bridges, or established trails in Kobuk Valley National Park, one of the best ways to see the park is from the sky. Schedule a flightseeing tour to access the park from an airplane, and make arrangements to have the plane drop you off for an hour or two so you can explore the park. This is the method Ken and Ren used to access the park. They hired Golden Eagle Outfitters for the flightseeing tour.
Go fishing on the Kobuk River. Secure the proper permits and spend the day fishing along the Kobuk River, which also doubles as a convenient way to move through the park. There are also a few isolated communities located up and down the river that one may visit.
An assortment of photos from Ken and Ren's trip into Kobuk Valley National Park are depicted below, the first one showcasing an alarmingly large grizzly bear paw print!
Kobuk Valley National Park Travel Advice: What's the One Thing I Should Know?
One could spend hours talking about travel advice and helpful tips and tidbits for Alaska's national parks, but for the sake of brevity, if there was one thing that folks should absolutely know about traveling to Kobuk Valley, it is this:
Kobuk Valley National Park is remote.
Most national parks in the Lower 48 have well-established infrastructure, are connected to and accessible via public roads and highways, have identified trails and landmarks, and have a strong human presence. Kobuk Valley National Park is the polar opposite of Lower 48 parks in all these categories and more.
But don't be discouraged. The remote, hard-to-get-to aspect of Kobuk Valley National Park is part of what makes it beautiful, compelling, and absolutely worth the effort.
In a nutshell, the park's remote nature just means one is going to have a very different experience in Kobuk Valley, even during just a simple day trip. For example, accessing the park requires a bush plane or boat. There are no roads into or through the park, so planning a trip to Kobuk Valley looks quite different from planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, Yellowstone, or any of the other Lower 48 parks one can simply drive through.
So plan ahead, prepare, prepare, prepare, and have a very different (yet no less incredible) national park experience! Be sure to visit the dedicated National Park Service website for the park, to get more information and to plan your trip.
Wilderness & Wonder: An Illustrated Guide to the National Parks, IN Kobuk Valley National Park!
One of the best parts of Ken and Ren's experience in Kobuk Valley National Park was the opportunity to take Wilderness & Wonder: An Illustrated Guide to the National Parks, into the park. Ken and Ren co-authored this book with Joel Anderson, Creative Director and Founder of Anderson Design Group.
We borrowed a brief description of the book from our official product listing for this best-selling national parks coffee table book. Learn more about the book below:
Master illustrator Kenneth Crane, ADG Founder and Creative Director Joel Anderson, and writer/researcher Ren Brabenec worked together to publish Wilderness & Wonder, a book for readers of all ages to explore the awe-inspiring aspects of the national parks.
Perfect for outdoor lovers, travel enthusiasts, history buffs, and fans of national park poster art, this book is tabletop decor piece, a jaw-dropping one-of-a-kind gift, and a useful national park guidebook all in one.
Order Wilderness & Wonder as an excellent present and educational resource for the national park enthusiast in your life, and grab a copy for your own coffee table while you’re at it. This book is a fantastic conversation starter!
The book is available as a hardcover coffee table book and a softcover coffee table book.
For inspiration and travel planning in the national parks, be sure to check out ADG’s books and the free information contained in our website’s blog.
For inspiration on future trips or for souvenirs of completed adventures, ADG’s 63 American National Parks poster art collection is a timeless depiction of the 63 national parks in a vintage poster art style that harkens back to the original artwork that first promoted the parks in the 20th century. It is the art of adventure, made by humans, for humans.
Anderson Design Group donates a portion of its annual profits to the National Park Foundation each year, meaning your purchase of national park art and national park books helps fund the protection and stewardship of these iconic places so they can continue to exist and benefit the world for generations to come.
We hope you’re inspired, informed, and ready for the adventure of a lifetime in Kobuk Valley National Park. May you never be the same again!
-Ren Brabenec
Anderson Design Group Staff Writer
Pictured below: Ken Crane looking epic in Kobuk Valley National Park, shot by Ren Brabenec, edited by Ken Crane.
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