Visiting the Refuge

The Selawik National Wildlife Refuge occupies a remote corner of Northwest Alaska and a visit to this area will be an unforgettable experience! the refuge is very large and is not accessible by road. Instead, visitors travel as the residents have here for hundreds of years, by boat during the summer, and by dogsled during the winter. In more recent times, snowmachines and small aircraft have made travel to the outlying areas of the refuge more practicable.

A trip to the Selawik Refuge usually begins by traveling from Anchorage to Kotzebue, Alaska. Daily jet service is available from Anchorage to Kotzebue. Kotzebue is the location of the refuge Headquarters, and is not accessible by road. It is the aircraft hub for the many small villages in the Northwest Arctic Borough. From Kotzebue, it is possible to take a small bush aircraft flight into the refuge. Air taxi operators in Kotzebue will fly visitors out to remote locations for hunting or fishing trips, hiking, and other backcountry activities. A few visitors float the Selawik River but low summer water levels can make transport on the upper part of the river difficult. Call the refuge office or visit the Alaska Geographic online bookstore for more information.

Most public use on the Selawik Refuge is in the form of subsistence activities by local residents. Caribou hunting, subsistence fishing, furbearer trapping, and berry picking go on as they have for many hundreds of years. The residents of this area still depend on the wildlife and natural resources of the refuge for much of their food and for the perpetuation of their traditional way of life.

In addition to subsistence activities, the other primary public use of the refuge occurs during fall hunting seasons. Caribou, moose, and bear hunters from other parts of Alaska and the continental United States come to the refuge to pursue hunting opportunities and to enjoy the scenery and wilderness character of the area.

The Selawik National Wildlife Refuge offers wildlife viewing and wilderness experiences that are uniquely Alaskan. Its large tracts of essentially undisturbed natural terrain give the visitor a sense of solitude and a lasting impression of the vastness of the arctic. The Selawik Refuge, and the numerous villages that surround it, embody some of the most representative aspects of life in the “True North”. The landscape remains largely undisturbed by human activities and offers the same challenges and benefits, as it did hundreds of years ago, to those adventurous few who choose to travel here.

Download the Selawik Refuge brochure (766kb).

Last updated: April 8, 2009