“Now we were alone between the fringes of spruce by a clear stream where the tundra went up the sides of mountain … it was, in all likelihood, the most isolated wilderness I would ever see”.
~ John McPhee, Coming into the Country
Few people know that Alaska is home to one of the earth’s largest desert areas. In fact, this Arctic Polar desert covers an area of 5.4 million square miles, and encompasses a landscape of wild and unusual beauty like the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes inside Kobuk Valley National Park.
Located just 35 miles above the Arctic Circle, the Alaskan desert is one of the least-visited national parks in America. There are no roads, no trails, no facilities, and no rangers. The only accessible mode of transport to Kobuk is by plane. Intrepid travellers have to contend with dangerously unpredictable weather, with sudden outburst of storms that can make air travel a hazardous affair. Those who brave the challenge of visiting this no man’s land is greeted by a terrain marked by giant sand dunes the size of pyramids rising out of the earth beside treelines and the bend of the Kobuk River (280 miles or 450 km long). As sand dunes go, they look like they’ve been plucked from the Sahara Desert and grafted here, making Kobuk one of the most surreal and mind-blowing sights in the world.
Kobuk Valley’s sand dunes are a relic of the last Ice Age. When the glaciers began to retreat 14,000 years ago, they left behind 200,000 acres of rolling sand dunes along the banks of the 450 km-long Kobuk river. Aerial views provide a sense of the immensity of the Kobuk sand dunes, some of which are over 100 feet tall. Wavy patterns of sand carved by the wind gives the sand dunes of Kobuk Valley National Park the impression of a natural work of art. Epic clouds hovering over a sea of land. An oxbow river bend cuts across swatches of sand in Kobuk Valley National Park.Sparse grasses, sedges, wild rye and the occasional wildflower grow in the shifting sand of the dunes. These plants stabilize the sand and pave the way for a succession of other vegetation. such as mosses and algae, lichen and shrubs.Over a long period of time, around 16,000 acres of sand dunes area has been reclaimed by vegetation, including wildflower and sedges. A touch of color to a vast sandy world. Caribou herds roam the land through natural migration. The Western Arctic Caribou Herd passes through twice a year as they head to and from their calving grounds in the Brooks Range.Signs of the caribou herd’s migration last long after they have crossed the dunes.The sunsets at the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes are a sight to behold. Though there aren’t many locals here, people have lived in the region of the Kobuk Valley for around 8,000 years. Ripples of sand bathed in the golden glow of the sun’s fading light at dusk in Kobuk National Valley Park. The unmissable northern lights of aurora borealis in the late summer months after the countless days of midnight sun. Late August and September are the best viewing months.
