The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is among the best places in North America for viewing wild animals in their natural settings. It encompasses an incredible variety of terrain, from coastal lagoons to barrier islands, arctic tundra to boreal forests, and an expansive inland mountainous region.

The Brooks Range, with peaks and glaciers to 9,000 feet, dominates the Refuge. These rugged mountains extend east to west in a band 75 miles wide, rising abruptly from a flat, tundra-covered plain. This treeless expanse is cut by many braided rivers and streams. South of the continental divide, rivers wind serpentine courses through broad, spruce-covered valleys dotted with lakes and sloughs.

Wildlife here is well adapted to the Arctic, able to withstand extreme environmental conditions. But age-old struggles for survival continue on the Refuge just as they always have. Groups of Dall sheep roam the mountainsides, grazing tundra plants and watching for predators. Moose browse willow thickets near rivers and lakes. Herds of shaggy musk oxen forage year-round on the coastal plain, mostly along rivers. Polar bears dig maternity dens in snow drifts during winter, returning to the sea ice in spring to hunt seals.

• Visit the Beaufort Sea Coast in late June to catch site of the 150,000 caribou which form the Porcupine Herd.
• First time visitors should consider taking a guided tour as this vast wilderness can be quite overwhelming.
• Float down the river that transects the southward migration route of the caribou in August.