Whether starting from your campsite or the Dalton Highway, you鈥檙e free to explore the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on foot. Unlike many other places, the Refuge has no designated hiking trails. This allows visitors to choose their own path, which helps protect the landscape by reducing concentrated use and the formation of new, unintentional trails.
Take care to avoid damaging vegetation or disturbing rocky surfaces. In the Arctic, trails can form quickly and leave lasting scars on the land. Recovery鈥攊f it happens at all鈥攃an take many years.
Remember, National Wildlife Refuges are places where wildlife comes first. These lands provide vital habitat for animals to feed, rest, and raise their young. As a visitor, you are entering their home鈥攑lease tread lightly and with respect.
Leave no sign of your visit:
- Pack out your trash and any that you find
- Leave your route unmarked
- Leave natural objects and items of antiquity for others to discover.
Protect the Land
- Prevent the creation of trails and worn areas by dispersing use. Choose shoes with low tread soles. If you visit multiple times, alternate your destinations or explore new routes. Consider traveling in small groups (commercial guides limit group size to 7 hikers). Minimize damage to vegetation by resting on rock, gravel, sand or snow.
- Deal properly with human waste. Urinate at least 200 feet (about 70 paces) from flowing water. Carry human waste storage bags, such as 鈥淲AG BAGs,鈥� if you plan to pack out your solid waste; or bring a trowel to bury such waste at least 200 feet from flowing water. Pack out toilet paper.
Respect Wildlife
- Give wildlife the right-of-way and avoid those with young. Animals may respond to repeated disturbance by abandoning their feeding areas, nesting sites, and even their young. If an animal alters its behavior because of your presence, you are too close. Use binoculars and telephoto lenses to observe and photograph wildlife.
- In brushy areas, let bears know where you are. Talk or sing so that animals are not startled by your presence.
- Keep food and trash secure from bears and other animals. Never leave food unattended. Bears that obtain human food may become aggressive toward visitors and may need to be destroyed. If you leave your daypack unattended, store food and trash in a bear-resistant container.
- You may want to carry bear spray after first learning how to use it effectively.