Welcome

Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge welcomes you!

The 3.5 million acre Koyukuk Refuge lies within the extensive floodplain of the Koyukuk River of interior Alaska, about 270 miles west of Fairbanks. The refuge's rich wetlands combine with lowland boreal forests of spruce, birch and aspen to support a diversity of wildlife, from healthy numbers of moose populations to large waterfowl populations from four continental flyways.

Four-hundred thousand acres of the Koyukuk Refuge are designated as Wilderness as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Situated within black spruce forest is a unique geological phenomenon -- the Nogabahara Sand Dunes. Thousands of years ago sand exposed by melting glaciers was blown into a valley at the base of the Nulato Hills, creating one of only two active dune fields in Alaska.

South of the Yukon River is the 750,000 acre Northern Unit of the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge, locally known as Kaiyuh Flats. A myriad of wetlands make the flats a significant breeding area for waterfowl and fish.

Last updated: July 22, 2008