Kobuk Valley of Alaska.

The Kobuk Valley National Park is located in the northwestern part of Alaska; established as a national monument 1978, as a national park 1980. The park is located entirely north of the Arctic Circle at the northernmost limit of the coniferous forest zone.

The park itself contains a wildlife rich region along the central course of the Kobuk River. Caribou, grizzly and black bear, wolf, and arctic fox abound. Several archaeological sites indicate that this region of Alaska may have been inhabited over 10,000 years ago.

The Kobuk Valley National Park is surrounded by the Baird and Waring mountain ranges. The park provides protection for several important geographic features, including the central portion of the Kobuk River, the 25-sqaure-mile Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, and the Little Kobuk and Hunt River dunes.

Sand created by the grinding action of ancient glaciers has been carried to the Kobuk Valley by both wind and water. Dunes now cover much of the southern portion of the Kobuk Valley, where they are naturally stabilized by vegetation. River bluffs, composed of sand and standing as high as 150 feet, hold permafrost ice wedges and the fossils of Ice Age mammals.