State Parks and National Parks

Selawik, situated about 360 miles northwest of Fairbanks, straddles the Arctic Circle in northwestern Alaska.

The refuge protects estuaries, lakes, river deltas and tundra slopes. The most prominent feature is the extensive system of tundra wetlands nestled between the Waring Mountains and Selawik Hills.

Selawik is located where the Bering land bridge once existed. Plants, animals and humans migrated freely across this land mass connecting Asia and North America thousands of years ago and the region retains evidence of these ancient migrations.

Selawik is a breeding and nesting area for a multitude of water birds migrating between North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Nesting ducks number in the hundreds of thousands.

Thousands of caribou winter on the refuge feeding on lichen-covered foothills. Other common mammals include moose and grizzly bears. Sheefish, whitefish, grayling and northern pike inhabit lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. Sheefish weighing up to 40 or 50 pounds are not uncommon; appropriately, Selawik is the Inupiat word for "place of sheefish."

A portion of the Selawik River is a nationally designated Wild River. The river provides good canoeing and fishing. A limited commercial guide service is available.

Hiking, picnicking and camping are allowed, but there are no designated or developed sites for these activities.

Rafts are used only for short trips at low water.

Photo credits in order: Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.