State Parks and National Parks

Yukon Flats, home to more than 150 species of birds, 39 species of mammals, and 18 species of fish, is about 100 miles north of Fairbanks. Here, the Yukon River breaks free from canyon walls and spreads unconfined for 200 miles through a vast floodplain.

During spring, millions of migrating birds converge on the flats, arriving from four continents to raise their young.

The refuge, covering 9 million acres, has one of the highest nesting densities of waterfowl in North America.

By August, the surfaces of 20,000 lakes and ponds ripple with scurrying ducklings and molting adults. Yukon Flats supports more than 2 million ducks and geese that pass through during their migration.

Birds are not the only migratory wildlife dependent on the refuge's wetlands. Salmon from the Bering Sea ascend the Yukon River to spawn in the freshwater streams of their birth. Runs of king, coho and chum salmon spawn in the flats each summer, this is one of the longest salmon runs in the United States.

Mammal refuge residents include moose, caribou, wolves, black and grizzly bears, wolverine, lynx, marten and beaver.

Most summer visitors raft, canoe and kayak on the Yukon Flats' major waterways. Fishing for northern pike is excellent.

There are no roads in the massive refuge.

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