To see Alaska from the window of a Cessna, Otter or Beaver bushplane is not just a rush to the senses; it's also a great way to lay your eyes upon the vast amount of unscathed land that no train or automobile can reach. The sky-stroking peaks, the miles of ice, the flats of tundra riddled with herds of caribou, moose, roaming grizzly bears and musk ox - it's all breathtaking and potentially life-changing.

Equally enchanting, but in an entirely different way, is a flightseeing trip over the fast tundra areas, the impressive Yukon River Valley, along the mighty Brooks Range and the Alaska Pipeline in Northern Alaska. Soon you'll cross the Arctic Circle and receive the official artic circle vertificate. Long ago the great sheets of ice that stretched from Siberia to the interior of Alaska melted, and what's left is a haunting and flat, treeless, cold desert, chiefly inhabited by bear, caribou and musk ox. In the fall, the long, green tundra grass atop the layer of permafrost turns an array of colors and during the summer time you enjoy 24-hours of daylight within the "Land of the Midnight Sun".

Land 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle at the Brooks Mountain Range community of Coldfoot, the modern day gateway to the Gates of the Arctic National park. Take in a brief orientation and restroom break before continuing on your air journey.
Experience the rugged and magnificent Brooks Mountain Range. The flight route takes you inside the Gates of the Arctic National Park, the wild and pristine jewel of the national park system.

Gates of the Arctic covers 13,238 square miles, sprawls 800 miles from east to west and is entirely north of the Arctic Circle. It extends from the southern foothills of the Brooks Range, across the range's ragged peaks and down onto the North Slope. Most of the park is a maze of glaciated valleys and gaunt, rugged mountains covered with boreal forest or treeless slopes of Arctic tundra north of the divide. Enjoy your return flight to Fairbanks.