Arctic National Wildlife Refuge photos
Midnight sunset over dwarf fireweed, or river beauty, along the Marsh Fork of the Canning River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Brooks Range mountains, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
The Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is the nation’s largest refuge at just over 19 million acres, mainly in the Alaska North Slope region. It supports a fantastic animal and plant life diversity within the six different ecozones that span its north-to-south range. Eight million of the acres are designated as “Wilderness.” All Arctic National Wildlife Refuge photos (ANWR) on this site are available to license as stock photography or purchase as fine art prints to display in your home or office.
A Unique Land
Caribou antlers in the Marsh Fork of the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brooks Range mountains, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
The refuge was established in 1960 to protect a fantastic diversity of habitat that is home to 37 species of land animals, eight marine mammals, including the polar bear, 42 fish species, and more than 200 migratory birds that fly from the world over to raise their young.
Accessing the Refuge
Bears on sea ice in the Beaufort Sea, the Romanzof Mountains of the Brooks Range in the distance. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
There are no roads to take you to this rugged and isolated region; therefore, most access is by plane or hiking. Many rivers flow out of the Brooks Range mountains into the coastal plains, offering water access to many paddlers, visitors, scientists, and nature enthusiasts.
Aerial of the wild and scenic Wind River, Brooks Range, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Lapland rosebay on the tundra along the Ivishak river in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brooks Range, Arctic Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Colorful aurora borealis over the mountains near Chandalar Shelf, Brooks Range, Alaska, hovering over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Semi-palmated sandpiper on the tundra in mt; aven wildflowers going to seed, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Hikers in the mountains bordering the Marsh Fork of the Canning River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brooks Range mountains, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)
Geological feature of Polygons on the Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)