Marion Creek Campground

Marion Creek Campground is nestled on the south side of the Brooks Range in the Middle Fork Koyukuk River valley, five miles north of Coldfoot. It offers vistas of the Brooks Range and access to the nearby undeveloped trail up to Marion Creek falls, and makes a perfect basecamp for exploring Alaska's Brooks Range. Sites are first-come, first-served. This is a remote area with limited or no cellular service; more reliable service can be found five miles south in Coldfoot. The roads, tenting areas, and parking aprons have a gravel surface. There are 27 sites, three of which are accessible, and fourteen are pull-through, allowing easy access for RVs. The campground has potable water, vault toilets, and trash receptacles, and each campsite has a fire ring and picnic table. There is no electricity and no dump station. A camp host is onsite, and firewood is available. The Brooks Range offers excellent recreation opportunities, with undesignated routes to explore from the Dalton Highway. Hiking is plentiful up and into the mountains where ridges and drainages provide firm footing, and the forest thins to low-growing tundra; hiking east from the highway will lead you to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while hiking west takes you towards Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Choose your route with care, let someone know where you plan on going, carry bear deterrent, and bring topographic maps, a GPS, and a compass. There are several excellent river trips along the Dalton: the Jim River and Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River (Class I-II, with several access points along the highway); the Atigun and Sagavanirktok rivers (Class III-IV+ whitewater for expert boaters only, with access to the Atigun at Milepost 271 and the Sag at MP 306); and the Ivishak Wild and Scenic River (Class II, reached by chartered air service from Deadhorse or Coldfoot). Panning for gold is allowed on a few federal stream segments along the Dalton Highway south of Atigun Pass (Milepost 244), but no panning is permitted in the pipeline right-of-way (27 feet/8.2 m on either side of the pipeline) or on federal mining claims without permission, and suction dredging is prohibited in the Utility Corridor. Bird watching, wildflower spotting, fishing, bicycling and hunting round out the options. State statute prohibits off-road vehicle use within 5 miles either side of the highway from the Yukon River to the Arctic Ocean. The campsites are situated in a spruce forest with wide views of the Brooks Range, and namesake Marion Creek is only a short walk from the campsites. The area provides habitat for squirrels, voles, marten, lynx, wolf, moose, and grizzly and black bears. A variety of birds migrate north to breed in the area and further north; year-round residents include ravens, grouse, chickadees, hawk owls and Canada jays. Campers can experience 24-hour daylight during a period of about 30 days around June 21, and abundant light the rest of the summer season. In late August and into September, bright fall colors in trees and tundra extend for hundreds of miles, and the sky gets dark enough that you have chances to see the aurora borealis. The original gold rush town of Coldfoot was located on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River near the mouth of Slate Creek. It got its name in 1900 when early prospectors reportedly got "cold feet" and left before winter set in. Today it is a small community serving truckers who drive the haul road to Prudhoe Bay, as well as visitors, with a cafe, lodging, a post office, diesel and gasoline fuel, and limited repair service. The Arctic Interagency Visitor Center there, a partnership between the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has interpretive exhibits, nearby nature trails and knowledgeable staff, and is open daily from 11:00 a.m. until 9 p.m. from late May to mid-September, with nightly programs at 8:00 p.m. The historic mining village of Wiseman is a few miles to the north: just after crossing Middle Fork of the Koyukuk Bridge #1, take the turnoff to the west and follow the signs three miles (5 km). Established in 1907 when miners discovered gold in nearby Nolan Creek, the town was once a bustling community, and many residents today continue to subsist by hunting, trapping, and gardening. All buildings in the Wiseman area are private property unless noted, so please stay on the roads. Travel further north, over Atigun Pass, onto the north slope and coastal plain to experience the dramatic difference from the boreal forest of the Marion Creek Campground area. The landscape there is more open, affording chances to see mammals such as Dall's sheep, muskoxen, caribou, Arctic fox and Arctic ground squirrels, and birds such as wagtails, wheatears, golden eagles, jaegers, longspurs and shore birds in breeding plumage.