One of the Arctic Refuge's premier wilderness rivers! A gin-clear jewel rising in the Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range, the Wind River flows southward from the treeless Arctic Divide into the boreal forest. A wide U-shaped valley flanked by dramatic, steep-sided peaks offers spacious, panoramic views, outstanding geology, and a truly remote setting. Here is a river that keeps us busy paddling through its many personalities, from narrow and twisting, coursing swiftly through willow thickets and over shallow braids, then through boulder gardens, to quiet flatwater, and becoming rocky rapids once more, as we pass through limestone peaks and taiga on the southern slopes of the Brooks Range. This is a great trip for intermediate canoeists, or, if you're a beginning paddler, we team you up with a skilled paddler, and you'll quickly become proficient.

Autumn is a great time for the river; the land is a palette of color, and the blueberries and cranberries are ripe. The upper river is outstanding country for hiking; grizzlies and wolves love it, too. Grayling and arctic char swimming below the surface seem close enough to grasp by hand! This is rugged land, far off the beaten path, for adventurous paddlers. Our August departure offers an opportunity to gaze upon the wonders of the Aurora Borealis, experience the coming of autumn, and reap the bounty of the arctic berry crop. Come hike and paddle in a region few have experienced.