The Field Atlas
All terrains

Above the trees

Tundra destinations in the USA

Tundra is the ground past the last tree: Arctic coastal plain, Brooks Range valleys, and the short turf on Trail Ridge.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska — Gates of the Arctic in Summer - Aerial View
FrontispieceGates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain

Gates of the Arctic, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Kobuk Valley, and Noatak are Alaska plates with no road in. Kobuk adds an Arctic dune field, so it also sits on the dune chapter. Trail Ridge Road is the paved tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park, listed separately from the Bear Lake plate. Denali remains an alpine plate; the treeless ground there is a note, not this chapter.

Plates
5
States
2

States in this chapter

  • Alaska
  • Colorado

Tundra chapter

The plates

Gates of the Arctic in Summer - Aerial ViewPlate CCCXCV

tundra67.8° N · 153.3° W

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

central Brooks Range, Alaska

A park with no road, no trailhead sign you can drive to, and a range that keeps its distance.

Open plate

Arctic National Wildlife RefugePlate CCCXCVI

tundra68.8° N · 143.5° W

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Brooks Range to the Beaufort Sea, Alaska

Tundra from the mountains to the Arctic Ocean.

Open plate

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, AlaskaPlate CCCXCVII

tundra67.5° N · 159.3° W

Kobuk Valley National Park

above the Arctic Circle, Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, Alaska

Sand dunes in the Arctic, and a river the caribou swim.

Open plate

Alpine tundra along Trail Ridge Road, ColoradoPlate CCCXCVIII

tundra40.4° N · 105.7° W

Trail Ridge Road

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

A paved road that leaves the trees and does not come back for miles.

Open plate

High Alpine Tundra in Noatak National Preserve [1]Plate CCCXCIX

tundra68.0° N · 159.5° W

Noatak National Preserve

Noatak River basin, western Brooks Range, Alaska

A whole river, still undammed, from the mountains to the coast.

Open plate

Asked at the trailhead

Questions already asked

Where can I see tundra in the United States?
Arctic Alaska — Gates of the Arctic, the Arctic Refuge, Kobuk Valley, and Noatak — and Trail Ridge Road in Colorado, above treeline.

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