Deep Interior Alaska lies locked in ice, cold, and darkness most of the year. Winter visitors to Yukon-Charley must be expedition — equipped for survival. Yet, when the rivers freeze and the blackspruce bogs congeal, the land is open to cross-country travel. Returning light and moderating temperatures in March and early April invite experienced winter travelers to explore where human tracks are rare or absent.

Breakup in May flushes the ice from streams and reestablishes the watery regime of wetlands and insects. Summer travel in the Interior depends mainly on the rivers. Most popular is the float trip down the Yukon, with side explorations up major tributary rivers — Nation, Kandik, Charley — and day hikes in bordering highlands. Rafts and canoes, with or without motors, allow the greatest flexibility during the average 5 to 10 day float between Eagle and Circle. Floaters camp on open beaches and river bars, where winds keep down the insects.

Motorized boats may start from Circle and go upriver against the stiff Yukon current. A few people fly with bush pilots to the headwaters of the Charley or other tributary streams and float down to the Yukon and out of the area. Others line their boats up the side-streams. Good upland hiking is available in the mountainous regions. Exposed geological features, historic relics, expansive scenery, magnificent summer skyscapes, and, in the less frequented canyons and uplands, abundant wildlife fill your days with treasured experiences.

As a national preserve Yukon-Charley is open to both sport fishing and hunting under state and federal laws.

Eagle and Circle are historic places whose style of life and weathered buildings recall Athapascan Indian history, gold rush days, the riverboat era, and the frontier spirit. Eagle offers tours of its historic district and Fort Egbert in summer.

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