Simon Paneak Memorial Museum, Alaska, United States

5ljtraveler_11 5:00 PM Oct 13, 2017

What a Pleasant Surprise!
To say that Anaktuvuk Pass is off the beaten path would be an understatement. It is located in Gates of the Arctic National Park which was our primary reason for taking this day trip. Anaktuvuk Pass is a small inland Eskimo village which is not accessible by road. You have to hike in or fly in. We were lucky enough to have one of the locals tour us around the village during our visit. Mickey was awesome and extremely knowledgeable about the area, history and residents - he did grow up there and had great stories. As part of our tour he took us to this museum. What an amazing surprise to find a museum of this quality in such a remote place. The displays and information housed here was fabulous. And it was even more special because so many of the folks featured in the exhibits were relatives of our guide. We were blown away by this place. If you happen to visit this unique, remote place - don't miss this museum.

4Antiquetuck 5:00 PM May 5, 2019

Who would have thought such a nice museum would be in such an out-of-the-way place.
You have to understand - Anaktuvuk Pass is not only 'off the road,' it's almost off the map is you're just looking at a single topographical spread. It's more than 50 miles to anywhere - omnidirectional! The only way to get there, realistically, is to fly. It is truly in 'the middle of nowhere.' The 'lore' of the origin of Anaktuvuk Pass (I was told anaktuvuk stands for 'the place where the caribou cross') is interesting, especially for a place that is 'only on the map.' Again according to what I was told, it literally wasn't even a 'place,' not even a true hunting camp, until someone figured out that the three families living within 30-50 miles in different directions from here could get better supplies, mail and flight/transportation of they 'banded together.' So they 'met in the middle.' According to Wikipedia the Anuktuvuk Pass post office is "the most remote in the nation." Flying, snowmobile in the winter, and hiking in the summer are really the only ways to get there. (PERIOD) ATV's, while a common traveling vehicle during the non-snow-covered times, aren't really usable for the 50+ mile trek over the mountains and swamps; it's not necessarily impossible, but that becomes a real maybe when the exposed summer terrain is taken into consideration. It's a nice place to visit - expect to spend an hour or two if you're interested in looking around. It can take a long time to look at, read, study and digest most things of this sort.