Brooks Range

Farthest northwestern extension of the Rocky Mountain chain. It is made up of a number of smaller ranges that stretch for some 1,000 km/600 mi across northern Alaska, from near Point Hope on the Chukchi Sea (in the west) to just over the Yukon border.

Some 240 km/150 mi wide, the Brooks Range forms a significant barrier, especially in the east, to travel between the North Slope and the Yukon River basin. Subranges include two western arms, the DeLong and Baird mountains, and, further east, the Endicott, Philip Smith, Franklin, Romanzof, and Davidson mountains. The mountains are highest in the east, reaching 2,761 m/9,060 ft at Mount Isto in the Romanzofs. At Atigun Pass (1,448 m/4,752 ft) the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline cross the range. The Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (area 30,500 sq km/11,776 sq mi) encompasses Anaktuvuk Pass, much of the Endicotts, and Walker Lake, a registered Natural Landmark. The Brooks Range was named in honour of the geologist A H Brooks, and was formerly known as the Endicott, or Brooks–Endicott, Range.