The Steese National Conservation Area in Alaska encompasses 1.2 million acres of public land about 100 miles northeast of Fairbanks. Created by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, the Steese NCA's special values include Birch Creek Wild and Scenic River, crucial caribou calving grounds and home range, and Dall sheep habitat. While various land uses are allowed in the Steese NCA, the area is managed so that its scenic, scientific, cultural and other resources are protected.

The Steese NCA is split into the North and South Units, located on either side of the Steese Highway. The popular Pinnell Mountain National Recreation Trail skirts the edge of the North Unit.

Popular activities in the summer include hiking and backpacking, hunting and wildlife viewing, bird-watching, watching the midnight sun, canoeing and rafting, fishing, and rock climbing. Most rock-climbing occurs on Mount Prindle, located within the Mount Prindle Research Natural Area. This area is closed to motor vehicles but can be reached on foot from Nome Creek valley in the White Mountains National Recreation Area or from Zephyr Creek, a tributary to Faith Creek.

In winter the Steese NCA provides solitude and untouched scenery to those intrepid travelers who explore it by ski, snowshoe, dog-sled, or snowmobile. Sled dog racers in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race traverse the western corner of the South Unit each February."

Learn more about Steese NCA: www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/sa/steese_conserv.html