1971 Map of Sagavanirktok B-4

About this map

Toolik River winds through this North Slope landscape, providing a primary hydrological corridor in a region defined by extensive marshland and seasonal waterways. Surveyed in the early 1970s using photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs, the map documents the area during a critical era of arctic exploration and infrastructure planning. The terrain is notably marked by a Winter Road and various segments of a Winter Trail, reflecting the specialized transportation networks required to navigate this environment before permanent road systems were fully established. These seasonal routes were essential for movement across the tundra when the ground was frozen, connecting remote survey points and potential resource areas. The presence of the Base Line survey boundary further illustrates the systematic effort by the Department of the Interior to organize and map this part of the Alaskan wilderness for administrative and geological study.