Iniakuk Lake Wilderness Lodge

Iniakuk Lake Wilderness Lodge was built in 1974 by Bernd and Patricia Gaedeke, who felled the spruce logs by hand on their honeymoon and finished the main structure by the end of that summer. Their son John Gaedeke, raised at the lake, now runs the operation as a second-generation Brooks Range guide.

The all-inclusive lodge flies guests out from Fairbanks to the lake and private cabins near Gates of the Arctic National Park, with float trips, fishing, caribou viewing and midnight-sun hiking in summer, and northern lights, dog mushing and photo safaris in winter. The family's approach centers on small groups and individual attention from a personal guide — in their words, 'We built it, we own it, we maintain it, and we love it.'