[4] The central feature of the preserve is the Noatak River, and is a breeding ground for a variety of commercially important fish.

[4] The Brooks Range has existed since Cretaceous time, and is composed mainly of shales, limestone and chert, with intrusions of igneous rocks from more recent volcanism.

Longer trips can continue through the preserve, although the lower river's braided stream presents difficulties beyond Noatak village.

[6] The 6,569,904-acre (2,658,746 ha)[1] preserve extends westward from Gates of the Arctic National Park along the Brooks Range to the north and the Baird Mountains to the south, enclosing the valley of the Noatak River.

Discoveries at Bering Land Bridge National Preserve imply human occupation as far back as 13,000 years ago.

Similar extrapolation from sites at Cape Krusenstern and at Onion Portage in the Kobuk Valley imply occupation in later times.

Archaeological remains indicate the presence of villages at lake shores in the preserve during the 1600s, which are believed to have been disrupted by disease-induced population decline brought about by contact with Europeans.

[4] Noatak National Monument was proclaimed on December 1, 1978 by President Jimmy Carter using his authority under the Antiquities Act.

Carter took the action after the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) was held up in Congress.

[4] The preserve's headquarters are at the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center in Kotzebue to the west of the park on the Bering Sea coast.

[9][10][11] The units are managed together as the Western Arctic National Parklands, with a single Park Service superintendent in charge.

[12] A 3,035,200-hectare (7,500,000-acre) portion of the Noatak valley was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1976, prior to the preserve's establishment,[13] and was withdrawn from the program in June 2017.