Atigun Pass, elevation 4739 feet (1,444.4 m), is a high mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 across the Brooks Range

Brooks Range

The Brooks Range is a mountain range in far northern North America. It stretches from west to east across northern Alaska and into Canada's Yukon Territory, a total distance of about 1100 km . The mountains top out at over 2,700 m . The range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old...

 in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, located at the head of the Dietrich River.. It is where the Dalton Highway

Dalton Highway

The James W. Dalton Highway, usually Dalton Highway is a 414-mile road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields...

 crosses the Continental Divide

Continental Divide

The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...

 (at mile marker 244), and is the highest pass in Alaska that is maintained throughout the year. Atigun is the only pass in the Brooks Range that is crossed by a road. The pass has been responsible for taking many drivers off the road and is also home to avalanches during the winter.

Atigun is known among bush pilots

Bush flying

Bush flying is a term for aircraft operations carried out in remote, inhospitable regions of the world. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally large tires,...

 for the difficulty of crossing the pass with small planes; Anaktuvuk Pass

Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska

Anaktuvuk Pass is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 249 at the 2007 Census Bureau estimate.-Geography:...

 is favored as the safer flying route..

The pass is often shown on the third and fourth seasons of the History Channel reality series Ice Road Truckers

Ice Road Truckers

Ice Road Truckers is a documentary-style reality television series that premiered on History on June 17, 2007.-History:In 2000, History aired a 46-minute episode titled "Ice Road Truckers" as part of the Suicide Missions series...

, which focuses on the challenges of driving on the Dalton Highway.