Prudhoe Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) located in North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population of the CDP was 1,310 people, down from 2,174 residents in the 2010 census, and up from just 5 residents in 2000; however, at any given time, several thousand transient workers support the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. The airport, lodging and general store are located in Deadhorse, and the rigs and processing facilities are located on scattered gravel pads laid atop the tundra. It is only during winter that the surface is hard enough to support heavy equipment, and new construction happens at that time.
Caribou walk across a gravel pad at Kuparuk, 45 miles away from Prudhoe Bay, with oilfield facilities in the background.
July 2018 aerial view of Prudhoe Bay
HMS Tireless on Prudhoe Bay
North Slope Borough, Alaska
The North Slope Borough is the northernmost borough in the US state of Alaska and thus, the northernmost county or equivalent of the United States as a whole. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,031. The borough seat and largest city, comprising nearly 1/2 of the borough’s population, is Utqiaġvik, the northernmost settlement in the United States.
Point Barrow Refuge Station
The Anaktuvuk River flows North toward the Arctic Ocean. Much of the North Slope Borough is characterized by vast, uninhabited gently rolling tundra.
