Things To Do In Nome

Snow­ma­chines are part of the fab­ric of life in places like Nome, where snow­fall clos­es the roads to cars and trucks for months on end. Snow­ma­chines serve a prac­ti­cal role, trans­port­ing peo­ple and sup­plies. They also allow for back­coun­try explo­ration in win­ter — and are sure fun to race!

When locals want to see trees, they head north on The Nome — Tay­lor Road (also called Beam Rd. or Kougarok Rd.) The 85-mile grav­el road runs north-south and takes 2 hours one-way with­out stops. The route winds past many old min­ing claims, the pop­u­lar Salmon Lake, and offers a side trip to his­toric Pil­grim Hot Springs.

The Nome – Teller Road brings you with­in 55 miles of Rus­sia, and is as close as you can dri­ve to the Bering Strait Land Bridge. The road trav­els 73 miles north­west and takes about 2 hours one-way with­out stops. You end at Teller, an authen­tic Inu­pi­at vil­lage of few­er than 300 peo­ple who sur­vive on a sub­sis­tence lifestyle.

Nome — Coun­cil Road spans 72 miles (East) and takes 2 hours one-way with­out stops. For spec­tac­u­lar bird­ing, sweep­ing coastal views, and the famous ​“Last Train to Nowhere,” explore the Nome — Coun­cil Road. Addi­tion­al high­lights include the Safe­ty Road­house, which is the last stop on the Idi­tar­od Sled Dog Race, and the small com­mu­ni­ty of Coun­cil, which boast­ed a pop­u­la­tion of 15,000 in its heydey.

Head­ing north, there are two turn-offs for tun­dra ridge hik­ing with great views of the sur­round­ing area

Anvil Rock perch­es above Nome, an ear­ly land­mark for gold min­ers and an easy hike for those who want to take in spec­tac­u­lar views of Nome, the Bering Sea, and the Kiglu­aik Moun­tains. Its resem­blance to a blacksmith’s anvil gen­er­at­ed names for many near­by land­scape fea­tures, includ­ing Anvil Moun­tain and Anvil Creek. The hike also promis­es a good chance to see musk oxen, birds, and maybe even rein­deer or red fox.  ...more

Take the hike up Anvil Moun­tain for incred­i­ble views of the city of Nome and the Bering Sea beyond. Run­ning up and down the moun­tain can be done in 22 min­utes, as proven by the local cross-coun­try team. You’ll prob­a­bly want to take it a lit­tle slow­er, to enjoy the tun­dra flow­ers, wildlife and view from the top.

In the 1940s, sol­diers sta­tioned in Nome enjoyed a rope tow up New­ton Peak for ski­ing and ski-jump­ing. The tow line is gone, but this is still a win­ter hot spot for ski­ing and snow­board­ing, and is great for a sum­mer­time hike.

King Moun­tain is just a lit­tle north­east of Nome, pro­vid­ing easy access for day hike up the peak for incred­i­ble views of the Kiglu­aik Moun­tains or the Bering Sea.

Spend a mag­i­cal after­noon hik­ing to Dorothy Falls, which pro­vides just enough vari­ety to feel like a real Alaskan adven­tur­er: a riv­er cross­ing, ascent to a ridge­line, steep descent to the falls and a walk along Dorothy Creek!