Attractions

Most of Nome's original buildings were wiped out by fires or by storms off Norton Sound that tore across the beach and washed away major portions of the business district. A sea wall, completed in 1951, now protects the town. Among the few historic sites that survive are the gold rush-era Board of Trade Saloon, a church, and a bust of Roald Amundsen, who landed near Nome, in Teller, after crossing the North Pole from Norway in a dirigible in 1926. Below the library, at Front Street and Lanes Way, the small Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum (tel. 907/443-6630) contains an exhibit on the town's gold rush. The museum is free and open summer daily from noon to 8pm, winter Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6pm.

In good weather, a pleasant walk is to be had southeast of town, along the beach. Small-time miners may be camped there, but the gold-bearing sand extends for miles more of solitary walking. You can buy a gold pan in town and try your luck, but the sand has been sifted for nearly 100 years, so don't expect to gather any significant amount of gold. The Swanberg Dredge you can see from here operated until the 1950s; a large dredge north of town worked into the mid-1990s. The 38 gold dredges that once operated on the Seward Peninsula crept across the tundra, creating their own ponds to float in as they went. The cemetery, with white wooden crosses on top of a little hill just out of town, also is worth a look.

If you're in the market for walrus ivory carvings and other Iñupiaq arts and crafts, you'll find low prices and an extraordinary selection on Front Street in Nome. Jim West has a legendary collection for sale, assembled in the barroom of the historic Board of Trade Saloon that is attached to a shop on Front Street. The Arctic Trading Post is more of a traditional gift shop and also has a good ivory collection, as does Maruskiyas of Nome. Chukotka-Alaska, at 514 Lomen St., is an importer of art and other goods from the Russian Far East. Alaska Native art you find in Nome is likely to be authentic, but still ask.

Road Highlights -- None of the three roads radiating from Nome has services of any kind -- just small Native villages, a few dwellings, and some reindeer herders -- so you must be prepared and bring what you need with you, including insect repellent and a good spare tire. The visitor center provides a road guide. Here are some highlights:

The Nome-Council road heads 72 miles to the east, about half of that on the shoreline. It turns inland at the ghost town of Solomon, an old mining town with an abandoned railroad train known locally as the Last Train to Nowhere. The engines were originally used on the New York City elevated lines in 1881, then were shipped to Alaska in 1903 to serve the miners along this line to Nome. This is a scenic spot for bird-watching, and fishing is good in the Solomon River, all along the road. Council, near the end of the road, has a couple of dozen families in the summer. A 3-foot-deep river separates the road from the village.

The Nome-Taylor road, also known as the Kougarok Road, runs north of town 85 miles from Nome over the tundra and through the Kigluaik Mountains, eventually petering out and becoming impassable. About 40 miles out, you reach lovely Salmon Lake, with a lakeshore campground with picnic tables, grills, and outhouses. A few miles farther, a road to the left leads to the 125° Pilgrim Hot Springs, near a Catholic church. Access is limited to when the caretaker is on hand, so check with the visitor center before going.

The Nome-Teller road leads 73 miles to the village of Teller, which has 266 residents and a store. It's an opportunity to see an authentic Arctic Native village.