Nome is a city in the Arctic region of Alaska. It is a town of about 4,000 people, about half of whom are Alaska Natives. It is the transportation and commerce center for Northwest Alaska. It also is the western terminus of the Iditarod Trail.

Nome and the Bering Sea

Understand

Climate

The Nome region has a tundra climate, with cool summers and very cold winters.

Nome (Alaska)
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D       0.9     13 −3       0.9     15 0       0.7     19 2       0.8     28 14       0.9     43 31       1     55 41       2.1     58 46       3.2     56 44       2.5     49 37       1.6     35 23       1.2     23 11       1.1     17 2 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation+Snow totals in inches    Data from NOAA (1981-2010)
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D       23     −11 −19       23     −9 −18       18     −7 −17       20     −2 −10       23     6 −1       25     13 5       53     14 8       81     13 7       64     9 3       41     2 −5       30     −5 −12       28     −8 −17 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation+Snow totals in mm

History

Nome's main claim to fame is a gold rush that happened at the turn to the twentieth century and caused the population to grow to over 20,000. There is still gold and mining, with the area being the home base for the reality TV series Bering Sea Gold, but the gold lying openly on the beaches is a thing of the past. It was the end point of the 1925 serum run to Nome from the port city of Seward to fight a diphtheria epidemic in town, an event which inspired the 1995 animated film Balto.

Visitor information

• 1 Nome Visitor's Center, 301 Front St., ☏ +1 907 443-6555. (updated Dec 2017)

Get in

By plane

• 1 Nome Airport (OME  ^IATA). This is the only way to get into Nome other than the Iditarod Trail, as the rest of the roads in Nome do not connect to other parts of Alaska. Nome Airport offers flights to Anchorage and Kotzebue with 2 Alaska Airlines, 3 Bering Air, Pathfinder Aviation, and Ryan Air operate to many smaller communities in Alaska. Bering Air operates charters to the Russian Far East. (updated Apr 2020)

By ship

Cruise Ship: There are a couple cruise ships a year that stop in Nome as part of a trip through the Northwest Passage.

Get around

Car, bus, and taxi.

See

Salmon Lake

• 1 Bering Land Bridge Visitor Center, 1st floor of the Sitnusak Building on Front St., toll-free: +1-800-471-2352. Daily, 10AM-6PM. Free. (updated Sep 2016)
• 2 Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum, 100 W. 7th St., ☏ +1 907 443-6630, museum@ci.nome.ak.us. M-Th Noon-7 PM, F-Sa Noon- 6P M. $7 Adults, $6 Youth and Elders, Free First Fridays of the Month. 
• The Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Finishes in mid-March in Nome. Iditarod events take place during the whole month.  
• The Iron Dog Snomobile Race. Runs from Wasilla to Nome and back in February. Snowmobile races are also held most weekends in winter.  
• 3 The world's largest gold pan. (18 ft) in Anvil City Park. 
• Katirvik Cultural Center, 100 W 7th St, ☏ +1 907 443-4340. (updated Jan 2018)

Do

Finish line of the Iditarod

• Bering Sea Ice Golf Classic. 3rd Saturday in March. Golf on the frozen Bering Sea. 
• Nome Discovery Tours, ☏ +1 907 443-2814, discover@gci.net. Pan for gold, historical or tundra tours, Eskimo village visits or customize. 

Buy

The Bering Sea in June

• Maruskiyas of Nome, ☏ +1 907-443-2955, fax: +1 907-443-2467, james@nome.net. 

Eat

• 1 Milano's Pizzeria, 2824 Front St, ☏ +1 907 443-2924. (updated Jan 2018)
• 2 Subway, 135 East Front St, ☏ +1 907 443-8100. (updated Jan 2018)
• Polar Café, 205 West Front St, ☏ +1 907-443-2661. 

Drink

A reindeer in the bed of a pickup truck outside the Nome Liquor Store and Grocery in 2009

• Breakers Bar, 243 West Front St, ☏ +1 907-443-2531. 
• 1 Gold Dust Saloon, 315 West Front St, ☏ +1 907-443-2323, info@nomenuggetinn.com. (updated Jan 2018)

Sleep

• 1 Aurora Inn, 302 E. Front St, ☏ +1 907-443-3838, toll-free: +1-800-354-4606, aurorainn@gci.net. 68 units. 
• 2 Nome Nugget Inn, 315 West Front St, ☏ +1 907-443-2323, toll-free: +1-877-443-2323, fax: +1 907-443-5966, info@nomenuggetinn.com. 42 rooms. 
• Bering Sea Bed & Breakfast, 1103 E. 5th Ave, ☏ +1 907 443-2936, handelnd@nome.net. 
• Sweet Dreams B and B, ☏ +1 907 443-2919. 

Go next

• Council — No-one has lived in Council since 1990. However, the population can pass 100 in summer, when inhabitants of Nome drive to Council to stay in one of the abandoned homes as a vacation home. It is accessible via the Nome-Council Highway, a 72-mile dirt road, in a pretty wooded valley.
• Solomon — a tiny town that is next on the Iditarod Trail
• Teller — at 200, a sizable town for this part of Alaska, near the Bering Strait and accessible via the beautiful 70-mile dirt Nome-Teller Highway