Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is a 2,697,391-acre preserve on the Seward Peninsula in northwestern Alaska. It protects part of the landscape that once connected Asia and North America during the Ice Age, and has no roads.[1]

Designation

The area was proclaimed a national monument on 1 December 1978 and established as a national preserve on 2 December 1980.[1]

Landscape

Features include Serpentine Hot Springs, with water between 140 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit, the Lost Jim lava flow, and the Espenberg maar lakes formed by volcanic explosions. Trail Creek Caves hold evidence of early human use.[1]

Wildlife

Reindeer were introduced to the Seward Peninsula in 1894, and muskoxen, which had disappeared from Alaska, were reintroduced in 1970.[1]

Visiting

The preserve recorded 2,674 visitors in 2025. Access is by air or boat from Nome or Kotzebue.[1]

Establishment and access

The area was established as Bering Land Bridge National Monument on December 1, 1978, and ANILCA converted it to a national preserve in 1980, allowing subsistence and sport hunting. It covers about 2,697,391 acres on the northern Seward Peninsula, with headquarters in Nome. There are no roads, so it is reached by air or boat in summer and by ski plane, snowmobile, or dog sled in winter [2].

The land bridge

The preserve protects a remnant of the Bering Land Bridge, which connected Asia and North America more than 13,000 years ago during the Pleistocene. Most of the land bridge is now underwater beneath the Chukchi and Bering Seas, and archaeologists still debate whether the first people reached the Americas by this inland route or by a coastal route [2].

Serpentine Hot Springs

Known in Inupiaq as Iyat, meaning cooking pot, and previously as Arctic Hot Springs, the springs have water temperatures of about 140 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the most visited location in the preserve and has been used by local people for millennia. Miners and prospectors used it intermittently until about 1915, and a public bath house was built nearby in 1953 [2].

Volcanic features

The Lost Jim Lava Flow is about 1,000 to 2,000 years old, with around 75 vents. The preserve has four large maar lakes near Cape Espenberg, including Whitefish, North Killeak, South Killeak, and Devil Mountain, with ages from about 17,500 to 200,000 years [2].

Wildlife and reindeer

Caribou are ice-age survivors in the preserve, and muskoxen, wiped out in the early 20th century, were reintroduced in 1970. Siberian tundra reindeer were introduced in 1894 and peaked at about 600,000 animals in the 1930s; the Reindeer Act of 1937 barred non-Native ownership, and the herd has since declined to about 4,000 [2].

Archaeology

The earliest undisputed evidence is Paleo-Arctic relics in Trail Creek Caves dated to about 10,000 to 7,000 BC. Later cultures include the Denbigh, Choris, and Ipiutak, and the Northern Maritime tradition spans about 600 AD to the early 1800s. The preserve recorded 2,674 visitors in 2025 [2].

FAQs

What is the Bering land bridge? A broad land connection between Asia and North America that existed when sea levels were low during the Ice Age.

Are there roads in the preserve? No.

Can you soak in hot springs there? Serpentine Hot Springs, with water at 140 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, is one of the park’s best-known features.

What is Serpentine Hot Springs? A hot spring in the preserve, called Iyat in Inupiaq, with water around 140 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit [2].

Can you drive to the preserve? No, it has no roads and is reached by air or boat [2].

Sources

1. National Park Service: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
2. Wikipedia: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 12, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue