Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Overview

The Bering Land Bridge was America's original Ellis Island.

For several periods during the Pleitocene Ice Age, enormous glaciers froze much of the earth's water, lowering the sea level by 300 feet. The resulting drop in the oceans exposed an Alaska-Siberia "land bridge" between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago, creating a natural migration route for America's original inhabitants.

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is all that remains of this ancient bridge between Asia and the Americas, at least above water. The sprawling 2.7 million-acre preserve in Northwestern Alaska's Seward Peninsula ranks among the most remote and least-visited U.S. national park areas. Just 42 miles from the U.S. Russian border, the preserve can only be reached by bush plane or boat in the summer, and by dogsled, skis, or snowmobile in winter.

If you want to see an America much the same as the landscape its first inhabitants viewed after the 1,000-mile trudge across the "bridge," head for Bering. The hiking, camping, wildlife watching, and scenery are matchless. And if you go in summer (which is strongly recommended, unless minus-50-degree weather doesn't faze you), you'll have more daylight than you can handle to take it all in. But pack wisely, since "summer" is a relative term and can often mean snow in this frozen corner of the world.

Wildlife Watching
Humans weren't the only Asian inhabitants to migrate to America thousands of years ago, and today the animals here far outnumber the people. The preserve is a bird-watcher's paradise, with more than 170 species including gulls, murres, kittiwakes, swans, geese, hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. If you're more interested in mammals, point your binoculars or camera at the plentiful muskox, grizzly bears, moose, reindeer, wolves, wolverines, and foxes that roam the preserve's endless expanse. If you're lucky, you may spot a polar bear hitching a ride on an ice floe through the Bering straits, the 55-mile gap that separates the United States and Russia. The coastal waters of the preserve also teem with marine life, including seals, walrus, and beluga and bowhead whales. You get the picture. Bring lots of film.

Soak in an Arctic Hot Tub
A quick glance on the map tells you that the Bering Preserve can be one cold place. But one of the preserve's most memorable activities entails a hike to a valley of hot springs the Inupiat natives call Iyat, or "site for cooking." Nestled in a haunting valley bubbling with sulfurous pools and dotted with Tolkienesque granite spires known as tors, Serpentine Hot Springs offer the weary traveler a soothing bath in water that cooks between 140 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The Inupiat believe the valley is home to powerful spirits and still practice traditional healing ceremonies here. Visitors can bathe, relax, hike, enjoy the wildlife, observe the traditional culture, and overnight in rustic bunkhouse-style cabins, which sleep 20 people, casually.

Volcanic Sightseeing
Down south in Oregon, Crater Lake is one the most popular national parks in the Lower 48. But here along the Bering Land Bridge there are four such volcanic-crater lakes, technically known as maar lakes. Thousands of years ago, red-hot magma rushing up from the earth's core collided with groundwater and permafrost ice. The cataclysmic explosions of steam and debris created extraordinary crater lakes. The preserve's maar lakes are the largest craters of their kind on earth, and were formed over a span of more than 100,000 years. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, hike to Devil Mountain Lake, a rare double-crater maar lake that also happens to be the biggest on earth. If you want to witness the devastating power of volcanoes, visit the "Lost Jim" lava flow, which blankets more than 100,000 acres of the preserve.

Kayaking Arctic Waters
If you're into sea kayaking, why not dip your paddle in the waters where the earth's first and best kayakers still ply the waters to fish and hunt? The Bering Preserve is, after all, a peninsula, bounded on three sides by pristine arctic water. Countless barrier islands dot the northwestern tip of the peninsula, offering more inlets, coves, and islands than you could possibly explore in a single trip, let alone a lifetime. Much of the preserve's coastline is that of undulating sand dunes, offering easy spots to beach your craft whenever the mood strikes you. You'll be sharing the water with mammals far bigger than you, including seals, walrus, and beluga and bowhead whales, so exercise caution. And don't forget to watch how the natives do it; you're bound to learn something.

Watching Real "Survivors"
Some of us like to watch suburbanites on TV "survive" a stint on a tropical island, but if you really want to see just how tough and resourceful humans can be, spend some time among the native Inupiat of the Bering Preserve. These hardy people survive in a climate that would quickly overwhelm any inhabitant of the Lower 48. Many of the Inupiat still eke out a subsistence lifestyle as their forefathers have for thousands of years, harpooning seals, herding reindeer, and constantly staving off the very real threat of death from cold or starvation. The Inupiat have managed to create a rich cultural and spiritual life that belies the often barren landscape. Both the preserve and surrounding native villages offer opportunities to observe and learn more about this fascinating culture. Don't pass it up.