The Nome-Taylor (Kougarok, or Kuuguraq in Inupiat) Highway follows the Kouragok River for much of its course. The road begins at the Bering Sea 1.6 miles east of Nome and ends 86 miles north at the Kougarok River Bridge, about 25 miles from the gold-mining area at Taylor, which is reachable by ATV. The road bisects the Kigluaik Range, mostly paralleling an old gold rush railroad bed.
At mile 67.5 the road crosses the Kuzitrin River on what was originally the Cushman Street Bridge in Fairbanks, crossing the Chena River, until it was replaced with a concrete span in the 1950s. The original metal bridge was disassembled, shipped down the Chena, Tanana, and Yukon Rivers and barged up the Bering Sea to Nome. It was hauled in sections up the Nome-Teller Highway and reassembled in its current location in 1958.
Mammals:
Musk oxen, Ovibos moschatus:
Snowshoe hare, Lepus americanus:
Moose, Alces alces:
Birds:
Geese:
Canada goose, Branta canadensis:
Ducks:
Green-winged teal, Anas crecca:
Northern pintail (male, left, female, right), Anas acuta:
Morthern shoveler (male, left, female, right), Anas clypeata:
Greater scaup (male, left, female, right), Aythya marila:
Red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator:
Golden eagle (on nest), Aquila chrysaetos:
Sandpipers:
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus:
Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus:
Gulls:
Mew gull, Larus canus:
Glaucous-winged gull, Larus glaucescens:
Swallows:
Tree swallow, Tachycineta bicolor:
Corvids:
Common raven (nestlings), Corvus corax:
Thrushes:
Bluethroat (male), Luscinia svecica:
Gray-cheeked thrush, Catharus minimus:
Swainson's thrush, Catharus ustulatus:
Wood warblers:
Northern waterthrush, Seiurus noveborsacensis:
Orange-crowned warbler, Vermivora celata:
Sparrows:
Golden-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla:
Savannah sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis:
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Last modified 17 July 2021