Nome-Council Road

The 72-mile Nome-Council Road links Nome and the abandoned gold rush townsite of Council (Kautiq), now used as a fishing camp, on the banks of the Niukluk River. Council is the nearest site to Nome where trees are able to grow, the westernmost extent of interior Alaska's boreal forest, dominated by spruce and cottonwood (balsam poplar). The gravel road runs east from Nome along the shore of the Bering Sea and Safety Sound some 33 miles to the ghost town of Solomon, then northeast into the interior of the Seward Peninsula to the south bank of the Niukluk River south of Council, across the river. The road between Nome and Solomon is part of the Iditirod Trail.

At mile 33, just across the Bonanza Bridge, the "Last Train to Nowhere" remains of a plan to build an extensive gold-rush-era rail system, the Council City & Solomon River Railroad, on the Seward Peninsula, abandoned in 1907.

Wildlife:

Mammals:

Ringed seal, Pusa hispida

Moose, Alces alces.

Musk oxen, Ovibos moschatus, called umingmak in Inupiat.

Birds:

Tundra swans, Cygnus columbianus:

Snow geese (blue morph on left, white morph on right), Anser caerulescens:

Loons:

Pacific loon, Gavia pacifica:

Sandpipers:

Semi-palmated sandpiper, Calidris pusilla:

Wandering tattler, Heteroscelus incanus:

Western sandpiper, Calidris mauri:

Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus:

Ducks:

Common eider (male left, female right), Somateria mollissima:

American wigeon (male, left and rear, female, front), Mareca americana:

Harlequin ducks, Histrionicus histrionicus:

Green-winged teal, Anas carolinensis:

Red-breasted merganser (female left, male right), Mergus serrator:

Northern pintail, Anas acuta:

Greater scaup, Aytha marila:

Black (common) scoter (male left, female right), Melanitta nigra

Jaegers:

Long-tailed jaeger (long-tailed skua), Stercorarius longicaudus:

Thrushes:

Grey-cheeked thrush, Catharus minimus:

Flycatchers:

Say's phoebe, Sayornis saya:

Finches:

Common redpoll, Carduelis flammea:

Wood warblers:

Blackpoll warbler, Dendroica striata:

Leaf (Old World) warblers:

Arctic warbler, Phylloscopus borealis:

Longspurs:

Lapland longspur (Lapland bunting), Calcarius lapponicus:

Sparrows:

White-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys:

Gulls:

Glaucous gull, Larus hyperboreus:

Mew gull (common gull, sea mew), Larus canus:

Falcons:

Merlin, Falco columbarius:

Cranes:

Sandhill crane, Antigone canadensis:

Terns:

Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea:

Aleutian tern, Onychoprion aleutica:

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Last modified 17 July 2021