Here Is The Most Remote, Isolated Spot In Alaska And It's Positively Breathtaking
By Courtney|Published October 06, 2016
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Courtney
Author
Living and loving life in Alaska, Courtney enjoys living a happy life based on simple principles; work hard, be kind, stay humble. She is an avid dog lover with hobbies that include running, fly fishing, hiking & snowboarding.
Finding the most remote, isolated spot in Alaska is truly like searching for a needle in a haystack. As a whole, the last frontier is one big, burly wonderland that is largely uninhabited and filled with hundreds of millions of acres of nothing but raw land. The rugged terrain, extreme temps and limited road system in Alaska keep the crowds to a minimal and the year-round population much lower than anywhere else in the U.S. If you ask the locals, they will all tell you that they love it that way.
We will take peace and quiet over hustle and bustle any day of the week. After searching far and wide, we discovered that out of all of Alaska’s 2,670 named islands and the 663,268 square miles that make up the state, St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea takes the cake when it comes to being the most remote place in the state.
Located far, far away in the middle of the nowhere is a place called St. Matthew Island. Okay, so it's not actually in the middle of nowhere. It's actually in the middle of the Bering Sea.
The island is said to have been originally inhabited by members of the Aleut tribe. However the first recorded attempt at settlement on the island was in 1809 by a group of Russians. During the 1940s the US Coast Guard manned a radio navigation station on the island, but since then there has been little action in the way of human life.
The island itself is tiny (just under 138 square miles) and today it is completely uninhabited and undeveloped. You will not find any industry here or any access to any of your beloved creature comforts like running water and electricity.
Arctic foxes and insular voles are two types of mammals that can be found on St. Matthew Island. Occasionally you might find polar bears roaming on the ice packs in the Bering Sea. Interestingly enough, St. Matthew Island actually represents the southern limit of the range of polar bears in the Bering Sea. So spotting the massive white bears here might be a rare occurrence.
The large rocky and sandy beaches on the island are seemingly endless. Visitors can go beach-combing and check out all the driftwood scattered throughout the shore. If you like long walks on the beach without any crowds in sight, dare to make the long journey out to this incredibly remote area.
This remote island actually does get a little bit of all the four seasons. The fall foliage as the tundra turns bright red is a spectacular sight to behold. If you blink, you just might miss it though - the seasons are truly THAT short.
There are two lakes on the island (North Lake and South Lake) which are said to be filled with fish. The exact species of fish in the lakes is not specifically determined yet it is said that there are over five different kinds on the island, which is more than many other remote islands in Alaska.
The weather conditions on the island are varied but are said to be generally cool, cloudy, humid and windy. In the wintertime the temps can drop pretty low and well below the freezing mark. The average annual temperature is around 38 degrees with roughly 15 inches of precipitation.
In true 'island life' fashion, even the most remote places in all of Alaska offer some of the most glorious sunsets in the world. St. Matthew Island is no exception to that rule. When you're here, you are guaranteed to be rewarded with breathtaking vistas, incredible wildlife and the most raw, rugged displays of the mighty last frontier.
