National Preserves · Alaska
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
National Park Service source material · single source. Source dates and reuse information are available beside each field.
Check the official park website for current access, conditions and visitor information.
Introduction
Background: 1
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve lies at the continental crossroad that greatly influenced the distribution of life in the Western Hemisphere during the Pleistocene Epoch. It is a vital landscape for Indigenous communities who depend on the land just as their ancestors did for many generations. It is a wild and ecologically healthy landscape unlike any other.
Geography
Designation: 3
National Preserve
State or territory: 4
Alaska
Park Map - Bering Land Bridge National Preserve: 5
Map scope: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Map of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve in Alaska. Shown in green, the preserve covers the northern tip of the Seward Peninsula and stretches halfway down the central region of the landmass with a narrow strip reaching the western coast.
History and culture
History & Culture: 6
Seeing ships as they sailed under the Statue of Liberty into New York Harbor is a scene most Americans envision when thinking of the port of entry to the United States. However, imagining the immigration of people traveling on foot into America over the Bering Land Bridge requires a bit more imagination and study.
More than 10,000 years ago, people crossed from East Asia through the Bering Land Bridge into North America not to follow their dreams, but to survive. They followed herds of large mammals (many of them now extinct) to hunt for food and shelter, all the while expanding their civilization and possibly unknowingly populating a new world.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is a small remnant of the land bridge, also known as Beringia, protected for the study of these past cultures, to learn more about the first people who set foot in America, and to support the traditional lifestyles of its residents present and future.
What was once home to mastodons, mammoths, steppe bison, and other ice-age mammals is now the breeding ground for smaller animals like reindeer, muskox, caribou, and moose. Though the animals have changed, the subsistence way of life for Alaskan natives have not. Whether for carving ivory and bone, hunting seals and fishing for food, or picking berries in the spring for Eskimo ice cream, the lives of thos e living on the Seward Peninsula are interminably intertwined with the environment.
The cultural allure of the preserve still attracts scientists, archaeologists, and anthropologists today - many of which are drawn by the search for the origin of human population of the Americas. From Serpentine Hot Springs to the Cape Espenberg, countless research projects are a prominent staple spanning throughout BELA's 2.7 million acres.
"Nothing changes more constantly than the past; for the past that influences our lives does not consist of what actually happened, but of what men believe happened".
Nature
Plants: 7
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is home to a mosaic of plant communities, including a mixture of flowers, grasses, lichens, mosses, shrubs, and even some trees. Each plant community represents a tile within this mosaic, and their development is largely influenced by climate and topography. The plants growing in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and the surrounding area have adapted a shallow root system due to the effects of permafrost – a layer of soil below the surface that remains frozen year-round. Plants can only grow within a narrow band of active soil: the grout that holds each plant community in place. It is exposed to sunlight and moisture, allowing the absorption of nutrients.
The topography of Bering Land Bridge is extremely diverse, ranging from steep mountain ridges to bottomland river valleys. Distinctive plants thrive in terrestrial and aquatic environments, favoring upland ridges and slopes, along meandering riverbanks, and backwater marshes and meadows. Examine just a small section of tundra and you will find it covered with a dozen different species. Each environment represents a unique tile that fits perfectly within the mosaic of plant communities in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.
Environmental Factors: 8
The Arctic is home to some of the most beautiful phenomena on earth, such as the Northern Lights, and at the same time is one of the most fragile ecosystems, vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Explore these pages to learn about the science and local perspectives on environmental factors in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.
Increasing temperatures in the Arctic continue to cause drastic effects on the region's landscapes, waterways, and shoreline.
Also known as the aurora borealis, the northern lights are a breathtaking spectacle that can be witnessed from Bering Land Bridge.
Nature & Science: 9
Learn more about the wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and grasses at Bering Land Bridge.
Serpentine Hot Springs offers opportunities for healing, recreation, and simple solitude.
Visitor centers and places
Bering Land Bridge Heritage Center: 10
Please note that the Bering Land Bridge Heritage Center and Alaska Geographic Bookstore may be closed when severe weather events pose danger to staff and visitors.
Visitor information
Visitation
Sources & field notes
Source records (14)
Select a numbered reference to open a source card. Retrieval dates describe this edition’s source capture, rather than an independent verification or the date of the underlying information.
Background · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Solifluction Lobes in the Bendeleben Mountains. · NPS photograph by David Swanson (NPS Inventory and Monitoring Arctic Network).. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Catalog image date
- 08/09/2017
- Source scope
- Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Public domain:Full Granting Rights
- Rights
- Public domain:Full Granting Rights
Designation · National Park System directory. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.
State or territory · National Park System directory. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.
Park Map - Bering Land Bridge National Preserve · National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source scope
- Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
- Download
- Official map PDF ↗
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Public domain; NPS map
- Rights
- Public domain; NPS map
History & Culture · National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party material may have separate rights. No images copied.
Plants · Plants — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- December 10, 2025
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS webpage text; U.S. government work generally public domain. Third-party material may have separate rights.
Environmental Factors · Environmental Factors — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- October 6, 2023
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS webpage text; U.S. government work generally public domain. Third-party material may have separate rights.
Nature & Science · National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party material may have separate rights. No images copied.
Bering Land Bridge Heritage Center · National Park Service park structured data. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored U.S. government work is generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Physical Address · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Mailing Address · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Telephone · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Recreation visits · National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics. Open source ↗
- Information date
- 2025
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Methodology
- NPS reporting unit; annual total is the sum of 12 monthly recreation visit estimates.
- Reporting unit
- Bering Land Bridge NPRES
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.