Summary
St. Matthew Island, America’s most remote place, offers dramatic scenery and unique wildlife that make it a must-visit for adventurous travelers.
Visitors can explore rugged peaks, lakes, and over 140 bird species, including some found nowhere else in the world on this isolated island.
Despite its harsh environment and lack of human settlement, St. Matthew Island is accessible via marine vessel and offers a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for nature lovers.
With its glacial wonders (almost 100,000 glaciers, with over three thousand are in Wrangel St. Elias National Park) and some of North America’s best Northern Lights destinations, there is no other vacation spot like Alaska. With many beautiful hiking trails, incredible wildlife, sea fjords, and majestic mountains – America’s largest state is a photographer’s dream.
Being vast, remote, and wild is what this northernmost state is most recognized for. It has the lowest population density (1.3 persons per square mile) of any state, which makes it the leading state with the largest concentration of lonely places. Actually, of all the most remote destinations in the US, St. Matthew, an island situated far in the heart of the Bering Sea, takes the top spot. So, if you want to explore America’s most remote place — the town of St. Matthew — visit Alaska.
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Alaska Is Home To The Most Remote Place In America
This island is nestled more than 200 miles from the nearest road system
America is home to over four million miles of paved roads, but only 6,181 miles are in Alaska (35% of all the roads in the state). This is less than Vermont, which is 62 times smaller and has 7,226 miles of paved roads.
St. Matthew is located the farthest away from the nearest road system, making it the loneliest place in America. The 30-mile long and about three-mile-wide island is uninhabited and there is no evidence of long-term human settlement.
Photo by Carolyn Fleshman, USFWS under Public Domain, upscaled
St Matthew Island Alaska
Its isolated position and lack of resources that can facilitate development are the reasons it’s an inhabited island, but it hasn’t always remained completely untouched. There is a pit dwelling that’s estimated to be 400 years old, built by the Thules, the Inuits’ ancestors, on the island’s northwestern tip. However, historians believe that the Thules didn’t even live in the house.
The island has received several visits after that, but no one actually settled down there and called it their home. The last time there was an attempt at human settlement was in 1809, when an administrator of Russian America, Demid Ilyich Kulikalov, led a Russian group to the island where they established an outpost. This group is believed to have hunted all the polar bears that inhabited the island and chased them all away between 1809 and 1810.
Even after these dangerous wild creatures left the island, the geographical position of the place — plus bad weather and fog — has always made it a harsh environment, making it hard for anyone to attempt living there.
The village of Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island, located 183 miles (295 km) west-northwest, is the closest human settlement to the island. This makes it one of the farthest places from humans, not just in America, but on the entire globe.
The U.S. Coast Guard maintained a staffed LORAN station on Mathews Island in the 1940s.
Can You Visit St. Matthew Island?
Despite its unlivable conditions, travelers can visit America’s most remote place
Matthew Island is rarely visited, and more climbers summit Denali, North America’s highest peak, than visit this remote place in Alaska. Although its environment may be harsh for human settlement, that shouldn’t stop you from wanting to or actually exploring its wild adventures.
Getting there is only via a marine vessel and a ship ride takes 24 hours to get there. Currently, a portion of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, the island is worth visiting, at least for avid explorers and adventurers.
There are a good number of cruise companies that can get you there on different types of yachts, and whether looking for a luxury cruising experience or just comfortable accommodation, there are multiple options to choose from. There are a good number of cruising services you can go there with, including Yacht Cruise Company.
What To See And Do On Matthew Island
The island’s dramatic scenery comprises ragged peaks and lakes as well as fish and over 140 bird species
St Matthew might be the loneliest place in America, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy of visiting. It boasts a dramatic scenery that comprises ragged peaks rising from the ocean and soft plains. It is also home to two lakes; North Lake and Big Lake, which offer numerous fish species. Although the US is home to many remote lakes you can visit, the ones in St Matthew are just as interesting.
The island’s vegetation is mostly classified as tundra – a treeless landscape comprising sedges, dwarf shrubs, and lichen.
Photo by NASA World Wind under Public Domain, upscaled
St Matthew Island aerial photo
Currently, the only mammals that travelers will find on the island are Arctic foxes and insular voles. It also enjoys occasional visits by polar bears whose game trails are usually seen cut into the tundra.
The island is also home to more than 140 bird species, including three that aren’t found anywhere else in the world; MCBU, Rosa, and a subspecies of the Gray-crowned Rose-Finch, which is why preserving their habitats is a top priority. The island’s bird population includes a significant number of migratory species. The United States Department of Interior described the island as “one of the world’s richest seabird nesting colonies,” making birdwatching a fun activity there.
St. Matthew being the most remote place in America is enough reason to make it your next adventure. The island also boasts unique mammal, bird, and plant species that will make your long hours of ship ride worth it.
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Publish date : 2024-07-15 07:30:00
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