Unit 22C

The Nome Mountains and summits like Copper Mountain, King Mountain, and Banner Peak provide the primary high-ground reference points for navigation and glassing opportunities. Coastal features including Safety Sound, Cape Nome, Cape Rodney, and numerous other capes along the Bering shoreline serve as geographic anchors. Key drainages like the Sinuk, Igloo Creek, and Willis Creek offer travel corridors and water sources.

King Island and Sledge Island offshore are notable fixed references. Taylor Lagoon and Twin Lakes provide additional geographic markers. Monument Rock and Mosquito Pass aid navigation through interior valleys.

These scattered landmarks help hunters orient in otherwise vast, open country.

Terrain ranges from sea level to modest summits around 3,850 feet, but the vast majority stays below 2,000 feet in elevation. The landscape is overwhelmingly open tundra and treeless plains, with scattered low mountains and rolling foothills breaking the monotony. Sparse, scattered timber appears in protected valleys and drainage bottoms, but the dominant character is low vegetation, exposed ridges, and wind-swept tundra.

Vegetation transitions from coastal marshes and saltgrass near Norton Sound to inland tundra communities, alpine meadows on higher ground, and willow thickets in stream valleys. This is classic Alaska low-country hunting terrain.

The road network is severely limited at 0.24 miles per road density, with only 378 miles of major roads across the entire 2,140-square-mile unit. Most roads concentrate in the coastal plain near Nome and small communities, leaving the interior accessible primarily by boat, aircraft, or foot. This sparse infrastructure creates natural pressure concentration near road-accessible areas while vast interior country sees minimal hunting pressure due to access barriers.

Private land comprises 71 percent of the unit, further complicating access and requiring knowledge of public land locations and private land permissions. Small communities and historic camp sites provide limited staging points. Aircraft access to remote valleys is the primary method for interior hunting.

Unit 22C encompasses the coastal lowlands and interior valleys of western Alaska near the town of Nome, stretching from Norton Sound inland across roughly 2,140 square miles of predominantly open country. The unit's geography is defined by its transition zone between tundra plains and low mountain terrain, with the seacoast forming a natural boundary to the north and west. The Nome Mountains and their satellite ridges dominate the eastern portions, while the western portions flatten into coastal tundra.

This is remote country with limited road infrastructure concentrated near population centers like Nome, Perkinsville, and Port Safety.

Water abundance defines hunting logistics in 22C. Norton Sound and Safety Sound provide saltwater access, while numerous streams and creeks drain the mountain slopes toward the coast and interior basins. The Sinuk River represents one of the major drainage systems, joined by significant tributaries like Dry Creek, Igloo Creek, Willis Creek, and Wesley Creek. These drainages provide transportation corridors, water sources, and travel routes into the interior.

Taylor Lagoon and other coastal lagoons offer additional water access points. Moonlight Springs and smaller springs scattered through the unit supplement stream water. In this coastal terrain, water scarcity is not a concern, but tidal influence and saltwater intrusion near the coast require local knowledge.

Unit 22C holds populations of caribou, moose, deer, and mountain goat across its varied tundra and foothill terrain. Caribou inhabit the open tundra plains and ridges, with seasonal migrations influenced by coastal weather and forage conditions. Moose favor willow-choked drainages and riparian valleys where they can browse willows and browse.

Deer adapt to tundra edges and low-forest transitions, finding food in coastal vegetation and brush. Mountain goat frequent the Nome Mountains and higher ridges, particularly where steep terrain provides escape routes. Bears use the entire spectrum of terrain from coastal areas to mountain slopes.

Early season hunting focuses on higher elevations and interior country before weather deteriorates. Late season often concentrates on remaining accessible areas near the coast. The challenge is logistics—reaching good hunting country typically requires aircraft support or multi-day boat access.