Pilgrim Hot Springs

With average high temperatures that rarely top 60 degrees, and average low temps dipping into the negatives in more than one moth, it's safe to safe that you'll probably need to pack a coat for a trip to Nome, Alaska, well into the Arctic Circle. But there's one place, just outside the city, where you can really warm up. Like, up to 170 degrees. Seriously, Nome owes a ton to Pilgrim Hot Springs!   Nome, Alaska is one of the few mining towns in the country that actually survived after the gold dried up. Nearby Pilgrim Hot Springs wasn't so lucky. The town's titular geothermal springs allowed for homesteading in the harsh climate, and provided miners with a place to relax-- sorely needed for those tired from backbreaking work digging for gold in the extreme conditions of the Far North. You can still see some log buildings from 1903 in Pilgrim Hot Springs, but the town's roadhouse and saloon burned down in 1908, after the town's mini-mining boom ended. The town wasn't entirely forgotten, though. In 1918, the Catholic Church purchased land there to build an orphanage, which was desperately needed after WWI and a nasty flu epidemic ravaged the world's population. The orphanage had dorms, a school, a church (obviously) and even greenhouses, all heated by water piped into the buildings from the hot springs-- clever! The orphanage closed in 1941, but it didn't stay shut down for long; the military reopened it as a recreational facility throughout the remainder of WWII. The buildings remain standing today-- it's on the National Register of Historic Places and is being evaluated for development. The main attraction of Pilgrim Hot Springs, though, remains the hot springs. At a nearly-boiling 178 degrees, a dip in the water will make you feel more like you're in the tropics than in the Arctic. The idea of stripping to your skivvies in below-freezing weather might seem insane, but a soak in the steamy, warm mineral water is well worth the cold shock you'll experience before jumping in. -Roadtrippers Pilgrim Hot Springs is a ghost town in the interior of the Seward Peninsula of northwestern Arctic Alaska. Also known as Kruzgamepa, it is located on the southeast bank of the Kruzgamepa River, about 8 miles (13 km) south of milepost 65 of the Kougarok Road. The location gained prominence in the early 20th century because of its thermal hot springs, which made agricultural homesteading possible, and which were adapted to provide a respite for the gold miners of Nome. Early buildings, built 1900-03, were of log construction, and included a log cabin, barn and chicken house. A roadhouse and saloon were built after 1903, but were destroyed by fire in 1908, after the mining boom had ended. After the flu epidemic of 1918, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nome built a large orphanage at the site, complete with a large church, dormitory and school, and living quarters for the staff, as well as greenhouses. These facilities were kept warm by water piped from the hot springs. The site was closed in 1941, but soon reopened as a recreational facility for the military, serving until the end of World War II. When surveyed in 1977 prior to listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the buildings on the s The site is owned by Unaataq LLC, a consortium of area Alaska native corporations which is working on development alternatives for the site, including power generation and tourism.