Nikolai, AK

United States

Nikolai is a tiny Alaska Native village of 44 people, accessible only by small plane, boat, or snowmobile since no roads reach this remote interior location 300 miles northwest of Anchorage. The village serves as an Iditarod checkpoint where mushers rest during the famous sled dog race each March, navigating through some of the trail's most challenging terrain to reach this isolated community along the Kuskokwim River.