Population 60. Home to one of the longest paved runways in Alaska, one of the world's greatest migratory bird refuges, and some of the largest brown bears on Earth.
Cold Bay sits near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, 634 air miles southwest of Anchorage, on the western shore of the bay that shares its name. It is remote by any measure — accessible only by air or sea — yet its 10,180-foot runway makes it one of the most strategically important airfields in the North Pacific. Beyond the terminal, wilderness stretches uninterrupted for hundreds of miles.
Long before Russian and American contact, the Unangax̂ (Aleut) people lived across the Alaska Peninsula, hunting sea mammals and harvesting salmon. Cold Bay itself was largely uninhabited until World War II transformed it overnight.
In 1942, following Japanese landings on Attu and Kiska, the U.S. Army built Fort Randall at Cold Bay to defend the Aleutian chain. At its peak, the base housed 20,000 troops. Then, in 1945, Cold Bay became the secret staging ground for Project Hula — the transfer of 149 U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Union to prepare for war against Japan. It remains one of the largest and most classified transfer programs in American military history.
Cold Bay's weather is famously unforgiving and famously variable. Marine influence keeps summers cool (highs 55°F) and winters mild (lows 20°F), but wind and rain are constants. Expect 260+ overcast days per year, 40 mph gusts, and the possibility of all four seasons in a single afternoon.
Roughly 60 year-round residents call Cold Bay home. The local economy runs on aviation, fishing, guiding, refuge management, and federal facilities. The airport (CDB) is a critical medevac and freight hub for the Aleutians East Borough.
Ravn Alaska and Alaska Airlines run scheduled service to Cold Bay from Anchorage several times a week. From Cold Bay, bush pilots and boat operators fan out into King Cove, False Pass, and the Izembek Refuge. See our travel guide for schedules, packing lists, and what to expect on arrival.