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Fairbanks, Interior and Arctic Alaska
Chena Hot Springs

THE GREENING OF FAIRBANKS

Some examples of sustainability in a northern climate: Chena Hot Springs Resort’s groundbreaking advances in sustainability equals success for this natural hot springs. Pike’s Waterfront Lodge recycles and reduces their carbon footprint with solar energy and nontoxic products. The Cold Climate... more
Blog - Find Your Park

THE OTHER NATIONAL PARKS

Leave all roads behind you to experience a one-of-a-kind adventure into the wild of two awesome national parks (the story other than Denali): Wrangell – St Elias finds stunning glaciers, compelling mining history, and four mountain ranges and nine of North America’s 16 highest peaks tower within its... more
Aurora

THE AURORA DISPLAYS ROCK IN THE FAIRBANKS...

Why do we have some of the best aurora viewing in the world? Fairbanks sits under what is called the Auroral Oval, a ring-shaped region around the North Pole. Our location offers a great balance of occurrence, frequency and activity. Intensity varies from night to night, with the best viewing from... more
Arctic/Dalton Highway

ICE ROAD TRUCKERS

Head for the “Top of the World”… Look for adventure on the ultimate road trip via the “Haul Road.” Truly a wilderness journey the road offers tundra, mighty rivers, wild animals and vistas to die for. Go north on the Dalton Highway cross that geographic line and earn an Arctic Circle certificate... more
Golden Days

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH

our town and connects us with a vast array of rivers throughout the Interior. Waterways literally are the roads that connect our villages and cities together. The mighty Yukon, Tanana and Chena Rivers are all bustling with year-round activity from boating in the summer to snow machining and dog... more
UAF Museum of the North

ENJOY THE STILL LIFE

One of the signature features of the University of Alaska Museum of the North’s expansion is the “Place Where You Go to Listen.” Award-winning composer John Luther Adams created an ever-changing musical ecosystem that gives voice to the actual real-time rhythms of daylight and darkness, the phases... more
Golf

FORE!

Add another notch in your golfing belt by teeing-off at 10pm during the summer and play 18 holes in daylight! Share the northernmost golf courses where a fox may abscond with golf balls. An extremely long sunset is followed by an extremely long sunrise during many of our summer days here in the... more
World Ice Art Championships

SIMPLY ASTONISHING

View larger-than-life-size blocks of ice are transformed into truly beautiful works of art at the annual World Ice Art Championships late February through early March. Be a kid again on your hands and knees in twirlees, slides and mazes constructed of Fairbanks ice – known as the “Arctic Diamond”.... more
Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center

MORRIS THOMPSON CULTURAL AND VISITORS CENTER

The Land and People of Interior Alaska is the focus of interpretive themes for our new building that opened in late 2008. A first-of-its-kind public/private partnership between the Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau, Tanana Chiefs Conference Cultural Programs, Denakkanaaga, Alaska Public Lands... more
Native art at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center

WITNESS RURAL ALASKA LIFESTYLE

Learn from the subsistence lifestyle of Athabascan Alaska Natives whose ancestors have inhabited this land for thousands of years. Of the 42 tribal communities in Interior Alaska, only 11 are accessible by road. Now reached primarily by bush plane, the villages were built on the rivers for trade... more
The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

CARS, VINTAGE FASHION AND ALASKAN HISTORY...

The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum collection houses over 70 historically significant automobiles produced in the United States prior to World War II. Can you believe U.S. car manufacturers used electric, internal combustion and gas powered motors as early as the late 1800s? Historical Alaskan... more
Midnight Sun Festival

ZANY UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN

Midnight Sun Festival is Fairbanks’ largest one-day event and held downtown each summer solstice in June for 12 hours. The annual baseball ritual on summer solstice played with no artificial lights at 10:30pm is the Midnight Sun Baseball Game. The Alaska Goldpanners have yielded major league... more
Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

MULTI-DISCIPLINE STUDY-PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL...

The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival is the dream and reality of local retired music educator, Jo Scott, who has attracted Cab Calloway and others. Professionals and novices alike learn more about art and the art of performance. Want to play the steel drums? more
Fairbanks Ice Museum

HAVE AN ICE DAY

Sipping that martini from an ice glass and photo ops of ice sculptures can be yours year-round at the Aurora Ice Museum at Chena Hot Springs Resort. Or in summer, go to the Ice Museum in downtown Fairbanks to learn about the World Ice Art Championship or the wonders of the aurora. more
Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge

GOOD MIGRATIONS

Ducks, geese, sandhill cranes and other migratory birds make Fairbanks their home in transit. Got 5 minutes? That’s how close they are to downtown. While checking out the bird scene embark on a nature hike through the boreal forest and witness the flora and fauna of the region year around. more
The Sternwheeler Tanana Chief

HONORABLE SPUDS

Our Tanana Valley yields over 60 varieties of potatoes that are celebrated at the annual Potato Extravaganza in September, where each course is spud-friendly. Ever try an all blue potato-stuffed quesadilla with crab and chorizo? more
Fishing

FISHING FOOLS

The best-kept secret of Alaskan fishing are the voracious and hard fighting Arctic grayling. Whether you want to embark on a fly-in to a close by yet remote lake or if you just want to jump in your car and head to a local fishing hole, big ones can be found throughout the interior. more
The Silver Gulch Brewery

ROADHOUSES, TRUCK STOPS AND LODGES

The ultimate community centers provide respite for travelers: Manley, Rika’s, Black Rapids, Chatanika, Hilltop, Bettles, Coldfoot to name a few. These cool places tell great stories- many dating back to the gold rush days. more
Yukon Quest

KIDS TAKE TO THE RUNNERS

Junior Yukon Quest trains the young ones for what lies ahead in conjunction with the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race each February. more
Iron Dog Snowmobile Race

GO FAST OR GO HOME

What do skis and snowmachines have in common? See it at the Arctic Man. Alaska’s 4th largest city for one week in April, watch Sno-Cross and drag races in the HooDoo mountain wilderness! more
North Pole

NORTHERNMOST OR FARTHEST NORTH OR MIDNIGHT...

All in a name and Fairbanks is full of it. more
Tanana Valley Farmers Market

DO THEY REALLY GROW THERE?

Hibiscus, Asian pears, grapes, corn, apples, you say? Learn the secrets of gardening in Alaska’s Interior. Farmers markets are huge in our town where the sun never sets. Veggies and flowers love the light and grow and grow and grow. more
Denali

DENALI NATIONAL PARK

Just a short two hour drive down the highway. Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, rises 20,237 into the sky and is North America’s highest peak. Steeped in history, glorious to view the mountain beckons like no other. About a two-hour drive from Fairbanks, Denali National Park is a magnificent... more
Golden Days

FUN, FREE OR CHEAP IN FAIRBANKS

You can find it for $1 or less. See movies, hear lectures, walk back in history, tap your toes to music, watch geese, hike the boreal forests, visit a botanical garden are just some of those things. more