3 Days in Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Museum of the North sits on a ridge above the campus in an angular building designed to echo Alaska's landscapes and auroras, opened in 2005 and 2006. It's the only research and teaching museum in Alaska accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

The star is Blue Babe, a 36,000-year-old mummified steppe bison dug out of the Alaskan permafrost, a reminder of the mammoth steppe that once covered this whole region. The museum also owns Bus 142 from Into the Wild, but it is in storage, so don't come for it. Give the rest two hours.

Right next to the museum is the Geophysical Institute, set up by Congress in 1946 to study space physics, the atmosphere, ice, permafrost and earthquakes. It publishes the Aurora Forecast, the page every Fairbanks resident and tour guide checks, with a three-day forecast, a less reliable 27-day outlook and live sky cameras.

It uses the Kp scale from 0 (calm) to 9, and 5 and up counts as a geomagnetic storm. Under the oval a modest Kp can still show lights, so clouds matter more than the number: check the cloud forecast too. The best window is roughly 9pm to 3am.

Fairbanks has an odd local claim: it's a Thai food town. Thai House opened in 1989 in a former Chinese restaurant and was the first, and by 2014 there were at least 14 Thai restaurants in the borough, far more than any other Asian cuisine. Lemongrass Thai Cuisine, a family-owned place in a strip mall since 1996, is a short drive from the museum. Spicy curry is what the cold calls for.

The Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center on Dunkel Street is Fairbanks' visitor information desk, and it's free. The main exhibit, How We Live: The People and the Land, is a 9,000-square-foot multimedia display about Interior Alaska's Alaska Native peoples and its history, with a replica fish camp, a hunting camp and a public use cabin you can step into.

Alaskaland, better known as Pioneer Park, is a 44-acre city park on the Chena River that opened in 1967 as the Alaska 67 Centennial Exposition, a century after the purchase of Alaska from Russia. It became Pioneer Park in 2001, and the borough voted in April 2026 to go back to Alaskaland (effective 4 September 2026), so expect both names on signs. It has historic cabins and the 1933 stern-wheeler Nenana, a National Historic Landmark.

In winter the shops, restaurants, train and salmon bake are closed, so it's a walk past snowy cabins. An hour at midday is enough.

Each February and March the World Ice Art Championships, run by Ice Alaska, turn the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds into towers and castles of carved ice. Come after dark, when they're lit.

2027 dates: Multi Block 15-20 February, Double Block 23-25 February, Single Block and the Fairbanks Open 28 February to 2 March, Youth Classic 9-11 March. Hours and tickets aren't posted yet.

The rest of the season there is no ice to see, so spend this slot at the Fairbanks Distilling Company in the old City Hall. Its tasting room offers a small free sample.

Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge is only about 2 miles (3 km) from downtown, reached by a well-maintained paved road, and it has open fields and wooded trails away from the brightest lights. It's the easy first night: no tour, no long drive.

The strongest shows are easier from darker spots, but a first look from here teaches you what the aurora looks like. To the eye it's often a pale green arc before it starts moving; photos show more color than you will.

The resort is at mile 56.5 of this road, and the drive takes about 1.5 hours in winter, through the Chena River State Recreation Area, past frozen rivers and black spruce. Two-wheel drive usually works, but all-wheel drive is recommended when there's snow. Moose are common here, so go slowly, and fill the tank in Fairbanks.

The gold-mining brothers Robert and Thomas Swan found the springs in August 1905, after Robert went looking for hot water to ease his rheumatism. The Aurora Ice Museum, built in 2005 from over 1,000 tons of ice and snow, is open every day of the year at a steady 25 F (-4 C), with parkas provided. Ages 6 and over.

The real attraction is the hot water outside.

Mushing is Alaska's winter sport, and the Fairbanks area is its heart. The resort sells a 20-minute dog sled ride for $75 (67 EUR), from age 2 up, on a 1.5-mile trail from the Dog Yard, and a 40-minute kennel tour for $25 (22 EUR). Rides run only with enough snow, typically from the second week of November to the second week of April. It's a short ride, not an expedition; other operators around Fairbanks offer longer trips.

The 1,000-mile Yukon Quest between Fairbanks and Whitehorse started in 1984 and hasn't run in that form since 2020, after the Alaska and Canada organizations split. Yukon Quest Alaska now runs a separate 750-mile loop from Fairbanks (2027 dates not yet posted), and the Canadian race starts in Whitehorse on 6 February 2027. Check dates before building a trip around either.

The hot springs are open 365 days a year, and soaking while snow settles on your hair and a frost forms on your eyelashes is the thing people remember. The Pool House day pass is $20 (18 EUR) for adults and open 7am to 11:45pm, but the outdoor hot springs lake is for ages 18 and over; under-18s get the indoor pool and hot tubs.

Go in after the dog ride and before dinner, and wear a hat in the water: wet hair freezes quickly.

Between a 56-mile road and a night tour, eating at the resort is the sensible choice. Eat before the aurora tour, not after.

The resort's aurora viewing tour takes you by military-style snow vehicle up to Charlie Dome, a hill above the buildings, with heated yurts and hot drinks waiting. It runs five hours, about four of them at the top, and it's the best way to be out all evening without freezing. The area is good for the lights, especially around the March equinox. If the sky is cloudy, nothing can be done except try another night.

The Cookie Jar began as a micro-bakery selling cookies, cinnamon rolls and muffins, and has grown into a breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant on Cadillac Court. The dish people mention is French toast made from sliced cinnamon rolls.

North Pole is a town of about 2,200 people 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Fairbanks on the Richardson Highway. A developer renamed it in 1952, hoping to attract a toy manufacturer. Santa Claus House started that year as a trading post run by Con and Nellie Miller, and today it's a big Christmas store with the world's largest Santa statue.

The store sends letters from Santa with a North Pole postmark, and Santa himself is there daily from 9 November to the end of December. Next door, Antler Academy runs reindeer tours.

Drive north out of town on the Steese Highway to mile 8.4 and you'll find the pipeline at the roadside. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System carries oil 800 miles (1,288 km) from Prudhoe Bay to the ice-free port of Valdez. It was built from 1975 to 1977, and the first oil reached Valdez on 28 July 1977. Long stretches are raised on more than 78,000 supports, because the warm oil would melt the permafrost under a buried pipe.

The line zigzags on purpose, so it can flex with the stretching and shrinking of the steel as temperatures swing.

A little further up the Steese is Fox, 11 miles (18 km) from Fairbanks, where Silver Gulch has brewed since 1998 and calls itself America's most northern brewery. The brewpub is the easy place for a burger, beer cheese soup or a brick oven pizza. For something fancier, the Turtle Club is about half a mile away, a fine-dining spot since 1950 with steak and seafood, dinner 5-10pm. Reserve ahead.

Cleary Summit is about 20 miles (32 km) north of Fairbanks at 2,233 feet (680 m), with several pull-outs and a clear view over the valley. The road has sharp turns and steep sections, so all-wheel drive is recommended in snow. Murphy Dome, 25 miles (40 km) away at 2,877 feet (877 m), is the other high viewpoint.

If you'd rather not drive, the Aurora Borealis Lodge runs evening tours with hotel pickup around 10pm, a warm lodge with big north windows from 10:30pm to 2am, and a return around 2:30am. The 2026-27 season is 20 August to 15 April, closed on Thanksgiving. It's the final night: stay as long as you can, and if it's cloudy, check whether the sky is clearer a few miles away before giving up.