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Top Reasons to Go | Getting Oriented | What’s Where | Planning
Updated by Jenna Schnuer
Alaska’s Interior remains the last frontier, even for the Last Frontier state. The northern lights sparkle above a vast, mostly uninhabited landscape that promises adventure for those who choose to traverse it. Come here for wildlife-rich, pristine land and hardy locals, a rich and quirky history, gold panning, nonstop daylight in the summer, or ice-sculpting competitions under the northern lights in winter. Outdoors enthusiasts can enjoy hiking, rafting, fishing, skiing, and dogsledding. And don’t forget to top off the experience with a soak in the hot springs.
The geology of the Interior played a key role in human history at the turn of the 20th century. The image of early-1900s Alaska, set to the harsh tunes of countless honky-tonk saloons and the clanging of pans, is rooted around the Interior’s goldfields. Gold fever struck in Circle and Eagle in the 1890s, spread into Canada’s Yukon Territory in the big Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, headed as far west as the beaches of Nome in 1900, then came back to Alaska’s Interior when Fairbanks hit paydirt in 1903. Through it all, the broad, swift Yukon River was the rush’s main highway. Flowing almost 2,300 miles from Canada to the Bering Sea, just below the Arctic Circle, it carried prospectors across the north in search of instant fortune.
Although Fairbanks has grown into a bustling city with some serious attractions, many towns and communities in the Interior seem little changed from the gold-rush days. Visiting the galleries at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center makes it clear how intertwined the Interior’s past and present lifestyles remain. When early missionaries set up schools in the Bush, the Alaska Native peoples were herded to regional centers for schooling and “salvation,” but that stopped long ago, and today Interior Alaska’s Native villages are thriving, with their own schools and a particularly Alaskan blend of modern life and tradition. Fort Yukon, 145 miles northeast of Fairbanks on the Arctic Circle, is the largest Athabascan village in the state, with 599 residents.
Alaska’s current gold rush—the pipeline carrying (a little less each year) “black gold” from the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay south to the port of Valdez—snakes its way through the Interior. The Richardson Highway, which started as a gold stampeders’ trail, parallels the Trans-Alaska Pipeline on its route south of Fairbanks. And gold still glitters in the Interior: Fairbanks, the site of the largest gold production in Alaska in pre–Second World War days, is home to the Fort Knox Gold Mine, which has approximately doubled Alaska’s gold production. Throughout the region, with price of gold down from its highs of a few years ago but still quite lofty, hundreds of tiny mines—from one-man operations to full-scale works—have geared up again, proving that what the poet Robert Service wrote more than a hundred years ago still holds true: “There are strange things done in the midnight sun / by the men who moil for gold.”
Top Reasons to Go
Gold-rush heritage: The frontier spirit of the richest gold rush in Alaska remains alive in Fairbanks. From exploring dredges to panning for gold, chances to relive the past abound.
Stern-wheeler cruises: The riverboat Discovery is an authentic stern-wheeler that cruises the Chena and Tanana rivers, which served as highways long before there were roads.
The gateway to the Arctic: Fairbanks is an essential point for connections to northern Alaska—vast land of the midnight sun and the northern lights.
Dog mushing: The Interior is Alaska’s prime mushing spot. Many people live here just so they can spend every free winter moment running sled dogs.
The U of A: Fairbanks is home to Alaska’s main university campus. This means the best museums, endless cultural events, and all the other perks of a college town, albeit one where winter temperatures drop to −50°F.
Getting Oriented
Interior Alaska is the central part of the state, a vast and broad plateau bordered by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. The Yukon River and its many tributaries, including the Tanana River, are dominant features of the landscape. There are few roads, so most of the villages scattered around the Interior are reachable only by aircraft. Fairbanks is the major town in the Interior and serves as the transportation hub for northern and central Alaska, and is the last place to buy supplies before heading into the Bush.
What’s Where
Fairbanks. With an area population of about 100,000, Fairbanks is Alaska’s northern hub, home to the main campus of the University of Alaska and an important point along the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline. This rough-edged town has a symphony orchestra, Alaska’s largest library, and a vibrant local arts scene, including one of the best museums in the state.
North of Fairbanks. The Alaska wilderness is right at Fairbanks’s door, with hundreds of miles of subarctic wilderness to explore. Hiking, canoeing, dog mushing, skiing, hot-spring soaking, and fishing are part of daily life. A few roads and isolated villages are the extent of civilization here.
Fortymile Country and the Yukon. Fortymile Country yielded some of the first gold discoveries in the state, and today mining operations can be seen along the Taylor Highway. Over the border is Dawson City, the Canadian Klondike Gold Rush boomtown. The Yukon offers countless outdoor activities, such as paddling, climbing, backpacking, and cycling, as well as the best music festival you’ll find north of the border and west of the Rockies.
Planning
When to Go
June and July bring near-constant sun (there’s nothing quite like walking out of a restaurant at 11 pm into broad daylight), sometimes punctuated by afternoon cloudbursts. In winter it gets so cold (−30°F or below) that boiling water flung out a window can land as ice particles.
Like most of Alaska, many of the Interior’s main attractions are seasonal, open from mid-May to mid-September. A trip in May avoids the rush, but it can snow in Fairbanks in spring. Late August brings fall colors, ripe berries, active wildlife, and the start of northern lights season, with marvelous shows, if you hit the right night. Winter-sports fans should come in March, when the sun’s back but there’s still plenty of snow. Festivals are a big part of life in Fairbanks, with the months of February and March bringing the most revelry.
Festivals
Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.
Alaska’s premier cultural gathering takes place over two weeks in late July on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The festivities, which began as a small jazz festival, now attract visitors worldwide for American roots and other music, dance, and literary, healing, visual, and culinary arts. Guests are encouraged to participate in one- or two-week classes and miniworkshops. | Fairbanks | 907/474–8869 | www.fsaf.org.
Golden Days.
A street fair and parade through the city cap several days of events at this July celebration of Fairbanks’s gold-rush past. | Fairbanks | 907/452–1105 | www.fairbankschamber.org.
Tanana Valley State Fair.
This weeklong early-August event is Interior Alaska’s largest annual gathering. If you’ve ever wondered just what a 50-pound cabbage looks like, the fair might be your best chance to find out. You can also peruse the handiwork of local artisans. | 1800 College Rd., Aurora | www.tananavalleyfair.org.
World Ice Art Championships and U.S. National Championships.
An ice-sculpting extravaganza, these competitive events that unfold from late February to late March draw ice artists from around the world. | 3050 Phillips Field Rd. | Fairbanks | 907/388–6388 | www.icealaska.com.
Yukon Quest.
The early-February Yukon Quest calls itself the “toughest sled dog race in the world,” passing through historic early-gold-rush territory. In odd-numbered years the 1,000-mile race starts in Whitehorse, in even-numbered ones in Fairbanks. Both the start and finish are festive events, with huge crowds on hand even when the temperatures plunge. | Fairbanks | 907/452–7954 | www.yukonquest.com.
Getting Here and Around
Air Travel
Fairbanks is the regional air hub. From Fairbanks you can catch a ride on regularly scheduled mail planes to small, predominantly Athabascan villages along the Yukon River or to Eskimo settlements on the Arctic coast. All of the smaller air services operate the mail runs on varying schedules. If you want to visit a particular village, or just have the desire to see a bit of Alaska Native village life, contact any one of the services. Do be aware that not all villages are interested in tourism; some are more prepared than others, and in a few, you’re just going to be a nuisance. And what’s happening where can change fast, with season, with hunting conditions, with weather. Get up-to-date local information before heading out.
With many scheduled flights to bush villages in northwestern Alaska, the Interior, and the North Slope of the Brooks Range, Ravn is a trusted bush-flight service. Warbelow’s Air Ventures flies to 13 villages around Interior Alaska and offers charters and tours, including trips on mail runs to bush villages. From its Fairbanks base, Wright flies to Interior and Brooks Range villages.
Airline Contacts
Ravn Alaska. | 907/266–8394, 800/866–8394 in Alaska | www.flyravn.com.
Warbelow’s Air Ventures. | 907/474–0518, 888/459–6250 | www.warbelows.com.
Wright Air Service. | 3842 University Ave. S | 907/474–0502, 800/474–0502 | www.wrightairservice.com.
Car Travel
Interior Alaska is sandwiched between two monumental mountain ranges: the Brooks Range to the north and the Alaska Range to the south. In such a vast wilderness many of the region’s residents define their area by a limited network of two-lane highways. You really need a car in the Interior, even if you’re based in Fairbanks.
The Steese Highway, the Dalton Highway, and the Taylor Highway (which is closed in winter) are well-maintained gravel roads. However, summer rain can make them slick and dangerous. TIP Rental-car companies have varying policies about travel on gravel roads, so check in advance to see what’s permitted.
The George Parks Highway runs south to Denali National Park and Preserve and on to Anchorage, the state’s largest city, 360 miles away on the coast. The Richardson Highway extends southeast to Delta Junction before turning south to Valdez, which is 368 miles from Fairbanks.
Two major routes lead north. You can take the Elliott Highway to the Dalton Highway, following the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to its origins at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope (you can’t drive all the way to the end, but you can get close). Alternatively, explore the Steese Highway to its termination at the Yukon River and the town of Circle.
TIP Alaskans don’t refer to highways by their route numbers; if you do, you’ll most likely get blank stares.
Tours
Especially if you’re interested in getting out into the wilderness or out to one of the villages, we recommend a tour. It’s far less stressful, particularly if you’d otherwise be faced with tasks that you’ve never undertaken before, things such as driving remote unpaved roads without knowing how to change a tire or, worse, wandering the backcountry with limited previous Alaska experience.
Tour Contacts
Go North Alaska Adventure Travel Center. | 907/479–7271, 855/236–7271 | www.gonorth-alaska.com.
Northern Alaska Tour Company. | 907/474–8600, 800/474–1986 | www.northernalaska.com.
Custom Sightseeing
Alaska/Yukon Trails. | 907/479–2277, 800/770–7275 | www.alaskashuttle.com.
River Trips
Discovery | 1975 Discovery Dr., near Fairbanks International Airport | 907/479–6673, 866/479–6673 | www.riverboatdiscovery.com.
Tanana Chief | 1020 Hoselton Rd. | Fairbanks | 907/450–0768, 888/393–6264 | www.sternwheelerak.com.
Sea and Land Tours
Northern Alaska Tour Company. | 907/474–8600, 800/474–1986 | www.northernalaska.com.
Trans Arctic Circle Treks Ltd. | 907/479–5451, 800/336–8735 | www.transarctictreks.com.
Restaurants
Most restaurants fly in fresh salmon and halibut from the coast. Meat-and-potatoes main courses and the occasional pasta dish fill menus, but most restaurants offer vegetarian choices, too. The food isn’t the only thing full of local flavor: Alaskan pride runs strong, so expect to see snowshoes, bear hides, the state flag, and historic photos incorporated into restaurant decor. As for attire, even in the most elegant establishments Alaskans sometimes wear sweats or Carhartts. Prices in the reviews are the average cost of a main course at dinner or, if dinner is not served, at lunch.
Hotels
You won’t find ultra-luxury hotels in the Interior, but the region does have bed-and-breakfasts, rustic-chic lodges, and national chains, as well as homespun local spots. B&Bs are usually owned by locals eager to provide travel tips or an unforgettable story. If your goal is to experience the Alaskan outdoors close up, there is no shortage of campgrounds here. Prices in the reviews are the lowest cost of a standard double room in high season.
Health and Safety
The main health concerns for travelers to the Interior are high anxiety caused by mosquito attacks and, far more dangerous—and a year-round concern—hypothermia. To protect yourself mentally (and physically) when a cloud of mosquitoes descends, your best bet is to apply DEET, and lots of it. Avoid wearing dark colors such as navy, black, and red, or the bugs will see you first.
Hypothermia, the lowering of the body’s core temperature, is an ever-present threat in Alaska’s wilderness. Wear layers of warm clothing when the weather is cool or wet; this includes a good wind- and waterproof parka or shell, warm hat and gloves, and waterproof or water-resistant boots. Heed the advice of locals who will tell you “cotton kills.” It does nothing to move moisture away from your skin, and can speed the onset of hypothermia. Any time you’re in the wilderness, eat regularly to maintain energy, and stay hydrated.
Early symptoms of hypothermia are shivering, accelerated heartbeat, and goose bumps; this may be followed by clumsiness, slurred speech, disorientation, and unconsciousness. In the extreme, hypothermia can result in death. If you notice any of these symptoms in yourself or anyone in your group, stop, add layers of clothing, light a fire or camp stove, and warm up; a cup of tea or any hot fluid also helps. Avoid alcohol, which speeds hypothermia and impairs judgment. If your clothes are wet, change immediately. Be sure to put on a warm hat (most of the body’s heat is lost through the head) and gloves. If there are only two of you, stay together: a person with hypothermia should never be left alone. Keep an eye on your traveling companions; frequently people won’t recognize the symptoms in themselves until it’s too late. For the person it’s happening to, except for the shivering, hypothermia is really kind of peaceful, so watch out for each other and stay dry and safe.
Money Matters
ATMs are widely available in all the cities, and most of the towns; if you move out to the villages, though, take cash and don’t expect to find much in the way of banking services.
Best Bets for Different Travelers
For those traveling with kids:
• Pioneer Park in Fairbanks
• Riverboat Discovery in Fairbanks
• Beringia Centre in Whitehorse
For travelers who want to immerse themselves in the landscape but aren’t so keen on roughing it:
• Gaze up on the northern lights from the warmth of a winter dip at Chena Hot Springs.
• Take a Klondike River float trip, from Dawson.
• Take an organized trip up the Dalton Highway, the northernmost highway in the country (bonus: great views of the Brooks Range, the tundra, and beyond).
For those who want to experience an Interior few tourists see:
• Chicken and Eagle in Fortymile Country
• Dawson when the Yukon Quest comes through in February, but be ready for temperatures cold enough to make car tires explode.
For those who want to experience Alaskan culture:
• Eskimo Olympics in Fairbanks
• Take a day trip to Fort Yukon.