Ice, Northern Lights, and Hot Springs in Fairbanks, Alaska

The Trip

Experience one of the best winter months in Fairbanks, Alaska, when the days get longer, the weather warms up (just a little), the northern lights may be visible, and local residents leave their houses at night to visit the World Ice Art Championships at the spectacularly lit Fairgrounds. Couple our active days with returning to Fairbanks’s premier luxury vacation rental and relaxing with warm food and beverage in hand.

The City of Fairbanks is one of the best places in the country to see the northern lights, assuming the weather conditions are favorable. Not only is Fairbanks home to the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, but the Institute issues the aurora viewing forecasts for the entire state. We can’t guarantee we’ll see the northern lights, but it will not be because we did not try.

Our goal is to experience the best of winter in Fairbanks and the surrounding Boreal ecosystems. We will have outdoor activities and indoor educational visits, plus some time in town to visit shops and search downtown for the best coffee and baked goods.

Day 1: Arrive in Fairbanks. We will pick you up either at the airport or at your hotel. We will make our way to our fabulous lodgings for appetizers and our first meal together (dinner). Check-in to the house is not until 4 p.m., so plan accordingly. 

Days 2-7: Our itinerary each day will be depend on the weather, although participants should expect busy days. On day two we will visit the University Alaska Museum of the North, followed by a hike on the groomed trail system in the rolling hills of the scenic UAF campus. Later that day, we will have the opportunity to shop in town for any personal items, including alcohol or additional clothing items that you may want to get after completing the hike today.

On the following days, our planned activities include hiking at the State Wildlife Refuge known as Creamer’s Field, visiting the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center, and spending an evening at the World Ice Art Championships at the Fairgrounds. The Fairground displays are interactive. In addition to the completed ice sculptures that are spectacularly lit up, you can take a ride down one of several elaborate slides made completely out of ice!

For this trip, we are planning a long one-day trip to the Arctic Circle, which is located approximately 200 miles north of Fairbanks. The transportation will be provided by a professional tour company in a heated coach. The Dalton Highway, locally known as the “haul road,” goes north all of the way to Prudoe Bay. As we follow the Alaska Oil Pipeline toward the Arctic Circle, we will pass through the snow-covered Kanuti and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges, make a stop at the frozen Yukon River, and make one or more stops at various scenic overlooks as we approach the southern flanks of the Brooks Range. We will leave from Fairbanks later in the morning, thus allowing us time to search for the northern lights on the return trip back to Fairbanks. The best viewing time for the northern lights is typically between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. In the unlikely event that the haul road is impassable due to weather or some other issue, we will make an alternate but equally scenic excursion to look for the northern lights.

On one of the days, we will travel out of town to a dog-mushing co-op located in Two Rivers, AK. You will meet the dog mushers, interact with the dogs as you help with the assembly of your dog team, then take an exhilarating sled ride into the backcountry. Since guiding your own dog team requires as least one or two full days of instruction, this will be a “ride” in a sled that is driven by a professional dog musher.

On day seven, we will travel about one hour out of town to the famous Cheena Hot Springs. The trip fee includes your entrance fee (including towel) to the outdoor natural hot springs. If you wish, you can book a snowmobile ride or visit the Aurora Ice Bar and Museum (these are not included in the trip fee).

Day 8: Our last meal together will be breakfast on the final day. We will pack and check out of our accommodations by 10 a.m. We transport everyone to either the Fairbanks Airport or to a local hotel. You can plan your homeward flight for noon onward.

Getting There

This trip begins on day one at either the Fairbanks airport or your local hotel (see itinerary).

In lieu of arriving or leaving Fairbanks by air, we recommend checking on the possibility of taking the train between Anchorage and Fairbanks. The train makes a stop at Denali National Park. An overnight night stay at the Park is possible in one of the many hotels there. Otherwise, the one-day train trip between the two cities will not disappoint.

Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip staff.

Accommodations and Food

Our lodging for the week is a beautiful Tudor mansion, complete with fine furnishings and crystal. Plan on shared sleeping quarters, but all accommodations in the mansion are spacious and comfortable. Breakfasts will be at our lodging and most days we make lunches ahead and take them with us on our day’s outing. Except for our planned Arctic Circle trip, dinners will be at the mansion.

As with most Sierra Club trips, the participants will be assigned to help with the meal preparations and/or clean-ups. We may be able to accommodate some dietary restrictions and/or preferences, but we hope to attract participants with an “open palate” attitude. Please discuss any dietary restrictions with the leader before signing up for the trip.

Trip Difficulty

We will be staying in our lodgings for the entire week and will only carry with us what we need for the particular activity of the day. Participants should be able to carry 15 pounds in a daypack, which may include lunch, water, a hot drink in a thermos, camera, binoculars, and extra clothing. The most strenuous activity will be hiking on relatively flat terrain. On each hike there will be a leader and a sweep so no one will be left behind.

Sleeping accommodations at the house require climbing several flights of stairs. 

Equipment and Clothing

Trip participants will be expected to bring winter clothing suitable for outdoor activity in possibly very cold weather. Layering of synthetic or wool clothing is critical in cold conditions to obtain proper moisture management to avoid getting chilled. An equipment list will be sent to you once you are accepted on the trip.

In the event that we experience particularly cold temperatures, there is a fully stocked REI in town where you will able to purchase additional hats, gloves, hand and feet warmers, etc.

Temperatures on our 2022 trip were around +20 F, while the temperatures on our 2019 trip got down to -37 F. You never know what you are going to get!

References

Websites:

• Ice Art Championships: https://www.icealaska.org/

• UAF Museum of the North: http://www.uaf.edu/museum/

• Creamer’s Field: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=creamersfield.main

• Chena Hot Springs: https://chenahotsprings.com/

• Alaska Railroad: https://www.alaskarailroad.com/

• Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center: https://www.morristhompsoncenter.org/

Conservation

The real purpose of Sierra Club outings, which began in 1901, is to follow John Muir’s example of bringing more people into the fold of protecting the earth’s ecology. Muir wrote, “if people could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish.”

On several evenings, we will discuss Sierra Club history, public lands background, the challenges they face, and what the Sierra Club is doing to protect them. 

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.