Stay tuned here for our complete Fairbanks Winter travel journal. We had 8 days of snow, sled dogs and the Aurora Borealis. It was amazing, so check back for updates about enjoying Fairbanks and the Interior during the icy cold season!
We went out on a limb and did Fairbanks, Alaska for our spring break. So many people opt for a beach trip during spring break but we went for the exact opposite and it was awesome! Yes, it was cold and yes, there was snow, but it was a blast and the temps and weather were completely manageable. We did 8 days in the Interior of Alaska in March and have lots to share about it!
If you’re unsure if doing a trip to Alaska in the winter or for spring break is something you’re interested in, I think our travel journal of how we spent a week exploring and enjoying the cold will give you some ideas and inspiration for planning your own cold-weather trip to Fairbanks. If you have any questions about our activities or how we packed and planned, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan an amazing Alaska trip!
8 Day Fairbanks Winter Travel Journal
The first question we were asked upon sharing our plan to visit Fairbanks in the winter was whether or not it would be light while we were there. You know, it’s a solid question, but if you think about how the sun moves and how seasons change, you know that the darkness in Fairbanks follows the same pattern for the darkness in the lower 48. There’s the least amount of daylight on the shortest day of the year in December and then anytime after that it gets lighter and lighter. Visiting at the end of winter, we actually had an even split of sunshine and dark, which was perfect for a really active trip AND getting to see awesome Northern Lights. Keep reading to see how we ran our days.
Arrival to Fairbanks, Alaska
Day 1 – We flew to Fairbanks from Jacksonville, FL. If you’re traveling from the East Coast you know this is a long day, but it’s worth it. We had connections in Phoenix and Seattle, and got into Fairbanks just as the sun was setting. After a long travel day, we arrived at Pike’s Lodge on the Chena River and fell right to sleep. In the morning, we did actually get to enjoy the lodge property, and especially the incredible Alaskan art collection.
Yes, Pike’s Lodge is on the river and has fun features and activities (the Aurora Discovery Institute is really cool), but the art collection really is the highlight. Stretching from the lobby to the halls to the dining room and beyond, I’ve never seen such a beautiful and unique Alaska art collection. It actually rivals the Anchorage Museum’s collection. Seriously.
Borealis Basecamp and Dogsledding
Day 2 – We started our day early to head up into the mountains north of Fairbanks to Borealis Basecamp. This is a place for all kinds of winter activities and you can stay overnight in a cube or an igloo. We got to stay in an igloo, the ceiling was nearly all one big window for watching the Northern Lights from your bed. It was pretty cool. The kids had their own igloo just down the snow path from us, and we all had an awesome time. On day one here we relaxed in the lobby yurt, walked around Basecamp, did some snowshoeing and cross country skiing and then had a beautiful dinner looking out across the snow covered hills.
At Borealis Basecamp there are alarms in each of the igloos and cubes that they activate when the Northern Lights start up. The gentle alarm is enough to wake you up and look outside or lay in bed to watch the lights. We bundled up and went out onto our deck and watched the Aurora light up through the breaks in the clouds. We went back to sleep, but kept waking up to check them out through the night. It was a pretty cool experience.
Day 3 – Starting with a walk through the snow, we had breakfast together watching the longest, most lingering sunrise. Being so far north, when the sun rises and sets it takes forever. It’ll be light at 7:15 am and then the sun isn’t above the horizon until 9:15 am. Weird and cool. From there we headed over to the Basecamp Adventure Center for our morning dog mushing. Meeting the dogs and their mushers was great, and the kids really wanted to adopt one of the puppies. I thought the best part was actually going out on the dogsled and mushing through the woods. It was a blast.
When we were done with our Borealis Basecamp time, we made our way back into Fairbanks for the North American Dogsled Championships. I love Alaska and I love musher culture, and being at an actual dogsled competition puts those two things together perfectly. The vibes of the dogs and families and competitors feels a lot like a track meet, but it’s in the snow and it’s a moving event. We started at the Alaska Dogsled Musher Association area and then drove to Creamer’s Field to watch the racers go by, then headed back to ADMA to watch the snowshoe races and Dogsled Championship race end. Super cool experience for everyone.
We closed out the day at the World Ice Art Championships at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting ice slides, ice-based yard games and EXPERT ice art. It was such an impressive setup. The ice sledding was a blast, albeit jarring, but the actual competition carvings in the woods were amazing. There were some wildly complex carvings and sculptures that I couldn’t even imagine being made of ice. It was fascinating.
Fairbanks Arts and Museums
Day 4 – We visit a lot of museums, probably more than most people might when they travel, so you know we had a full museum day when we did Fairbanks in winter. Museums are always a nice break to really active trips or a good way to get out of the weather, and in this case the 7 degree F cold. We started at the Morris Thompson Cultural Center, which is also the city of Fairbanks visitor center. We took our time going through all the exhibits and doing the scavenger hunt, learning all about Fairbanks.
Next up, we headed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus to visit the Museum of the North, which is all about Alaska as a whole. It’s part Alaska history and Native Alaskan culture, part natural history and zoology and part art museum. It’s just big enough to cover a lot and small enough to not give you museum fatigue. And bonus, we got a view of Denali from the museum!
Next up was an afternoon visit to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. I’m not into cars and had this not been suggested we wouldn’t have considered it, but it was actually really cool. This isn’t a car museum like you’d think, but just a very specific antique automobile museum with vehicles and clothing from the absolute earliest days of cars into the Al Capone era. It was nothing that I expected to find in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Today we also wandered around downtown Fairbanks a bit, finding lots of murals and public art installations. There are some great sculptures and beautiful street art pieces downtown, so if you’re heading this way in summer or winter, be sure to keep your eyes peeled. And OH! We also rented snowshoes from REI and went snowshoeing around the Tanana Lakes. It was beautiful and the kids LOVED running through snowdrifts.
Nature and the Northern Lights
Day 5 – I’m saying day 5 even though we started this activity crazy late on day 4. We went up to Aurora Pointe, which is located about 20 minutes outside of Fairbanks. They open at 10:00 pm as a hub for watching the Northern Lights and enjoying the atmosphere with others. Immediately upon getting to Aurora Pointe the lights began! They were dancing with swirls and bars all across the sky. We’d hang out, take some photos and then head inside to warm up with a science presentation, hot chocolate and wine. Then we’d go back outside for more photos. It was an awesome, family-friendly way to experience the Aurora Borealis in Fairbanks.
We decided to sacrifice sleep today for a really cool opportunity. Last minute, we got to join a guided tour from Fairbanks to Denali National Park! Denali NP is one of my absolute favorite places in Alaska, so getting to visit in the winter with the whole family warmed my frozen little heart. Our guide with Northern Alaska Tour Co was Sabrina, and she was so passionate and knowledgeable about the Interior of Alaska, its towns and history. We had a great drive to the park, an indoor picnic at the Denali winter visitor center, and an easy hike looking for wildlife. In summer you get to enjoy off-trail hiking in Denali NP, but we stuck to just one known route for this visit.
It was a surprisingly good wildlife day for us, both in Denali National Park and along our driving route from Fairbanks. We saw five moose, four owls, a bunch of Dall sheep, beautiful willow ptarmigan and more. While we could’ve driven ourselves I suppose, it was so great to NOT have to drive and to get the narration of everywhere we were going and what we were seeing.
North Pole and Chena Hot Springs
Day 6 – Yes, the town of North Pole really does embrace its name. The streets have Christmassy names, the street lamps are candy cane style, and the Santa Clause House is the biggest tourist attraction in town. Our first day here was just enjoying some Christmas out of season, and if you know our family, we’re always down for holiday things. Enjoying the Christmas trees, ornament shopping and taking fun photos was a good break in our busy schedule. Perfect activity before heading up into the mountains.
On our way to Chena Hot Springs we saw two moose on the side of the highway so we stopped to watch them and take photos… and then the Alaska Highway Patrol stopped to yell at us, and rightly so, but they didn’t give us a ticket for stopping in a bad spot. We continued onto the Chena Hot Springs Resort, which I hadn’t been to in 20+ years. After lunch in the cozy, rustic restaurant we checked into our cabin on the river and it was so cool! Yes, rustic. No, no running water. Yes, absolutely comfortable and fun. We all loved it, I just wish we had another night here. Maybe this summer…
Our afternoon included a tour of the geothermal power plant and greenhouses (Chena grows most of their own produce for the restaurant), a visit to the ice museum and dogsled kennels, and then a nice soak in the hot springs rock pool. The kids did their own thing while we enjoyed being in the frosty, beautiful hot springs in 10 degree temps.
We ended the night with the coolest experience of the trip: late night snow cat Aurora Borealis tour. Leaving at 10:30 pm, we hopped in the back of a snow cat / winterized transport tank to headed up the mountain above Chena Hot Springs. At the top we experienced the most vibrant, most active Northern Lights I’ve ever seen in my whole life. It was astounding! There were two yurts at the top for warming up with cocoa and board games (for between Aurora bursts) and the atmosphere was awesome. Seriously, this is the coolest experience but it’s chilly and rough, so maybe not for everyone.
Day 7 – Yes, we were the most tired of all the tired people on an epic Fairbanks winter trip, but we mustered and made it to Chena Lakes for our ice fishing experience. The kids were pretty excited to try ice fishing, because it’s such an Alaskan thing and they love fishing, but it wasn’t thrilling. Chris caught lots of fish and basically fed our whole warming hut, but ice fishing isn’t epic like salmon fishing on the Kasilof River or pulling in a halibut for the first time. It was a fun experience though and we had a great time hanging out with the other people in our warming hut.
Our afternoon activity was the kids’ favorite of everything we did: snowmobiling. Snow machining? Which should it be called, because I’ve heard both. Anyways, we went to Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service (who we did our ice fishing with too) and they suited us up for a freezing adventure on snowmobiles. We got some training and then hit the trails with a guide. It was actually a blast and much more fun than I expected. We got up to 50 MPH on the snow machines, cruised across frozen lakes and through the woods, and even got to stop and say hi to a moose right off the path. Awesome way to wrap up our Fairbanks winter trip.
You may have noticed that I haven’t talked about food at all, because that’s not really my thing. Well, I found a restaurant that I have to mention. Soba in downtown Fairbanks is a wonderful, immigrant owned authentic Moldovan cuisine restaurant. It was the most delicious food of the trip and we all loved it. The staff was awesome and the only guy who spoke English was so happy to talk about Moldova, the menu, the music and more. I cannot wait to come here again in the summer!
The Alaska Railroad Aurora Winter Route
Day 8 – The trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage (or in reverse) is on a lot of people’s bucket lists. I get it. The scenery is gorgeous and it’s such a different way to experience Alaska. We dropped off our rental car and got a ride back to the train station with our pal, Jerry from the tourism board. He helped us plan and execute this whole crazy fun week. Shout out to him for trusting us to share the stories of the local tour guides and unique experiences in Fairbanks. We couldn’t have done this trip without his support.
Book the Alaska Railroad Aurora Winter Route here!
Once at the Fairbanks train station we boarded with Adventure Class tickets and got situated in our assigned seats. Since this is the Aurora Winter route and not as busy as the summertime Alaska Railroad service, we had free range to move around to different seats and to the bistro car as we liked. We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard and were genuinely surprised by the quality and service.
The actual train ride was really fun and relaxing, especially after a week of being on the go constantly. We saw 6 moose from the train, got to roll through the towns of Nenana, Denali Park, Talkeetna and into Anchorage at sunset. We had beautiful views of the Alaska Range, Talkeetna Mountains, Denali herself, and a perfectly still crossing over the Knik River. The ride absolutely met and even surpassed my expectations of winter train service. 10 out of 10, 5 stars.
Need to Know for Fairbanks in Winter
Yes, it’s cold in Fairbanks in the winter. That doesn’t mean that it’s always 50 below 0, but it does mean that you need to pack appropriately and know your limits. We spaced out our time outdoors with indoor breaks and opportunities to warm up. We know that we’re not built for this type of cold, so we’re very conscious of what our family’s needs are. For this trip (mid March), the temperature ranged from -10 F to 42 degrees on our last day. That’s a broad range!
With the swing in temperatures, this has an impact on the roads. When things stay extra cold and there’s no fresh precipitation (rain or snow) the roads maintain a safe, clear state for the most part. Even the roads that remain covered in a thick layer of ice have pretty good traction, so driving looks daunting but is actually not stressful. You still need to be careful, especially if driving on a warmer day where you can see the ice pack melting a little.
The cost of hotels when you visit Fairbanks in the winter is much less than the summer, so that’s a big bonus. While hotel rooms tend to run $300+ per night in the busy summer months, you can get nice rooms all around Fairbanks for $125-$200 per night in the winter. It was actually quite surprising.
What to Pack for Winter in Alaska
We have learned that packing for winter in Alaska or Colorado or anywhere with bitter cold requires a good base layer. This means long johns for everyone, and multiple pairs. You’ll wear them every day that you’re in Fairbanks in the winter. On top of that you’ll want your regular clothes, always leaning towards the warmer side with long sleeve shirts and sweaters. You’ll also want to double up on your socks, even if you’re wearing merino wool or fancy synthetic fiber socks.
We also brought our winter boots and wore them every day too. Even when we weren’t planning activities in the snow, our winter boots were important for both warmth and traction. Sidewalks and parking lots are icy and you need to be safe just generally walking. A good winter coat is also important. You don’t need a thousand dollar down jacket, but a basic puffer or standard coat won’t cut it. Get a coat that has a cold rating, but you don’t need one rated to -50. Just one that acknowledges that it’s a good one for freezing temps.
Something new for us that was a lifesaver up on the mountain in the middle of the night was our electric warming vests. We use hand and toe warmers already, but for this trip we also brought heated vests that run off a power pack. Placed under our winter jackets, these vests were perfect for keeping us safe and warm, and keeping kids from complaining in the cold.
That does it for our Fairbanks Winter travel journal. We’ll provide a detailed itinerary that YOU can use and lots of information about all of our activities and stays. A lot goes into planning a trip like this and it’s a big cost. We’re here to help you with the burden of planning and to pave the way for you and your family to enjoy this beautiful winter destination. If you have any questions or want to share your own tips, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to include more info!
