The Trump-Putin summit meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, is giving the state some well-deserved attention. I loved my recent visit, and also to Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city after Anchorage.
These days, most visitors to Alaska arrive by cruise ship to Anchorage, and although many add on a multi-day excursion north to Denali, not many venture even further north, to Fairbanks. That’s a shame, since this inland city has so much to offer year-round.
Fairbanks is a great destination any time of year, including panning for gold, hiking on a glacier, soaking in hot springs, quirky museums and a traditional Athabaskan native village, spotting wildlife and visiting Santa at his North Pole village, all of which I did on a recent visit.
Like Anchorage, Fairbanks is home to huge US Army and Air Force bases, plus it is is home to the University of Alaska, so there’s a youthful vibe wherever you go.
These days, most visitors to Alaska arrive by cruise ship to Anchorage, and although many add on a multi-day excursion north to Denali, not many venture even further north, to Fairbanks. That’s a shame, since this inland city has so much to offer year-round.
Transportation and More
The most visited destination in Fairbanks is the Fountainhead Auto Museum.
It’s unlike other vintage car museums because only pre-WWII American-made cars and trucks are featured here and because there are equally fascinating displays of clothing and accessories, such as hats and shoes, matched to the period of the vehicles. So the museum is popular with both men and women.
As an example, Bing Crosby’s tuxedo is displayed alongside a yellow and orange 1910 Argonne. If you never heard of that company, you are not alone. It’s one of many American manufacturers which have disappeared, some after producing just two or three vehicles.
The museum also features better-known Ford, Dodge, Packard, Willys Jeep and Stutz models – and their original prices.
Panning for Gold
Fairbanks was put on the map – literally – by the 1860s gold rush, and there are still flakes to be found in “them thar hills”. You can pan for gold yourself on the Gold Dredge 8 tour, as I did.
A vintage train took me to an actual mining site, where guides explain how to swish the pan and water to isolate gold flakes.
My own experience netted about $14 worth of tiny, sparkling flakes. Yes, of course, you can take them home, either loose in a provided canister or encapsulated in a special see-through souvenir key chain or pendant, as I did.
Mineral springs about 30 miles from Fairbanks were discovered during the gold mining heyday by a pair of brothers looking for a place for gold miners to soothe their weary bones and muscles.
100% Powered by Geothermal Energy
The spring they discovered has grown to become Chena Hot Springs Resort with soaking pools, hiking and biking trails and boating in the state park surrounding the resort in non-snow months, and cross-country skiing and snowmobile tours in winter.
There’s also a year-round Ice Museum filled with extravagant ice carvings and where you can have a drink in a glass carved out of a chunk of ice.
In the summer, when there’s 18 hours of sunlight, the Ice Museum is kept frozen by the resort’s geothermal power. Take the free tour of the resort’s geothermal power plant – the resort is 100% powered by geothermal energy – and greenhouses which grow hydroponic veggies year-round for the resort’s restaurants.
Native American History
Explore the Native American history of northern Alaska on the Discovery River Cruise, which includes villages where members of Athabascan and other tribes explain how salmon were caught and processed in family fishing camps, and game hunted and processed in family hunting camps.
There’s also a stop at the dogsled training camp now operated by descendants of Susan Butcher, first woman to win the world-famous Iditerod race, which starts each winter from Anchorage.
Just for fun, a pilot connected with the tour does multiple take-offs and landings on the river for souvenir videos and selfies.
Fairbanks is a university town, and the modern and airy Museum of the North is situated inside the sprawling hilltop University of Alaska campus, with picture postcard views across the valley. There are extensive displays for each of Alaska’s many indigenous tribes, including Yup’ik and Inupiaq, with intricate basketry, birchbark canoes, beading and more, plus contemporary art and mammoth skeletons.
Glaciers Galore
There are dozens of glaciers in Alaska. The one closest to Fairbanks is the Matanuska Glacier, in Matanuska Glacier Park, about two hours fromdowntown. Only guided tours are allowed, both for safety and to control the numbers of visitors.
My group was given spiked crampons to attach to our shoes, to dig into the ice while we walked, and a helmet. The shapes and colors of the ice were mesmerizing. We hiked over sparkling white ice and some turned brown and streaky by meltwater. In the winter there are ice caves to explore. My guide said the glacier is different every day.
Jewish History of Fairbanks
Some of the earliest settlers of Fairbanks were Jewish immigrants from Europe, including the city’s very first mayor, in the early 1900s, and another wave of Holocaust survivors – their papers also are on display. The Alaska Jewish Museum details all their contributions to the city’s growth.
Equally interesting is the section about the role of Alaska Air pilots who evacuated threatened Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1984 in the secret mission known as Operation Moses. It was their skill as bush pilots who could take off and land anywhere which helped make the secretive humanitarian mission a success. Some grateful evacuees have given the museum traditional Ethiopian clothing and other objects.
Santa at the North Pole Village
It’s Christmas year-round at the North Pole, a few miles from Fairbanks, where there are holiday decorations and chotchkes galore, and some reindeer wandering around. Also, Santa holds court year-round.
When I asked him why he was wearing unfamiliar clothing, he told me those are his everyday “casual clothes”, and that he saves the world-famous red suit and hat for when is is working on Christmas Eve. So now you know.
Take the Train
I left Fairbanks for Anchorage on the well-named Alaska Scenic Railroad which travels daily between two cities spring through fall. It’s a relaxing and picturesque eight-hour trip, including jaw-dropping views of Denali, the tallest mountain in the USA, formerly known as Mt. McKinley. The train slows down for photos, when everybody presses to one side of the train.
Some passengers get off the train here, or at the Talkeetna stop to spend time at one of the many guest houses in the area, to hike, bike, watch for wildlife including moose, elk and bear, or just sit on a deck and appreciate its awe-inspiring magnificence.
From May to September, private vehicles can travel the first 15 miles of road into Denali National Park, to a visitor center/museum; tour buses and Jeep tours can travel further into the park.
But Denali and Anchorage are another story for another time.
Find out more about Fairbanks, including restaurant and brewpub recommendations, on the city’s official tourism site, www.explorefairbanks.com.
A version of this article was published in JaxFax, a magazine for travel agents.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is an award-winning journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is President Emeritus of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA).
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter
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