Fairbanks

This is completely separate from Aurora Ice Museum by the hot springs.

Paved walkway along the river that has several parks and information signs in downtown.

The plaza is a celebration of the silver anniversary of Alaska’s statehood and is arguably the center of the city. There is a clock/carillon tower in this park too.

Historic church.

This tour lasts three and a half hours. While enjoying a beautiful day on the Chena River, you will have the opportunity to see and learn a lot about Alaskan Native culture and Fairbanks. This tour demonstrates a bush pilot airplane taking off from the Chena River. The tour stops for an hour at the Chena Indian Village where passengers are taken through a tour by Alaskan Native guides. The riverboat also stops at an Athabascan fishing village where passengers see how fish are cut and prepared. One of the most exciting aspects of this tour is that you are able to witness "Nuchalawoya," an Athabascan Indian term meaning "the wedding of two rivers"-in this case the Chena and Tanana Rivers.

Another tour run by the same family who operates the Riverboat Discovery. It runs twice a day at 9:45AM and 3PM. However, on Saturdays it only runs at 3PM. This tour begins about 20 minutes outside of Fairbanks and takes you on a two-hour tour of Alaska's gold mining history. The tour begins on a train where you go through a permafrost tunnel. While in the tunnel you are shown how gold miners used to mine underground. Following this, you will learn how miners panned for gold and how current gold miners operate. You will also have the opportunity to talk with Alaskan miners. Each person on the tour gets to pan for actual gold! Everyone finds gold and the staff at the El Dorado Gold Mine will weigh it for you to see how much you found.

Available through Princess Tours, or any of the major lodges in the area. This tour runs everyday at 8:30AM and lasts for three hours. This tour takes you to downtown Fairbanks where you are able to tour Golden Heart Park and the Visitor's Center. While on this tour, you also get to view the Trans-Alaska Pipeline that was built in the 1970s and continues to transport oil to this day. The Fairbanks City Tour takes its passengers to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum and Botanical Gardens.

Definitely something that all tourists should visit while staying in Fairbanks. Named Alaskaland until 2001, Pioneer Park includes several gift shops, the Salmon Bake, the Alaska Civic Center, a couple of museums, a native village, fishwheel, President Harding's rail car, mining tunnel, miniature golf course, playgrounds, merry-go-rounds, and the S.S. Nenana which is an old sternwheeler that used to travel Alaskan rivers. Pioneer Park is set up like an old Gold Rush Town, which makes the activities and surroundings very fun.

Historical aviation museum housed in a gold dome.

Along your way out to Chena Hot Springs you have a very good chance of seeing moose and other wildlife. Once you arrive at the resort you have a variety of things you can do. The swimming area includes an indoor pool, three indoor hot tubs, an outdoor rock pool, and two outdoor hot tubs all using water from the hot springs. Enjoy relaxing in the rock pool under 24-hour daylight! Another must do while visiting Chena Hot Springs is the Aurora Ice Museum. The resort has a hotel and campground. Camping, cabin rentals, and fantastic hiking opportunities are available throughout the Chena River State recreation area. This area is heavily used by mushers to practice dogsledding in the winter months.

The largest year-round ice environment. Everything in the museum is made of ice including a bar, polar bear beds, full-size game of chess, and an ice tower. Accessible by guided tour, parka included.

Built in 1975 and was constructed to carry oil from the oil port in Prudhoe Bay down to Valdez, Alaska the northernmost ice-free port, covering 800 miles of land. The pipeline has transmitted more than 15 billion barrels of oil since 1975 and continues to carry on average 735,000 barrels of oil every day. This represents approx 3.5% of the United States daily oil consumption. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is one of the largest pipelines in the world.

Fairbanks has lots of dog sledding operators and it's a popular winter activity for tourists. During the summer, most offer dog cart rides. Most of the operators have variety of options like 30 min, 4-5 hr or even days.

Fairbanks is one of the best places to see the northern lights. The northern lights are best seen between September and Mid-April on cold clear nights.

Alaska has few roads. Getting around is about flying. Sure, it isn't cheap. Sample flights include village mail runs, Arctic Circle flights, Barrow or Deadhorse, and numerous other small villages. Some people hitch plane rides from the general aviation side of the airport as well as the float plane base. Bush pilots are for hire.

Held every summer on Summer Solstice. The Alaska Goldpanners are the farthest north semi-professional baseball team. What makes this event so special is that the sun barely goes down in Fairbanks on Summer Solstice. The game begins at 10:30PM and last the whole nine innings without getting dark. Throughout its one hundred years of existence the Midnight Sun Game has never had to turn on artificial baseball lights.

A week-long event that was created to celebrate the discovery of gold in Fairbanks in 1902. The event is usually held toward the end of July. Throughout the week people are able to participate in several activities. However, the highlight of the week is the Golden Days Parade. This parade showcases marching bands, antique cars, clowns, jugglers, and several decorated floats. Enjoy watching the parade as it goes through the heart of Fairbanks. During this week make sure you wear a Golden Days pin or take the risk of getting "arrested" and put in the Golden Days jail!

Following the Golden Days Parade is the annual Rubber Duckie Race. Every year at this time 6,000 yellow rubber duckies race the Chena River to win cash and prizes worth up to $30,000.

Another event, associated with golden days. Picture 40 or more homemade "boats" floating down the Chena River all created using liberal amounts of duct tape and imagination.

This race, held in January or February, starts (or finishes, depending on the year) downtown.