Fairbanks

Fairbanks sits deep in interior Alaska, hundreds of kilometres from any coast that anyone would swim in. Summer days can be surprisingly warm, and locals make the most of them at the sandy swimming area of the Chena Lakes Recreation Area outside North Pole, or at Harding Lake about an hour south. The water stays cool and the season is a few weeks long. Swimming is a pleasant afternoon on a hot day, not a reason to come.

Eating in Fairbanks is simple and hearty. The Alaskan things to look for are wild salmon and halibut, reindeer sausage at breakfast, sourdough pancakes and, in late summer, wild blueberry desserts. Summer brings outdoor salmon bakes aimed squarely at visitors. Oddly for a small Arctic town, Thai restaurants are everywhere, and there are a few local breweries and decent coffee roasters. Beyond that the choice is diners, roadhouses and chains along the main roads. Ingredients travel a long way, which shows in both range and price, and fine dining is very limited.

The one sight of real weight is the University of Alaska Museum of the North, on a ridge above the campus, with a strong collection of Alaska Native art, natural history and gold-rush material in a striking white building. Downtown, the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center gives a good introduction to Athabascan life in the interior. Pioneer Park gathers old cabins, a sternwheeler and gold-rush relics, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline can be seen up close just north of town. The town itself is low-rise and practical rather than handsome. Two days covers it, and most visitors come for what lies outside.

Going out here means a pint in a brewery taproom, a game of pool in an old-fashioned saloon or a late drink in one of the long-running dive bars. Some have gold-rush décor and ceilings covered in notes and keepsakes left by customers over the years. University students keep a few places busy at weekends, but there are no real clubs. In winter many visitors spend the night outside watching for the aurora instead. In summer the endless light makes it hard to tell when the evening should end.

Fairbanks lies under the auroral oval, and from late August to April clear nights bring the northern lights, often strongly enough to see from the edge of town. The surrounding country is boreal forest of spruce and birch, wide rivers and low rounded hills. The Chena River State Recreation Area and the White Mountains have hiking trails, granite tors at Angel Rocks, public cabins and, in winter, long ski and snowmobile routes.

Summer brings near-constant daylight, canoeing on the Chena, fishing and wildlife such as moose along the roads. Winter is about dog mushing, skiing and the aurora, in cold that can fall below -40°C. Denali National Park is about two and a half hours south by road or a longer train ride, so it works best as an overnight trip.

Few towns lie within easy reach, and the ones that do are small. North Pole, a short drive south-east, is a Christmas-themed town that children enjoy. Nenana, about an hour south-west, is a river town on the railway known for its long-running ice-breakup guessing contest. Further down the Richardson Highway, Big Delta State Historical Park keeps a restored roadhouse from the gold-rush trail. Old gold-mining sites along the Steese Highway round out the list. Most excursions from Fairbanks are into wilderness rather than to other places.

Children get plenty of memorable moments. Pioneer Park has a small train, playgrounds and old cabins to explore, the University's Large Animal Research Station shows musk oxen and reindeer up close, and sled-dog kennels around town let children meet the teams. The Museum of the North keeps their attention with its big bears and gold.

Summer is the easiest time to bring them, with mild days and light around the clock, though blackout blinds become essential. Winter is much harder: aurora viewing means staying up late in very deep cold, and everything is a drive away. There are no theme parks, and the town is calm and friendly rather than built around children.

Fairbanks is a spread-out town of highways, strip developments and wide gaps between sights, and the small downtown is the only part pleasant to walk. A local bus network exists but is thin and not geared to visitors. Almost everyone rents a car, and in winter that means driving on ice in the dark with an engine block heater plugged in overnight. Traffic is light and parking is easy. The Alaska Railroad links the town with Denali and Anchorage in summer.

There is little shopping to speak of beyond the practical. What is worth seeking out is Alaska Native art: beadwork, birch-bark baskets, carvings and fur work, sold at the cultural centre, the museum shop and craft fairs. Fur hats and mittens, outdoor clothing for the cold and gold-nugget jewellery fill most of the rest, alongside souvenir shops and big-box stores on the main roads.

Fairbanks is an expensive place to visit. Almost everything is shipped in, so restaurant meals and groceries cost more than in most of the United States, and hotel rates climb sharply in the short summer season. A hire car is close to essential, and guided activities such as aurora tours, dog sledding and flights into the Arctic add up quickly. Winter rooms are cheaper outside the busiest aurora weeks, and the museums and parks themselves are modestly priced.

Fairbanks has a modest, mostly community-based performing scene. The Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and a light opera company give occasional seasons, outdoor Shakespeare runs in summer, and the university hosts concerts and a long-running Festival of Native Arts with Alaska Native dance and drumming. The Athabascan fiddle festival in November is a distinctive local tradition. For a visitor, most evenings bring nothing in particular to attend.

Wellness comes down to one place. Chena Hot Springs, about an hour and a half east along a forested road, has drawn bathers since the early 1900s, and its outdoor rock-lined pool is at its best on a winter night with frost forming in the hair and, with luck, the aurora overhead. Many visitors stay overnight rather than drive back. In Fairbanks itself there are a few day spas and hotel saunas but no bathing tradition. The pace of the town is quiet, and the long winter nights and summer light both make for slow, unhurried days.