Anchorage to Fairbanks: Denali Star Train, the Parks Highway and Flights

Somewhere around the second cup of coffee in an Anchorage hotel lobby, many travelers realize that the state’s two biggest cities sit a long way apart, with Denali in between. The link between them is simple: one railroad line, one highway and a handful of flights. The Denali Star Train and the George Parks Highway both run the full distance, and both pass the doorstep of Denali National Park.

How do you get from Anchorage to Fairbanks?

You get from Anchorage to Fairbanks by train on the Denali Star, by car on the George Parks Highway (Alaska Route 3), or by air into Fairbanks International Airport. The two land routes follow the same corridor through the Susitna Valley and the Alaska Range, so you see much the same country either way, from a different seat.

On the Denali Star Train

The Denali Star runs the whole way between the two cities, covering 356 miles in 12 hours. It stops in Wasilla, Talkeetna and Denali National Park, so you can break the trip at any of them rather than ride straight through. The long day is part of the appeal: the train goes through country the highway only brushes against.

Leaving Anchorage, the line crosses the Knik River with the Chugach Mountains standing behind it. Just south of Talkeetna, Denali may rise above the Susitna River, and on a clear day the tallest mountain in North America shows itself from the train. Clouds often hide it, so treat the view as a chance and not a promise.

North of Talkeetna the train crosses Hurricane Gulch on a 296-foot bridge and moves through the roadless Hurricane area, a stretch with no highway beside you. Just south of the national park, Broad Pass opens views of the Alaska Range in all directions. Beyond the park, the line follows Healy Canyon along the Nenana River, the last scenic stretch before Fairbanks.

On the George Parks Highway

The George Parks Highway runs 323 miles from the Glenn Highway, 35 miles north of Anchorage, to Fairbanks in the Alaska Interior. It is numbered Interstate A-4 and signed as Alaska Route 3, so on the road you will mostly see Route 3 on the signs. Mileposts begin at Mile 35, continuing the numbering of the Glenn Highway.

Driving takes about 7 to 8 hours in summer with stops, and the route passes through Denali National Park. The highway is the main access to both Denali National Park and Preserve and Denali State Park. In Cantwell it meets the Denali Highway, Alaska Route 8. Two sections are built to freeway standards: near the Glenn Highway junction in Palmer and the Robert J. Mitchell Expressway in Fairbanks.

By air to Fairbanks

Fairbanks International Airport, code FAI, is the Interior’s air gateway, and it has domestic flights from Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Seattle-Tacoma. Airlines include Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, American, Delta and United. The airport is open 24 hours a day, which helps with late arrivals.

Which options are there?

There are three: the train, the highway and a flight, and they suit different kinds of trips. The train gives you the scenery and the stops, the highway gives you control of your own day, and a flight gives you a Fairbanks arrival with no overland stretch.

The train for a day of scenery

The Denali Star is the choice if the journey itself is the point. You can watch the Knik River crossing, the Susitna River valley and Hurricane Gulch go by without watching the road. Talkeetna and Denali National Park are both stops on the line, so the train also works as a way to reach them, not only as a way to reach Fairbanks.

The ride is long, and the views come in waves: wide river valleys, then the roadless Hurricane area, then the mountain passes and the canyon along the Nenana River. Bring patience for the quiet stretches, and keep an eye out the windows as the line approaches Talkeetna and Broad Pass.

The highway for a flexible day

Driving the Parks Highway lets you stop where you like. The route passes through Denali National Park and gives access to Denali State Park, so a pause for a view or a meal is built into the road. The drive is much shorter than the train ride, though the stops you add will stretch it.

Before leaving, Alaska 511 is the place to look at road conditions. It sorts them into Good, Fair, Difficult, Very Difficult, Hazardous, Road Closure and No Winter Maintenance, and it carries incidents and closures reported through Waze. Cameras on the map and camera pages can show you what the road looks like before you commit to a stretch.

Flying into Fairbanks

If your plans start in Fairbanks and you want to skip the corridor entirely, fly into FAI. Its domestic connections from Seattle-Tacoma, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago and Dallas mean many itineraries can be built around a Fairbanks arrival. Screening checkpoints open 2 hours before the first flight each day, including holidays, and the airport recommends arriving at least two hours before departure.

What should you know before you travel from Anchorage to Fairbanks?

Know your route’s character, check the road before you drive, and remember that Fairbanks has its own rhythm of light and season. A few facts about each shape the trip more than any timetable does.

Checking the road with Alaska 511

Alaska 511 is the state’s road information site, and it is built for exactly this kind of drive. You can create an account to save routes and receive notifications, and you must log in to save routes for later viewing. Route notifications go out by default on weekdays from 6 AM to 6 PM by SMS.

On the map page, click a camera icon and then the My Cameras button in the popup to add that camera to your list. On the camera page, the three dots icon below the image opens the My Cameras option. A short list of cameras along Route 3 gives you a quick look at the road each morning.

Light and the seasons in Fairbanks

Fairbanks sits near the Arctic Circle, so daylight changes a great deal through the year. In June the sun is up from 3 AM to 12:45 AM and it never gets fully dark. In winter the sun is up only from 10:45 AM to 2:45 PM, which shapes how you plan any arrival or onward day.

The northern lights are best seen in Fairbanks between September and mid-April on cold, clear nights. That is a chance, not a guarantee, but it means a late-season trip north can add something after dark. October, the month of this writing, falls inside that window.

Arriving in Fairbanks

Fairbanks is a town of 31,000 people in interior Alaska, and with the surrounding borough it is Alaska’s second-largest city. It has banks and ATMs, medical services, copying and printing, and travel agents and trip planners for visitors. Explore Fairbanks offers a visitor guide request, an e-newsletter and a blog for planning, and it can be reached at (907) 456-5774.

At the airport, masks are required by federal law on all property for everyone over the age of 2. TSA allows up to 12 ounces of hand sanitizer through the checkpoints, and travelers are encouraged to test for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure. The administrative office is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm.

Good to know before you go

There is no sales tax in Fairbanks, so the price on the tag is the price at the register. Keep an eye on the road report before a drive, and give the train the whole day it asks for, since the stops at Talkeetna and Denali National Park are where it is easiest to stretch the trip into something longer.