A road heading out of Fairbanks in the early hours, birch and spruce closing in on both sides, and the Interior unrolls one stretch at a time. Within a day’s round trip lie the foot of the highest peak in North America, a hot spring resort with a gold-miner’s past, a town named North Pole and an old mining camp. Fairbanks makes a good launching point for travelers who want mountains, steam and a little Alaskan history before dinner.
What are the best day trips from Fairbanks?
The best day trips from Fairbanks go to Denali National Park, to Chena Hot Springs, to North Pole and to the old gold camp of Ester. Each one gives you a different Interior: a wild park with a single road, a wooded valley with a steaming pool, a holiday-themed town and a hillside where the first claims were staked. None of them asks you to leave your base in town for the night.
The light shapes how you plan them. From mid-May to late July the sun gives Fairbanks 24 hours of daylight, so a late start or a late drive home still happens in daylight.
From late August the aurora season begins, and a day trip can stretch into the evening for a soak under the night sky. In between, the seasons set the schedule for services such as the Denali buses and the sled dog demonstrations, so what you do at the park changes with the calendar.
- Denali National Park: the park entrance area, with its visitor center, sled dog kennels and trails, and a chance at a view of the mountain that gives the park its name.
- Savage River: the point on the Denali Park Road where private vehicles stop, reached by driving yourself or on a free summer shuttle from the entrance.
- Chena Hot Springs: natural hot water in a wooded valley, open for soaking all year, including under the aurora.
- North Pole: a town built around Santa Claus House, its giant fiberglass Santa and a small group of reindeer outside.
- Ester: a former gold mining camp with a National Register historic district, a short hop from the city by borough standards.
All five can be mixed with a day in town, since Fairbanks-based businesses help visitors reach remote areas, guide them and provide equipment. Denali is the longest outing, Chena Hot Springs is the one that works in nearly any season, and North Pole and Ester are the ones that fit around other plans.
The best day trips from Fairbanks
Denali National Park entrance area
Denali sits about 2.5 hours by car from Fairbanks, roughly 120 miles to the south, and the park’s only road entrance is at Mile 237 on the George Parks Highway. The park holds 6 million acres of wild land, and the mountain at its heart rises 20,310 feet, the roof of North America. Whether the peak shows itself is a matter of weather, so treat a view as a chance and not a promise.
Most of the marked trails in Denali are short and close to the entrance, which is why a day visit can still feel full. The Denali Visitor Center, the main National Park Service welcome center, is at Mile 1.5, and Morino Grill beside it is the only sit-down restaurant inside the park.
The sled dog kennels are the other draw: rangers and Alaskan huskies give 30-minute demonstrations of a traditional way of traveling, with a chance to walk through the kennels afterward. The demonstrations are free and run from mid-May to mid-September. In the colder months the kennels open on weekend afternoons only.
Summer brings the full set of services, including ranger programs and the park bus, which generally runs from May 20 through mid-September. Fall at Denali lasts from mid-September until snow builds, typically between late September and late October.
In winter the Murie Science and Learning Center serves as the visitor center, and the Park Road can close at Mountain Vista or Park Headquarters at any time because of the weather. Denali charges an entrance fee, and cell coverage reaches only about three miles from the entrance.
Savage River and the first miles of the Park Road
Savage River lies at Mile 15 of the Denali Park Road, the farthest point private vehicles may drive. Beyond it, travel is allowed only by park bus, on foot or by bicycle, and the road is closed to all traffic at Mile 43 because of the Pretty Rocks landslide. For a day trip from Fairbanks, that makes Savage River the natural turnaround, the place where the road leaves the wooded entrance area and enters the open country the park is known for.
From mid-May to mid-September the free Savage River Shuttle links the entrance area to the river, so you can reach it without driving the road yourself. The park also runs free shuttles on the Riley Creek loop and to the sled dog demonstrations, all daily in summer and all wheelchair accessible. Denali holds 39 species of mammals and 169 species of birds, and the area around the river is the kind of open country where you may glimpse some of them.
Think of it as the second half of a Denali day: the visitor center and kennels in the first part, then the river and its views in the second. Keep in mind that the road is the park’s only one, and a closure at either end of it changes the outing for everyone.
Chena Hot Springs
Chena Hot Springs Resort is about 56 miles northeast of Fairbanks, near the Chena River State Recreation Area. The setting is wooded wilderness, and the draw is natural hot water that is open for soaking all year, including beneath the aurora borealis.
The place has a gold-rush backstory. Two mining brothers, Robert and Thomas Swan, founded it more than a century ago, and twelve small cabins went up in 1911 to house visitors who came for the water. That sense of an old backcountry retreat still clings to it.
In the dark season the resort runs an Aurora Viewing Tour. Guests ride a tracked vehicle called a SUSV up to Charlie Dome, where the sky opens 360 degrees, with heated yurts and hot drinks waiting. Aurora season at Chena runs from late August to mid-April, and the lights are a chance, never a guarantee. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute publishes an aurora forecast that can help you judge a night.
North Pole
The town of North Pole sits close to Fairbanks and offers adventure in Alaskan style, with a holiday twist. It is about 125 miles south of the Arctic Circle and roughly 1,700 miles from the real geographic pole, a gap the town happily ignores. The biggest attraction is Santa Claus House, a gift shop with the world’s largest fiberglass statue of Santa Claus standing outside.
Just outside the shop, a small group of domesticated reindeer is kept, and for visitors they are the real reason to stop. Children tend to enjoy this one, and adults who dislike souvenir shopping can treat it as a quick photo stop in a day that also takes in Chena or Ester.
There is nothing to plan around here beyond the shop and the animals, so North Pole works best as a stop paired with another outing, or as a small detour on the way back from somewhere farther afield. It is also one of the more lighthearted corners of the Interior in the weeks around Christmas.
Ester, the old gold camp
Ester is a small community in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, part of the Fairbanks metropolitan area. It began as a gold mining camp in the early 1900s, with the first claim staked in February 1903 by Latham A. Jones. The Ester Camp Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places, added on May 6, 1987, so the old camp is protected as a piece of the gold-rush era.
A visit here is about atmosphere and history, not a checklist of attractions. You walk through a settlement that grew up around mining and has kept its frontier look, then head back to town.
Day trips from Fairbanks compared
| Trip | Time each way | Best for | How to go |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denali National Park entrance area | About 2.5 hours by car | Visitor center, sled dog kennels, trails and a chance at a view of the mountain | Drive the George Parks Highway to Mile 237 |
| Savage River, Denali | About 2.5 hours to the entrance, then 15 miles on the Park Road | The farthest point private vehicles may drive, open country and wildlife chances | Drive yourself, or take the free Savage River Shuttle from mid-May to mid-September |
| Chena Hot Springs | About 56 miles northeast of Fairbanks | Soaking in natural hot water and winter aurora viewing | Drive to the resort, or join its aurora tour in the dark season |
| North Pole | Near Fairbanks | Santa Claus House, the giant Santa and the reindeer | Drive, or add it to another outing |
| Ester | Within the Fairbanks North Star Borough | Gold rush history and a historic district | Drive, or pair it with another stop |
The choice follows the season and the kind of day you want. Denali asks for the longest time on the road, so it suits a full day devoted to the park and a traveler who wants the mountain country and the dogs.
Chena Hot Springs is the pick when you want warm water and, in the dark months, a chance at the aurora. North Pole and Ester are the small outings, suited to families, to history fans and to anyone fitting a trip around other plans.
Tour or on your own?
Fairbanks-based businesses help visitors reach remote areas, guide them through town, plan adventures and provide equipment, so a guided outing is one way to go and a self-guided day is another. The deciding factors are what you want to do at the destination and who controls access to it. For some outings the operator and the destination are the same thing.
At Chena Hot Springs, the aurora tour is run by the resort itself. Guests ride the tracked vehicle to Charlie Dome, and the outing lasts five hours, with riders required to be at least 2 years old. A tour like that makes sense when the vehicle and the yurts are the point. For a soak in the hot springs, a day pass to the Pool House covers it, and you need no guide at all.
Denali has its own rules for movement. Private vehicles may drive only the first 15 miles of the Park Road, up to Savage River. Beyond that, travel is by park shuttle bus, on foot or by bicycle, and the road is closed to all traffic at Mile 43.
Bus service runs only in summer, generally from May 20 through mid-September. If you drive yourself, the entrance area and Savage River are what the road gives you, with free shuttles from mid-May to mid-September connecting the stops near the entrance.
Before booking anything in the park, check the weather terms. Denali gives no refunds for inclement weather, which matters when your day depends on clouds lifting off the mountain. Discovery Hikes need advance registration, and you can only sign up in person at the Denali Visitor Center one or two days ahead, never the morning of the hike, so they do not fit a same-day trip from Fairbanks.
North Pole and Ester ask the least of you. Neither needs a guide or a ticket purchase in advance, so they suit a flexible day.
For help choosing, Explore Fairbanks answers visitor questions by phone at (907) 456-5774 and offers trip planning resources for travel around Interior Alaska on its website. Flightseeing is among the activities listed for the Fairbanks area, an option for travelers who want to see the Interior from above and have no interest in the road.
Good to know before you go
Seasons rule the Denali outings, since the buses, ranger programs and sled dog demonstrations all have their own summer windows, while Chena’s springs stay open for soaking all year. Phone coverage in Denali ends about three miles from the entrance, and the emergency number there is 9-1-1. Fairbanks sees long, bright days in early summer and short ones in winter, so plan the drive home around the light you will have.
| Fee | Amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Denali National Park Standard Pass | $15.00 | Visitors ages 16 and up (ages 15 and under are free) |
| Denali Annual Pass | $45.00 | Covers up to four adults |
| Chena Hot Springs Pool House day pass | $20 adults, $17 children | Each guest |
| Chena Hot Springs winter aurora viewing tour | $125 per person | Each rider, age 2 and up |
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To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Fairbanks: Midnight Sun, Northern Lights, Weather and Festivals
- Where to Stay in Fairbanks: Downtown, Birch-Wood Cabins, Chena Hot Springs and Denali Lodges
- Fairbanks from Anchorage: Denali Star Train, Road Conditions, Flights and Stops Along the Way
- Know Before You Go to Fairbanks: Midnight Sun, Aurora Season, Layers and Local Habits