Okay, it's a tube full of oil traveling the length of Alaska. Of course you have to stop for a…read morepicture! The viewing area located a few miles north of Fairbanks has some history to read on billboards and is perfect for pictures.

We wanted to see the Alaska Pipeline and this seemed like a great place to check it out. It's right…read morenext to a main road, maybe 15 minutes outside of Fairbanks. There's a Pluto pull over and park as well as signs and things that explain how the pipeline works and things like that. It's also right across the street from Gold Daughters, which was a great place to go panning for gold. If you want to see the pipeline (and you should if you're visiting Alaska), this is a good place to go.

I went on an air tour of Gates of the Arctic National Park with Northern Alaska Tour Company. I had…read moreto be there by 6 and we left around 7. We flew to the town of Coldfoot, about an hour away and 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle. We landed, a guide picked us up and showed us around town then took us to the restaurant/general store. We got our preordered food, ate, visited the national park visitor center, then returned to the airport. At that point, we got back on the plane, did our air tour of the park, landed briefly at Coldfoot to let people off the plane, then returned to Fairbanks around midnight. This was a really cool experience and I'm glad I went. NATC did a great job lining everything up and making sure things went smoothly. The flight(s) were good and enjoyable. The park was beautiful and flying was a great way to see it - I'm sure I saw far more than those who trek in on foot. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed our stop in Coldfoot. It was interesting to see how people lived in the Arctic and I even saw one of the places we went on an episode of Ice Road Truckers since I got back, which was cool. I was happy with the whole experience and I would recommend them.

Booked an artic flight with my cruise company for while we were in Denali. This flight departs…read morefrom Heely and takes you over the Yukon River to Wiseman and Coldfoot. The main focus is to get you past the arctic circle and to visit Jack a permanent long term resident in Wiseman who lives off the land. It is about 8.5 hours. The van driver picked us up at our hotel. The flight was great in a small Navajo plane with pilot and five people. They do not want you to have more than what you can carry. No large packs, but if you have an item because you didn't know. Then you can sometimes get them to store it in the plane or lock it in the office. The Heely Airport is just an office, old gas truck and portapotty. You can purchase some merch to document your trip. You can also order a meal to pickup in Coldfoot, that helps to support the community. Jack is the main attraction. He shares about the history of his family and shows you around areas of Wiseman. It is a very rough home and life. He will show you how he survives including hunting and gardening. Lots of skins and animal parts. His home is a tight squeeze and our group arrived with another 6 person group from another location. He will show you pictures but make sure to ask to have them pass it around. He is on a schedule so he goes quick and then leads you outside to tour. Very uneven and wet terrain with mosquitoes. TAKE A NET and BUG SPRAY or ask for the spray. There is an early flight that ends at about 5pm and ours departed shortly after and returned a little after midnight (still light in June). Unfortunately, our focus was to get a visit to the Interagency Visitor Center to say we made it to the nearby Gateway to the Arctic National park. Apparently the early flight makes a stop. The visitor center closes at 8pm, so it just closed when we arrived and it was not part of our trip. If they would have arrived half hour early that would have been AMAZING, but it wasn't to be. However, on the way back we talked our driver into making a quick stop so we could get pictures at the visitor center. My biggest recommendation is for the company to realize most people want to not only cross the artic circle but also have bucket list to get to the Gateway to the Arctic National Park, so they should move the schedules around a little to allow both groups, morning and afternoon, to get to the visitor center for at least 15-20 minutes. I liked Jack, but he was not why I took the trip, he was a great bonus. Make sure you bring tip money for the pilot, driver in Coldfoot and Jack. There is also a winter tour where Jack will help you photograph the northern lights, which Jack will correct you to call it the aurora borealis.

It's a small sign but it's cute welcome to North Pole sign is next to the freeway. We are visiting…read moreNorth Pole from California.

Quick stop for a photo opp [North Pole AK]…read more Cool sign off of Richardson Highway on Mistletoe Drive. Yes, there is a City of North Pole which I originally thought was made up. The real North Pole sits in the middle of the Arctic Ocean and a trip there will be a truly Arctic experience but unless you're a polar bear just be prepared for harsh conditions in the frozen wilderness. We arrived at the sign after a rainy evening so the path and grassy area was wet and muddy with puddles. No parking area, just pull over to the side in front of the sign. The sign is a short drive from Fairbanks. If you find this sign you're just 1.5 miles from Santa Claus House (3-min drive). Review #3126

Would highly recommend reaching out to this company to schedule a ride. The company works based on…read moreavailable slots but the cab driver is prompt, polite, and pleasant to talk to. Fairbanks is a logistical nightmare when it comes to transportation but Moose Cab and tours made our trip better :) Thank you for your service!

My wife and I were in Fairbanks 2 weeks ago to see the Aurora. We had arranged transportation with…read moreGyorgyi and Moose Cab to transport us to and from excursions on two of the days. Gyorgyi was just awesome. She has a wealth of knowledge about the area. We know our worries about getting around were over once we met her. She was always there on time and we felt very comfortable with her behind the wheel. We plan to take another trip back to the area in the future and now that we know that she plans trips as well I'm sure we will use her for everything. We couldn't be more pleased with her cheerful personal service. Thank you Gyorgyi and Moose Cab!

I've come to find out that Fairbanks isn't rife with a lot of activity. I would think their main…read moredraw is the Aurora, which unfortunately was not active nor in season during our visit. That being said, it's nice to check out the ice museum and what it had to offer. Since o got the combo package of the ice museum combined with the aurora show, I'll separate them in the review. The ice museum part of it comes with a roughly 15 minute video that takes about ice sculpting; a little history so to speak. Similar to other reviewers, the video does leave a lot to be desired. The idea is fine, but execution is poor. The video is TERRIBLE quality. It's 2023... they could do better than 120p or 240p. It's actually kind of embarrassing really. So just power through that until they update it. Afterwards, you're escorted to the actual museum, which is an assortment of ice sculptures. I urge you to taper your expectations and you'll have a good time. It's not incredibly massive, but there is a decent amount. I liked Andy's (the ice sculptor) enthusiasm and you can tell there is passion in what he sculpts. He functions as a photographer if you want group/couple pictures. I particularly love toe slide since it's pretty fun to go down. Made me feel like a kid again. Also don't worry about not having a jacket as they definitely can provide you with one. It ends with actual demonstration of him sculpting in an observation room. It's really cool to see the process in action. Pretty cool (no pun intended). The Aurora show was unique in that it highlights the beautiful photography of Zimmerman combined with classical music. Don't worry the quality is a lot better (although not the best) than the ice sculpture video). It gives a short history of Zimmerman before showcasing his work. It is beautiful and showcases the aurora borealis in different forms.it is pretty mellow and calming, which could lead some to dozing off (I did a little), but definitely appreciated the art behind it. Overall, it's definitely something to do if you're in the city. I don't think it's too expensive, but many may not see the value. If you like ice sculptures, check this place out!

Waste of money! $15 a person to get through in 10 minutes. Then they have qr codes where the…read moreartists ask for donations as well. I went down the slide 3 times for something to do. Gift shop looks like a garage sale. Stay away from here. From the locals, I hear the sculptures at local festivals are way better.

June 2024 - Alyeska pipeline - history, aura, a beautiful train ride and gold panning - super fun…read moreand a treasure trove of information ! The team in charge was engaging and question friendly :)

Came here to visit the area with my wife. This was one of the last areas we visited. We didn't see…read moreany bears, haha. It's a great walk around the area. There's a walk around the lake, and various places to birdwatch.

Great free place to walk around! Watch for mosquitoes though. Plenty of birds to see. I loved the…read moretrails and the fresh air.

This small park is right behind the Sunrise coffee stand (and across the street from Polar…read moreExpresso) so it is a quick place to walk around a tiny bit.

One of the nicest visitor centers that I have ever been to! This one is free and has a great…read moremuseum. My favorite section was on the beading. Definitely take some time to visit when you are in the area.

Free facility for general information of the culture of the area and general information of the…read morelayout and businesses of Fairbanks. Also has National Park Service in the building. Well maintained facilities. Helpful staff. So if looking for a laid back place to learn a little bit more of Fairbanks and its native culture, this is a good place to come.

I sort of arrived in Fairbanks on a whim without a specific deadline for completing my explorations…read moreof a few national parks in the region I had been interested in visiting. This Noel Wien Public Library was the perfect place to not only relax but take my time performing research and learning how best to navigate Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley National Parks. Initially, I didn't know even what to expect out of the library. I understood that Fairbanks was a large city and a proper starting point location for flying out to the remote national parks I had in mind. Ultimately, choosing to come here was a winning formula. The library is spacious with tons of area for privacy and studying. There are public computers dispersed all around to use the internet. The tables and desks have electrical outlets for charging phones, laptops and electronics. Wi-Fi works really fast as well. I was so impressed with how much I got accomplished. After booking and making the journey to Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley, I still returned back here for taking a mental break from the action. I even took time to write some Yelp reviews and share experiences I was excited to talk about. You can say one of my saving graces in Alaska and being in Fairbanks for an entire month was this Fairbanks Library. Getting time alone to concentrate and efficiently discover worthwhile parks, hiking trails and glacial tours had me feeling a sense of fulfilment. For using computers, all you do is pick up a slip at the front Information Desk and then choose an unoccupied terminal and type in the password code. You get 2 free hours and if you need more time, you can walk back to the front and ask for another slip, which they'll happily hand to you. And...there were (what seemed like) an infinite amount of computer desks here. There was always a spot available. This Fairbanks Library was far superior in comparison to the Anchorage Library, which I also frequented later on to learn about more hikes, tours and expeditions. Just to speak briefly about Anchorage's Library, it was a startling mess with homeless people using the bathrooms for cleansing themselves and their belongings. It was flat out scary and disappointing. But back here at Fairbanks, it's centrally located in the heart of the city. You're not far from restaurants, sights and attractions. They're open 6 days of the week. Sunday = closed. Friday Hours are only 1pm - 6pm. Otherwise almost all other days' openings are 10am till closing around evening time. I can't thank this Fairbanks Library enough for acting as my home base/focus hub for planning exciting adventures around Alaska. Regularly stopping by over the summertime turned out to be my spiritual sanctuary for gathering ideas about where to go and what to do next. Alaska is a marvelously vast land and the ultimate "last frontier". Without utilizing the library here, I would have been left lost and overwhelmed.

Large library with ample selection of items I'm interested in. Beautiful and roomy ... what a…read moretreat! Plenty of magazines, computer terminals. A self-checkout desk would be nice.