Had.trip with guide Tyson on the Delta Clearwater river for Grayling. It was terrific trip, guide,…read moreriver and experience. Highly recommend!

My husband and I had the best time ice fishing with our guide, Tyson!…read more He picked us up right on time from our hotel in Fairbanks and got everything set up for fishing. The equipment was easy to use and everyone caught plenty of fish. I thought it was a really cool experience that we were able to eat the fish we caught right after it came out of the water. Tyson made a delicious meal for everyone and we all had some great conversations too! We will be talking about this one for years!

Fairbanks Trails & Rivers is run by a husband-wife duo, John and Kellie O'Brien. The duo was an…read moreabsolute delight! Last year in December, we booked a full-day of tours- (1) Alaska Dog Mushing in the morning and (2) Aurora Borealis tour in the evening. We can confirm it was a peaceful, no-frills experience. A year later, we still talk about how much we loved the tours and how Kellie and John were really cool people! --- I booked tours with Fairbanks Trails & Rivers in December 2024 for my party of 4 adults. I found their website to be a little hard to navigate, so I emailed them instead. Their responses were prompt, clear, and ensured that we had the exact tours we wanted. I would highly recommend this route over the website. We paid our invoice over Square and then received email confirmations right after payment. The day before our tours, we received a pick-up time, and on the day of, we were emailed when our pick-up van had headed out. We were picked up at 10 AM from the Hampton Inn and Suites for our Alaska Dog Mushing tour. We chuckled at their gold van because it looked like the definition of an adventure van! The vehicle had a rack atop that made some noise when driving, so it was hard for those in the back to hear what Kellie was saying while driving. It didn't bother us too much though. Kellie was just the sweetest and was so so friendly, and we were honestly really inspired by her mountaineering story. We highly recommend anyone touring with her to ask! On the drive over (and later back), Kellie pointed out and described relevant landmarks while sharing her story. It really felt like we were just spending the day with our cool friend. Before stopping by Douglas Fir Mushing for our dog mushing tour, we pulled into an overlook. Personally, it was of the most beautiful sights I saw while we were in Fairbanks. Afterwards, we were dropped off at Douglas Fir Mushing for ~ 1.5 hours. It was a fantastic time, and they really seemed like they loved their dogs. The tour consisted of: (1) introductions by Mandy and Matt of themselves and of mushing, (2) a quick waiver and safety talk, then we did (3) ~ 30 minutes of mushing (riding in the sled) in pairs, while the other pair stayed back to pet some dogs! We ended up staying a little extra after both groups experienced mushing to warm up by the fire and pet dogs some more. Afterwards, although we were supposed to be dropped back off at our hotel, Kellie was kind enough to drop us off in the city center to save us some money on an Uber! She dropped us off with tips on where to eat and sightsee before the tour in the evening. We had an 11 PM pick-up time for the evening Aurora Borealis tour with John. We had 2 people in addition to us in the van, so there were 6 of us in the van besides John. We weren't cramped, but of course in the night, it was a little chilly even with the heat blasting! Although auroras are never guaranteed, we felt reassured that John was actually doing everything possible to make sure we'd get the best viewings. John felt like a detective, scoping out leads online for where the aurora viewing was good in the area. Overall, we stopped at 3 locations to chase the aurora. All were relatively quiet, and it added a surreal quality to it. Chasing the aurora with John felt like chasing with your chill friend. We had an awesome showing by the aurora, he laughed at our dumb aurora dance, and we had a lot of fun being goofy and rolling in the snow. John also helped us with taking great photos! We ended up heading back to our hotels at 3 AM. Overall, if you want to explore Fairbanks and beyond with the kindest husband-wife Alaskan local duo, I'd highly recommend booking with Fairbanks Trails & Rivers! Competitively priced to comparable tours, the Dog Mushing and Aurora Borealis tours were well-worth the price tags!

John O'Brien is a great tour driver for Fairbanks Trails and Rivers. He took us 45 minutes from…read moreFairbanks to Black Spruce Dog Sled Kennel. We were there about 3 hours and John stayed on site. On our way back, he was kind enough to take us to the Pipeline and a show us a few other sights of Fairbanks. He is very friendly, punctual and knowledgeable!

This was a really fun experience overall. It was a nice, relaxing dog sled ride through a serene…read morepublic park. Our guide was fun to talk t, a nice guy who has been training and running sled dogs for years and had great stories. Checking in: When you arrive, you check in at a little house at the bottom of the long driveway downhill and then head over to the sled waiting area. Meeting the Dogs: While you wait your turn, you can pet and play with the dogs. It's a little bit sad at first because each dog is chained to a stake near their individual dog house. Some of them were really tired and just wanted to be left alone, but others were super friendly and eager to make friends. The Ride: When it's your turn, you just pop right into the sled and off you go! A quick heads-up: make sure you get completely comfortable before you take off, because there is no stopping to re-adjust once you start. Also, keep in mind the seating arrangement means the person in front is essentially laying back on the person in the back. While it was a fun bucket-list experience, it's probably a one-and-done activity that I wouldn't necessarily feel the need to do again. Pro tip: Warning (The Hill): To get to the rides, you drive down a long, snow-covered driveway hill, roughly 150 yards. As I was driving down, I couldn't help but wonder if my car would be able to get back up. Sure enough, afterwards, my SUV rental could not make it up the slope and kept sliding backward. Even though I was driving an All-Wheel Drive SUV, it only had standard tires instead of proper snow tires, which caused me a ton of grief and ultimately required a tow up the hill by AAA. (If you're curious, I rented the vehicle from Budget at the airport, you can read my separate review about that nightmare!). It's a fun, authentic Alaskan adventure. Just make sure your vehicle is truly winter-ready.

What an amazing adventure. We had a fantastic ride through snowy forest being pulled by beautiful…read moredogs!! We had a great chat with our musher about life in Alaska and she stopped for photos. Petting the dogs afterwards was a wonderful way to end the trip. Highlight of our trip to Fairbanks.

A family run dog sled adventure, we got to have a wild (and safe) ride and then hang out with the…read moredogs. Each person, mom and dad two adult sons, explained whatever we wanted to know and told great stories. They know each dog by name and personality and accommodate all their quirks in a kind and fun way. The dogs were so excited when it was time to go jumping and squealing. Yet when they got finished, they were happy and calm ready to take some loving from us. I highly recommend the ride and particularly two rivers.

BEST Sunday Funday! We had an an absolute blast! This was something I've always wanted to do... I…read morewas laughing & smiling the whole time... Beautiful dogs! Awesome folks who REALLY care about their pups... I will be back!

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

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.

A MARVELOUS experience, OMG! At first, I was a bit hesitant and felt bad for the dogs, but after…read moredoing some research and living the experience, I can say it was definitely the highlight of our Alaska trip. The service was wonderful. We booked the 30-minute (2-mile) sled ride, and wow, you can tell these dogs truly enjoy what they do! Check-in was a breeze; they gave us clear safety instructions and explained the history behind the kennel. They even lent us heavy-duty gloves for the cold. Our musher was fantastic, sharing curious anecdotes about the dogs throughout the ride. We stopped at the 1-mile mark for some stunning photos, and at the end, we got to pet and cuddle the dogs, it was amazing! To top it off, they welcomed us back with hot coffee and freshly baked cookies. I felt so well taken care of by the staff. Highly recommended! PS: Don't be afraid to go fast; the dogs LOVE the speed!

I thoroughly enjoyed my mushing experience with Trail Breaker Kennel. If you're not really packed…read morefor the sledding experience, this place has the necessary gear on site for you to use without you having to overpack your bags. The dogs are all very friendly and eager to take you on an adventure. Our musher, Elena, was friendly and gave us fun facts throughout the ride. She also stopped to pick a nice place for us to take pictures. At the end of our mushing, we were able to warm up at the cabin and get some complementary hot chocolate.

Really nice place to go fishing or rent a canoe or other boat for a reasonable cost and go relax on…read morethe water. Lots of free parking and lots of nice places to just get out and explore nature.

We had a great time. We rented some kayaks and a canoe the woman who rented to us was super…read moreknowledgeable about the area and told me where the best fishing spots were. Clean crystal clear water and mostly shallow.

Imagine playing golf while an adult moose was running down an adjacent fairway! We rented clubs…read morethru a 9 hole package which included clubs, golf balls, range balls, plus a commemorative plaque (suitable for framing) showing you played in the northern most golf course in the U.S. Very friendly and personable staff who did their best to make your visit as memorable as possible. As for the course itself, it presented a challenge both from the standpoint of the layout and the weather.