Fairbanks
The Golden Heart City
General Information
Other Name: -, District: Alaska, State: West, United States of America
Area: 0 -
Languages Spoken: English
Long Distance Code: +1 907
Importance: -
Best Time to Visit: June to August and May And September
International Access: -Description
Fairbanks, Alaska`s second largest town and the terminus of the Alaska Highway, developed around 1900 from a gold-diggers camp. The University of Alaska Museum has a collection illustrating the history of the territory. In the Alaskaland leisure park there are reconstructions of a gold-diggers village and Eskimo and Indian settlements. In the Large Animal Research Station wild animals can be seen living in natural conditions. There are paddle-steamer trips on the Chena and Tanana Rivers. The Midnight Sun is visible from September to April. Fairbanks is a good base for excursions (by air) to northern and eastern Alaska, for example to Fort Yukon, the largest Indian settlement in Alaska, or by road to Marley or Chena Hot Springs.Location
-Climate
Subarctic
UAF''s Large Animal Research Station keeps herds of musk oxen, reindeer and caribou to study their unique adaptations to a sub-Arctic climate. Viewing areas outside the fenced pastures allow a free look at the herds anytime, but bring binoculars, as the animals don''t always cooperatively graze nearby. The facility itself can only be seen on guided walks.
Fairbanks Community Museum , though not thrilling, merits a visit on a rainy day. This homespun place traces the city''s history mainly through old photos and newspaper clippings.More interestingly, the museum is also home to the Yukon Quest Cache, with a gift shop and displays devoted to the city''s seminal dog-sled race. Like a handful of other Alaskan towns, Fairbanks bills itself as the dog mushing capital of the world. The Yukon Quest, taking place each February, covers 1023 miles between here and Whitehorse along many of the early trails used by trappers, miners and the postal service. Though less famous than the Iditarod , mushers will attest that the Quest is tougher, forcing teams to climb four mountains over 3000ft high and run along hundreds of miles of the frozen Yukon River.
Certainly the most bemusing sight in the city''s downtown - and by far the best place to chill out - is the Fairbanks Ice Museum . This hour-long experience takes place in the historic, musty-smelling Lacey Street Theater, which you''ll likely have largely to yourself. First comes the screening of the film Freeze Frame, which employs dramatic editing to chronicle the World Ice Art Championships, an ice-sculpting contest held in Fairbanks each March.Then the lights come up to reveal an array of life-sized crystalline carvings ringing the theatre. They''re all stereotypical Alaskan scenes - howling huskies and bears wrestling salmon - and some are slightly melted or broken. Inside chilled rooms there''s an ice-igloo you can walk through, an ice-chair to pose in, and, not to be missed, an ice-slide that offers a bracing two-second ride. The finale is a rather perfunctory carving demonstration in which a sculptor uses a drill to etch a flower into a block of ice.
On the edge of campus is the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, where the university dabbles in growing vegetables of mythical proportions, and small grains like barley, wheat and oats that seem best suited for the short Alaskan growing seasons. Ironically, the station''s grain fields are ideal places to spot Sandhill cranes, an endangered species in the rest of the country.On the station grounds is the 5-acre Georgeson Botanical Garden, a perfect picnicking spot that''s a riot of wildflowers, herbs, fruits and gigantic vegetables. You can look around independently anytime during opening hours.
For many visitors, Fairbanks'' primary pulling power lies in a natural phenomenon: the Aurora Borealis, better known as the Northern Lights. As solar winds flow across the earth''s upper atmosphere, they hit gas molecules which light up, much like the high-vacuum electrical discharge of a neon sign.What you end up with is a solar-powered light show of waving, diaphanous light streaming across the night sky. In the dead of winter, the aurora often fills the sky for hours. Other nights, ''the event'', as many call it, lasts less than 10 minutes.This polar phenomenon has been seen as far south as Mexico, but Fairbanks is the undisputed aurora capital. The best viewing is from September to April, and it''s worth a trip to the outlying hills, away from the city lights.
The geodesic Pioneer Air Transportation Museum is chock-full of exhibits on the state''s groundbreaking aviation history - there''s even an experimental gyroplane and a ''flying saucer.''
The Pioneer Museum is mainly a jumble of antiques ostensibly chronicling the history of Fairbanks. This is also where, six times daily, you can catch the 40-minute Big Stampede Show, reenacting gold-rush days.
University of Alaska Fairbanks is the original campus of the state''s university system and an interesting place to spend an afternoon. Incorporated in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, the school began its first year with six students. Today, it has more than 8000, and hundreds of degree and certificate programs.The beautiful campus is 4 miles west of downtown, on a hilltop from which you can see Mt McKinley on a clear day. An Alaska Range viewpoint on Yukon Dr, near the University of Alaska Museum, provides a turnout and a marker detailing the mountainous horizon.