Portions of the Dalton Highway may be temporarily closed due to road work or inclement weather. Traveling this farthest-north road involves real risks and challenges, and it can be dangerous, because the highway is essentially just a gravel road, reduced to zero visibility, enormous potholes and extreme Arctic weather.
From Fairbanks, you can drive to the Arctic Circle via the Dalton Highway. Notable landmarks along the highway include the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Finger Mountain, the Yukon River Bridge, and the Arctic Circle Monument.
Fairbanks' Aurora Season is from August 21 to April 21 and the aurora will be visible in Fairbanks an average of four out of five nights when the sky is clear and dark enough. Scientifically speaking, the aurora is dancing above year-round, but we can only see it during the Aurora Season when we have dark enough skies.
Chena River State Recreation Area & Chena Hot Springs RoadLandscape: There are excellent aurora viewing areas along Chena Hot Springs Road from Fairbanks all the way to Chena Hot Springs Resort, a renowned aurora viewing location at mile 58.
Winter temperatures can drop below -58° F (-50° C) ,and summer temperatures can occasionally exceed 86° F (30° C). Now, the Arctic is marked as the climatic laboratory for the rest of the planet.
The Dalton Highway, a.k.a., the "haul road", is 414 miles long and connects the Elliott Highway (north of Fairbanks) to Deadhorse, Alaska -- the farthest north you can drive on Alaska's road system.
The city's violent crime rate is a shade below the statewide average, and its property crime rate–though quite high–is below that of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city.
Fairbanks is Alaska's 3rd safest city.
Alaska's Safest Cities.
| AK | 3 |
|---|
| City | Fairbanks |
|---|
| Population | 31,635 |
|---|
| Violent crime | 193 |
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| Property crime | 1354 |
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When is the best month to visit Alaska? You can't go wrong visiting Alaska anytime between May 10 and September 15. The days are long, nature is in full bloom, and the air is alive with energy. But, for the absolute best time to visit Alaska, shoot for June 15 to July 15.
Top 100 Jobs Relatively More Common in Alaska Than Elsewhere
| Rank | Job | Local Popularity Index |
|---|
| 1 | Zoologists and wildlife biologists | 45.6 |
| 2 | Geological and petroleum technicians | 30.5 |
| 3 | Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers | 29.3 |
| 4 | Material moving workers | 20.2 |
There are two North PolesUnlike the South Pole, which lies over the continent of Antarctica, there is no land beneath the North Pole but more of a floating Arctic ice sheet that expands during colder months and shrinks to half its size in the summer.
It's no surprise that it's only a decade since the first successful car journey to the North Pole – which was of course part of the 2007 Top Gear Polar Special. Jeremy Clarkson and James May drove to the magnetic North Pole in a convoy of three vehicles, including a Toyota Hilux.
No one actually lives at the North Pole. Inuit people, who live in the nearby Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and Russia, have never made homes at the North Pole. The ice is constantly moving, making it nearly impossible to establish a permanent community.
About North PoleOnly a 15-minute drive south of Fairbanks, North Pole features holiday decorations and trimmings all year – even if it's 80 degrees in July. You can drive down streets like Santa Claus Lane, Kris Kringle Drive and Mistletoe Lane or stay the night at Santaland RV Park.
The U.S. is one of eight nations surrounding the Arctic — along with Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden — that are all currently jostling for ownership of the region's frozen seas.
Only four million people live north of the Arctic Circle due to the climate; nonetheless, some areas have been settled for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, who today make up 10% of the region's population.
As others have said, Fairbanks is a great place to visit in the winter. The only worthwhile thing to see in the summer is Pioneer Park, which is a little tourist place where you can learn about early Alaskan history.
Polar bears occur throughout the northern polar region. In the winter, polar bears in Alaska are found as far south as St. In the summer, bears are most abundant around the edge of the pack ice in the Chukchi Sea and Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic Circle is a circle of latitude encompassing the northernmost pole of the Earth and is located at approximately 66°33′45.6″ north of the Equator. The Arctic Circle is about 7,700,000 square miles. This line of latitude separates the Arctic zone in the north from the Northern Temperate Zone in the south.
Anchorage to Fairbanks costs around $244 in Adventure class or $441 in Goldstar class.
Nome, Alaska, situated near the Arctic Circle on the Bering Sea coastline in Alaska's Far North started life as a 'wild west' tent city during the Alaska Gold Rush
The NPS has recorded 123 fatalities on Denali since 1932. The most common cause of death is climbing falls, followed by exposure, avalanches and acute altitude illness. “It's a very rigorous climb,” Gualtieri said. 208 climbers are on the mountain, according to NPS logs.
While both Denali and Everest are challenging mountains, Everest is higher and more technically challenging than Denali. Denali is harder in terms of support, since there's not much of this once you're on the mountain.
In 1980, momentum continued to favor the name Denali after the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act changed the park's name to Denali National Park and Preserve. But the official name of the mountain remained Mount McKinley.
A large bend in the Denali Fault directly north of Denali causes rocks to bunch up. Denali happens to be in this bend; this is one of the reasons it is so tall. The forces that caused the uplift of Denali continue today. Scientists know that Denali rises at a rate of one half of a millime-ter per year.
MOUNT DENALIFrom base to summit, that's over a mile taller than Everest. The crown of the 600-mile-long Alaska Range is big enough to create its own weather patterns.
Mount Everest, located in Nepal and Tibet, is usually said to be the highest mountain on Earth. Reaching 29,029 feet at its summit, Everest is indeed the highest point above global mean sea level—the average level for the ocean surface from which elevations are measured.
Climbing Denali is difficult and requires adequate physical and technical training. Keep in mind that not only will you have to deal with altitude, but also with extreme weather and pulling sleds with food, gear and more. You will need rope skills, avalanche training and how to use ice-ax and crampons.
