Activities in Fairbanks
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Angel Rocks Hiking Trail
Angel Rocks Hiking Trail is a 3.5-mile loop trail that leads to Angel Rocks: large granite outcroppings near the north boundary of Chena River State Recreation Area. It's a moderate day's hike; the elevation gain is 900ft and the rocks are less than 2 miles from the road.
The trail is also the first leg of the Angel Rocks-Chena Hot Springs Traverse, a more difficult 8.3-mile trek that ends at the Chena Hot Springs Resort, at the end of Chena Hot Springs Rd. Roughly halfway along the traverse is a free-use shelter. The posted trailhead for Angel Rocks is just south of a rest area at Mile 49 of the Chena Hot Springs Rd. The lower trailhead for the Chena Dome Trail is practi…
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Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
A handful of trails, each less than 2 miles round-trip, wind through the farmlands and forests of Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, an old dairy farm that's become a birders' paradise. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game seeds the area with bird-luring plants, attracting more than 100 species annually, including Sandhill cranes. The Farmhouse Visitor Center, adjacent to the Fish and Game office and reached by the MACS Red Line, has trail guides, bug spray and a list of recent sightings.
Volunteers lead one-hour nature walks at 19:00 Monday through Friday and 09:00 Wednesday.
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Granite Tors Hiking Trail
The 15-mile Granite Tors Hiking Trail loop provides access into an alpine area with unusual tors: isolated pinnacles of granite rising out of the tundra. The first set is 6 miles from the trailhead but the best group lies 2 miles further along the trail. The entire trail is a five- to eight-hour trek gaining 2700ft in elevation, with a free-use shelter midway. The trailhead is in the Tors Trail State Campground, at Mile 39 of the Chena Hot Springs Rd.
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Eagle Summit Trail
Eagle Summit, 3624ft in elevation, has a parking area for the second trailhead of the Pinnell Mountain Trail. A climb of less than a mile leads to the mountaintop, the highest point along the Steese Hwy and a place where the midnight sun can be observed skimming the horizon around the summer solstice. On a clear day, summiting here can feel like ascending to heaven. The peak is also near a caribou migration route.
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Bike & Canoe Hire, 7 Bridges Boats & Bikes
Bike & Canoe Hire, 7 Bridges Boats & Bikes, at the 7 Gables Inn & Suites, rents road bikes and mountain bikes for a day. They also provide canoes and a shuttle service.
From 7 Bridges Boats & Bikes you can drop a canoe in the Chena River, head downstream and into the quiet Noyes Slough and complete the loop by paddling east back into the river, a 13-mile round-trip journey.
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Gold Dredge No 8
Off the old Steese Hwy at Mile 10 Goldstream Rd, this five-deck, 250ft dredge was built in 1928, operated until 1959, and was named a national historic site in 1984. Today perhaps Alaska's most visited dredge, No 8 is still making money. There are on-the-hour one-hour tours from 09:30 to 15:30 daily; for an additional fee you can also indulge in gold panning and the all-you-can-eat Miner's Lunch.
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Gold Dredge No 8 tours
Off the old Steese Hwy at Mile 10 Goldstream Rd, this five-deck, 250ft dredge was built in 1928, operated until 1959, and was named a national historic site in 1984. Today perhaps Alaska's most visited dredge, No 8 is still making money. There are on-the-hour one-hour tours from 09:30 to 15:30 daily; for an additional fee you can also indulge in gold panning and the all-you-can-eat Miner's Lunch.
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Larry's Flying Service
The Arctic Circle may be an imaginary line, but it's become one of Fairbanks' biggest draws, with small air-charter companies doing booming business flying travelers on sightseeing excursions across it. Larry's Flying Service offers a 1¾-hour air-only tour, or a three-hour trip with an hour-long ground tour of Fort Yukon, just north of the circle.
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Birch Creek canoe route
The Birch Creek canoe route begins at Mile 94 of the Steese Hwy, where a short road leads down to a canoe launch on the creek. The wilderness trip is a 140-mile paddle to the exit point, at Mile 147 of the highway. The overall rating of the river is Class II, but there are some Class III and Class IV parts that require lining your canoe.
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Pinnell Mountain Trail
Access points for the Pinnell Mountain Trail are at Mile 85.6 and Mile 107 of the Steese Hwy. The first trailhead is Twelvemile Summit, which offers remarkable alpine views and is often snowy well into June. Even if you have no desire to undertake the three-day trek, the first 2 miles is an easy climb past unusual rock formations.
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Alaskan Prospectors & Geologists Supply
If you've been bitten by the gold bug, Fairbanks is an ideal area to try your hand at gold panning. Start at Alaskan Prospectors & Geologists Supply, which sells all the necessary equipment for recreational prospecting. It stocks books, pamphlets and videos to help you strike it rich, and even offers panning instructions.
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Bike & Canoe Hire, Alaska Outdoor Rentals & Guides
Bike & Canoe Hire, Alaska Outdoor Rentals & Guides is centrally located on the river behind Pioneer Park and rents mountain bikes for a day. Alaska Outdoor Rentals & Guides also will set you up with a canoe and pick you up at downstream locations like Pike's Landing or the Pump House Restaurant.
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Wickersham Dome Trailhead
At Mile 28 of the Elliott Hwy is the Wickersham Dome Trailhead parking lot and an information box. From here, trails lead to Borealis-Le Fevre's and Lee's cabins. Lee's Cabin is a 7-mile hike in and has a large picture window overlooking the White Mountains and a loft that comfortably sleeps eight.
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North Star Golf Club
Fairbanks has a couple of golf courses where you can tee up well past your bedtime. North Star Golf Club is an 18-hole course where visitors can start a round as late as 22:00. The USGA-approved course bills itself as 'America's Northernmost Golf Course.'
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Bike & Canoe Hire, Go North Hostel
Bike & Canoe Hire, Go North Hostel hires mountain bikes for a day, as well as canoes for a day or a week. Go North Hostel can help with trip-planning and will transport you to and from rivers throughout the Interior.
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Paddling
With no whitewater and comparatively few other hazards, the peaceful Chena River offers a variety of day and multiday canoeing possibilities in the area, with access points all along Chena Hot Springs Rd.
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Alaska Flying Tours
The Arctic Circle may be an imaginary line, but it's become one of Fairbanks' biggest draws, with small air-charter companies doing booming business flying travelers on sightseeing excursions across it.
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Trans Arctic Circle Treks Ltd
The Arctic Circle may be an imaginary line, but it's become one of Fairbanks' biggest draws, with small air-charter companies doing booming business flying travelers on sightseeing excursions across it.
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Northern Alaska Tour Co
The Arctic Circle may be an imaginary line, but it's become one of Fairbanks' biggest draws, with small air-charter companies doing booming business flying travelers on sightseeing excursions across it.
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Fairbanks Historical City Tour
Departing from River's Edge RV Park & Campground, this four-hour motorcoach tour leaves daily at 08:30 and visits downtown, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and the UAF Museum and Botanical Gardens.
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Manley Boat Charters
Frank Gurtler of Manley Boat Charters can take you to catch salmon, char and grayling, or just show you the sights along the broad Tanana River, just upstream from its confluence with the Yukon.
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Fairbanks Golf & Country Club
The venerable Fairbanks Golf & Country Club is a nine-hole course open until 02:00 in June and July. Listed hazards at the courses include moose, marmot and Sandhill crane.
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El Dorado Gold Mine
This daily two-hour train tour on a mile-long narrow-gauge track winds through a reconstructed mining camp and culminates with visitors panning gold-laden dirt.
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Chena Dome Trail
The trail follows the ridge for almost 30 miles in a loop around the Angel Creek drainage area; the first 3 miles to the tree line make an excellent day hike.
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Gray Line
Offers a four-hour 'Discover the Gold Tour' that departs at 09:00 and noon, and includes Gold Dredge No 8, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and lunch.
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