Showing 1-13 of 13 results
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Chena Hot Springs Resort
At the end of Chena Hot Springs Rd is the Chena Hot Springs Resort. The springs themselves were discovered by gold miners in 1905, and by 1912 they were the premier place to soak for the happy residents of boom town Fairbanks. They still are. The busiest season for this resort, by far, is winter, and often during midweek in the summer you can score on some impressive 'slow season discounts'.
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Fairbanks Community Museum
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.
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Fairbanks Ice Museum
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.
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Georgeson Botanical Garden
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.
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Goldpanners
The Goldpanners is Fairbanks' entry in the collegiate-level Alaska Baseball League, which also includes teams from Anchorage, Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula. Games are played mid-June through July at Growden Memorial Park, starting at . Don't miss the Midnight Sun Baseball Game on June 21 - it's a century-old tradition.
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Large Animal Research Station
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. A gift shop sells, among other things, raw qiviut (musk-ox wool).
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Northern Lights
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.
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Pioneer Air Transportation Museum
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.'
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Pioneer Museum
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.
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Pioneer Park
It may sound a little hokey, but this 44-acre theme park is actually quite fun. Formerly Alaskaland, it features historical displays including a century-old working carousel and Gold Rush Town, a street of relocated log cabins which includes the Palace Theater and Saloon, site of night-time entertainment and the best salmon bake in town.
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University of Alaska Fairbanks
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.
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University of Alaska Museum
This excellent museum is UAF's main tourist attraction and sits overlooking the Tanana Valley. The most famous exhibits are Blue Babe, a fully restored 36,000-year-old bison that was found preserved intact thanks to the permafrost, and the awesome gold nugget display.
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Wood Center
A good place to start exploring the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus is Wood Center, where the information desk provides the UAF Campus Map & Visitors' Guide and the latest scoop on university events. This student center and general meeting place also holds a cafeteria, espresso stand, pizza parlor, pub and an outdoor patio.
Showing 1-13 of 13 results
