Photograph: Downtown Fairbanks by FairbanksMike, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fairbanks is the largest city in the interior of Alaska and the second most populous city in the state, a gold rush town on the Chena River about 196 road miles south of the Arctic Circle. Visitors come in winter for the northern lights and in summer for the midnight sun, and both seasons are extreme. Packing for Fairbanks means packing for deep cold from autumn to spring, for long dark days in midwinter and almost no darkness in June, and in summer, for the chance of wildfire smoke filling the valley.
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The photograph above shows downtown Fairbanks at dusk. The dark Chena River fills the foreground, reflecting the lights of the buildings, and a riverside path with white railings slopes down the bank. On the plaza behind it, which appears to be Golden Heart Plaza, stand a clock tower topped by a globe and a bronze statue group, with trees in yellow autumn leaf, a lit hotel and office blocks behind, and a radio mast with a red light on the left.
What the frame cannot show is either of the seasons people come for. There is no snow in it and no hint of the cold, no aurora in that deep blue sky, and no midnight sun. It does not show the smoke that can fill the valley in summer, the university and its museum, the hot springs out of town, any wildlife or the wide flat Tanana Valley around the city. It is a pleasant autumn evening, which is the one season a visitor rarely sees.
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What Is Here
The encyclopaedia records that the trader E. T. Barnette set up a trading post on the south bank of the Chena River in August 1901, after the Italian prospector Felix Pedro and his partner persuaded him the area had potential. Gold was found nearby, a rush followed, and the residents voted to incorporate Fairbanks as a city in November 1903. Today it is a working town spread across the valley floor, with the Army's Fort Wainwright to the east and a compact downtown on the river.
Downtown, Golden Heart Plaza, which a traveller guide describes as a celebration of the silver anniversary of Alaska's statehood, sits by the river with its clock tower and the bronze First Family statue near the visitor centre. The Explore Fairbanks visitor bureau is the place to start for local information. West of the centre, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the founding campus of the state university system, established in 1917, holds the University of Alaska Museum of the North, a good introduction to the interior's land and people.
In summer, a traveller guide recommends the Riverboat Discovery, a sternwheeler trip on the Chena that stops at the Chena Indian Village and runs to where the Chena meets the Tanana. Pioneer Park is laid out like an old gold rush town and holds the S.S. Nenana, an old river sternwheeler. Out of town, Chena Hot Springs is a popular soak, and the same guide notes you have a very good chance of seeing moose on the road there.
The Aurora
The northern lights are the reason most winter visitors come, and Fairbanks is well placed for them. The encyclopaedia says the aurora is visible on average on more than 200 days a year in the area around Fairbanks, but not in summer, because the midnight sun never lets the sky get dark enough. A traveller guide says the best viewing is between September and mid-April on cold, clear nights.
Watching the aurora means standing still, outside, in the middle of the night, often in deep cold. That is a hard packing test, because the effort that keeps you warm on a walk is missing, and the cold builds up while you wait. Dress as if for a far colder day than the forecast suggests, get away from the city's lights, and check the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute aurora forecast together with the cloud forecast before you head out. Clear sky matters as much as solar activity.
The Cold, the Inversion and the Ice Fog
Fairbanks is one of the coldest cities in the United States. The encyclopaedia gives a mean January temperature of minus 8.3°F, about minus 22°C, and a record low of minus 66°F, about minus 54°C, on 14 January 1934. A traveller guide describes the winters as frigid from October to April.
The reason is the valley. In winter, cold air sinks and collects on the valley floor where the city sits, while warmer air rises up the hills to the north, so it can be markedly colder downtown than a few miles away on higher ground. When those inversions set in, the encyclopaedia notes, heavy ice fog often forms: the air is too cold to absorb the moisture from car exhausts and human breath, so it freezes into tiny crystals that hang in the air. Ice fog cuts visibility on the roads.
At these temperatures frostbite and hypothermia are a real risk, not a figure of speech. Cover every bit of skin outdoors, keep your hands and feet dry, come indoors at the first numb patch, and read the National Weather Service cold safety guidance before you travel. The National Weather Service Fairbanks office issues the local forecasts and cold warnings.
Summer: Midnight Sun and Wildfire Smoke
Summer flips everything. A traveller guide says summers are warm from May to September and that hot days can push into the high 20s Celsius, and that in June the sun is up from about three in the morning to after midnight and the sky never gets properly dark. In midwinter, by contrast, the same guide puts the sun above the horizon for only about four hours.
The summer hazard most visitors do not expect is smoke. The encyclopaedia records that in summer dense wildfire smoke collects in the Tanana Valley, affecting the weather and causing health concerns, and the FCDO notes that wildfires are a danger in forests and can spread rapidly in high winds. Check air quality on AirNow and current fires on Alaska Wildland Fire Information, follow any evacuation orders, and keep indoor plans ready for smoky days. If you have asthma or a heart or lung condition, take smoke seriously.
The river is part of the town's history too. In August 1967 the Chena flooded almost the whole of Fairbanks overnight after heavy rain upstream, which led to the flood control project that now protects the city.
When to Go
For the aurora, go between September and mid-April and allow several nights, because cloud can hide the sky. Late winter adds the World Ice Art Championships. For the midnight sun, hiking and the river, go in June and July, and keep an eye on the smoke forecast. Autumn, with its gold leaves and first dark nights, is short.
Getting There
Fairbanks International Airport is about three miles south west of downtown, with flights from Anchorage and from cities in the lower 48. A traveller guide notes that the Alaska Railroad runs daily in summer from Anchorage via Denali, with limited service in winter, and that the drive up the George Parks Highway from Anchorage is a long day in summer. In winter, check road conditions on Alaska 511 before any long drive.
Once there, the same guide says a car is by far the easiest way around, with buses infrequent. The FCDO advises checking weather before a long car journey in isolated areas, staying on main roads, and never sleeping in your car by the roadside or in rest areas. Carry warm clothes, food and water in the car in winter, because a breakdown out of town in deep cold is an emergency. The FCDO also warns not to leave a passport in a rental car. British visitors need an ESTA or a visa to enter the US.
Is Fairbanks Safe for Women Travelers
The FCDO names no advised-against areas in the United States and says violent crime and gun crime rarely affect tourists. It still advises care in unfamiliar areas and not walking through quieter areas alone at night. A traveller guide says downtown is well policed and attacks on tourists are very rare, but advises avoiding the area around South Cushman Street after dark, and warns that break-ins to parked cars and petty theft are constant problems, so keep valuables out of sight.
The bigger risks for a woman travelling alone are environmental. In winter, never set out for an aurora site or a drive without telling someone where you are going and when you will be back; the FCDO's hiking advice to leave your itinerary with someone and to be equipped for the worst case applies just as much to a night by the roadside watching the sky. Choose aurora tours with established operators who provide a warm building or vehicle to retreat to. The FCDO also notes that Alaska is at higher risk of earthquakes and has many active volcanoes, and that search and rescue is limited in the remote Arctic north, which matters if you plan to drive on toward the Arctic Circle.
The Fairbanks Packing List
Start with a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, warm against the skin, breathable when you move from deep cold into an overheated building, and still comfortable after a long night outside, which is how most Fairbanks days and nights go in winter.
Winter and Aurora Nights
Layer a heavyweight merino wool base layer over or instead of the lighter one on the coldest nights, and top everything with a waterproof insulated parka long enough to cover your hips. Wear insulated waterproof snow boots with room for thick socks, a Smartwool merino beanie under a hood, and merino wool glove liners under your warmest mittens so you can take a photograph without bare hands.
Dark Days and Icy Streets
A rechargeable headlamp is worth packing for a month when the sun is up for about four hours; keep it in an inside pocket, because batteries lose charge in the cold. We stopped at six product links, so thermal leggings and traction spikes for icy pavements are not linked here, but both are worth packing in winter.
Summer
In summer, bring light layers, a rain jacket, an eye mask for the midnight sun and insect repellent. Our affiliate register carries no face mask, so a well-fitting mask for smoky days is not linked; pack a few if you are sensitive to smoke. The FCDO notes that UK prescriptions are not valid in the US, so bring enough of any regular medicine, especially an inhaler, for the whole trip.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Fairbanks
Emergency number: 911 for police, fire and ambulance, as listed by the FCDO. To call an ambulance, dial 911 and ask for one.
Hospital: Fairbanks Memorial Hospital is the city's hospital. If you are admitted, contact your insurer straight away; the FCDO notes that medical treatment in the US is expensive, that there are no special arrangements for British visitors, and that some hospitals ask non-US residents for a deposit on admission.
Weather and cold: the National Weather Service Fairbanks office for forecasts and warnings, and the National Weather Service cold safety pages.
Aurora: the Geophysical Institute aurora forecast.
Wildfire and smoke: Alaska Wildland Fire Information for fires and evacuations, and AirNow for air quality.
Roads: Alaska 511 for road conditions and closures.
Local information: Explore Fairbanks, the visitor bureau.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors, is the US federal health authority for visitors.
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body, covers the whole country, while Explore Fairbanks above is the local visitor bureau.
Solo women safety assessment: Fairbanks is a safe town for a woman travelling alone, and attacks on visitors are very rare, though it is wise to avoid South Cushman Street after dark and to keep valuables out of your car. The risks that matter are the cold, the dark and the remoteness in winter, and smoke in summer. Tell someone your plans every time you head out at night, carry warm gear and supplies in the car, book aurora trips with established operators, and turn back early rather than late. Dial 911 in any emergency.
Takeaways
Dress for standing still in deep cold, not for walking. Cover all skin and know the signs of frostbite. Check the aurora and cloud forecasts together, and allow several nights. Carry winter supplies in the car and tell someone your route. In summer, check air quality and the fire map daily.
Reading On
For the rest of Alaska, read the Anchorage packing list, the Denali packing list for the park two hours south, the Seward packing list and the Juneau packing list. For aurora country elsewhere, the Yellowknife packing list and the Whitehorse packing list cover northern Canada, and the Tromso packing list and the Rovaniemi packing list cover the Arctic in Europe. The USA travel guide covers the rest of the country, our guide to merino wool base layers for women explains why wool is the right layer against deep cold, and the travel packing guide for women indexes every destination. The base layers themselves are in the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
