Population: Fairbanks city, 30,552

Located in the heart of Alaska’s Interior, Fairbanks is at the junction of the Parks, Steese and Richardson highways.

Visitor Information:
Fairbanks Log Cabin Visitor Information Center at 550 1st Avenue at Cushman Street, (907) 456-4636 or visit www.explorefairbanks.com. Note: The Visitor Information Center is scheduled to move in September 2008 to the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center at 101 Dunkel Street.

Alaska Public Lands Information Center 250 Cushman St., until they move in September 2008 to the new facility. (907) 456-0527 or toll-free 1-866-869-6887. TDD information line (907) 456-0518. www.nps.gov/aplic.

Maps: Click on maps below for detailed PDFs.

History:
Fairbanks started as a trading post that went awry.  The ship that was supposed to take Captain E.T. Barnette to the Tanana Crossing could not navigate the shallow river so he was dropped at the present-day site of Fairbanks in 1901.  A year later gold was discovered only 16 miles away and Barnette never left.  The town is named after Charles W. Fairbanks, Indiana senator and vice president of the United States under Thedore Roosevelt. Judge Wickersham moved the Third Judicial District Court here from Eagle in 1903, helping the town grow.

Fairbanks is a major a service and supply point for Interior and Arctic industrial activities and is also the location of Fort Wainwright (formerly Ladd Field, the first Army airfield in Alaska) and Eielson Air Force Base.

Alaska’s second largest city and the administrative center of the Interior, Fairbanks is a blend of old and new: Modern full-service hotels, shopping centers and malls stand beside log cabins and historic wooden buildings. Located on the banks of the Chena River, it is bounded on the north, east and west by low rolling hills of birch and white spruce. To the south are the Alaska Range and Denali National Park, about a 2 1⁄2-hour drive via the Parks Highway. The Steese and Elliott highways lead north to the White Mountains.

Lodging & Services:
Fairbanks is a full-service town. Lodgings are available at more than 2 dozen hotels and motels, 4 hostels and more than 100 bed and breakfasts. There are several RV parks in the area and one state campground. There is a wide range of dining options, dozens of gift shops, galleries and other shopping venues, auto sales and repair and tour operators.

Attractions:

• Take a sightseeing cruise aboard a sternwheeler. Two companies, Alaska Riverways and Greatland River Tours, offer cruises on the Chena river in the summer.  Choose from a half-day trip, a dinner cruise or other options.
• Tour the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  Be sure to see the Museum of the North,
• Georgeson Botanical Garden, Robert G. White Large Animal Research Station (with live caribou, musk oxen and reindeer) and one of the best views in town.
• Check out the thousands of sandhill cranes and other waterfowl at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. Take the 2-mile self-guided nature trail and explore the historic farmhouse that houses the visitor center.
• Enjoy the many exciting summer events including the Folk Festival and Solstice celebration with Midnight Sun Baseball in June, Summer Arts Festival, Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow, World Eskimo Indian Olympics and Golden Days in July, and the Tanana Valley State Fair in August.
• Visit Pioneer Park with its historic buildings, small shops, food, entertainment, picnicking, playgrounds, miniature golf and train rides. Don’t miss the railroad museum as well as the renovated SS Nenana, the largest stern-wheeler ever built west of the Mississippi, and the second largest wooden vessel in existence.
• Learn about Fairbanks’ mining history and go gold panning at Historic Gold Dredge No. 8 or El Dorado Gold Mine.
• Take a day trip to see the trans-Alaska pipeline and visit the Arctic Circle.  The 280-mile round trip will also take you across the Yukon River on a route that parallels the pipeline much of the way. For a quick jaunt, the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. Fox Visitor Center is just 8 miles north of Fairbanks is a great photo opportunity and a chance to walk along a section of the pipeline.
• Tell Santa Claus you have been good when you visit him at home in North Pole, 12 miles southeast of Fairbanks.
• Visit Chena Hot Springs (125 miles round trip), a private resort offering indoor and outdoor natural mineral hot springs pools and the Aurora Ice Museum, the world’s only year-round ice museum and ice bar.