Published on Jan, 2025
This was a wonderful tour! It is LONG - 1pm to somewhere between 2:30-5:00am, depending on road conditions and Aurora activity - but SO worth it! Riding the Dalton highway (of Ice Road Truckers fame), walking on (and sledding down to) the frozen Yukon River, seeing tundra and several different types of forests - including an area named the “enchanted forest” because moisture from the Yukon River deposits many layers of snow and ice on the trees, creating a magical-looking scene - along with glimpses of wildlife. Lots of photo ops! And the whole drive back is during the prime time to see the Aurora.
Elijah, our tour guide, was wonderful - a great storyteller, very knowledgeable about the area, local traditions, etc., enthusiastic, encouraging, responsive to the needs and desires of the group - AND a competent, careful driver on the icy roads, coordinating with the truckers by CB radio to keep everyone safe. He kept us entertained for the entire 14+ hour trip. And he knows the best places to pull off the road for photos or to view the lights (not many places to do that on those roads). We had NO issues - just a lot of fun. The best part? We were far enough north that we got to see a beautiful, long Northern Lights display, even though Fairbanks itself has been overcast most of the week!
I HIGHLY recommend this tour!
A couple of tips: (1) Dress for the weather but in layers - it can be quite a bit warmer than Fairbanks some places and quite a bit colder than Fairbanks in others - and quite windy. Particularly your feet - standing outside watching the lights my feet got pretty cold. Dressing in layers helps handle weather changes along the way, plus riding in a heated van in between. 2) You might want to bring an extra battery for your phone. Again, this trip is LONG. 3) Try to schedule this trip when you’re not too exhausted from other touring. All of the Aurora tours are, by necessity, really late nights. But the length of this one would have been hard if we had been really tired already.
