This year and last, a string of powerful solar storms has been setting nighttime skies around the world ablaze with the colors of the aurora borealis, aka the northern lights or, in the Southern Hemisphere, the aurora australis.
But to see the brightest, most spectacular northern lights displays, you need to head somewhere with dark enough skies. Somewhere like Fairbanks, Alaska, during the mid-August to mid-April aurora season.
Fairbanks has all the ingredients for stellar spectacles: clear weather, a location underneath the auroral oval (where the aurora shines more frequently and in easier-to-spot overhead locations), and the long, dark nights of wintertime at a high latitude.
Because northern lights tourism is such a big deal in Fairbanks, the city also has great infrastructure for the experience and lots of options to keep you entertained while waiting for the sky to explode with dancing colors.
Here are five of the best ways to see the northern lights in Fairbanks.
Dog Sled Tours in Fairbanks
The only thing more Alaskan than standing out on the snow and watching the aurora borealis dance overhead? Bounding over the same snow in a dog sled while the aurora does its thing.
Just a short distance outside Fairbanks, the Mushing Co-Op offers an opportunity to do just that, alternating time in a sled with time in a Mongolian-style yurt away from light pollution, all with a great view of the night sky. Or, if you really want to go all out, Arctic Dog Adventure Co. teaches you how to mush your own dog team on multiday adventures.
The standard wisdom is that if you spend at least 3 nights in the Fairbanks area and are actively hunting for the northern lights, odds are good that you’ll see them. So Arctic Dog Adventure Co.’s 4-, 5-, and 7-day trips are about as close as you can get to guaranteed sightings (provided the weather cooperates).
(Dog-sledding in Fairbanks, Alaska | Credit: youli zhao / Shutterstock)
Ice Fishing in Fairbanks
Will the aurora shine tonight? Are the fish biting? Nobody knows the answer to either of those questions until you’re in the moment, but it’s surprisingly fun to combine both pursuits—especially once you realize that ice fishing can be much cozier than it sounds.
Upping the comfy quotient are heated fishing huts, snacks and hot drinks, and underwater cameras that let you spy on the fish from afar. Go with a guide and you’ve got someone to brave the cold to check the night skies for you, too.
You have several ice-fishing-and-aurora-hunting operations to choose from in the Fairbanks area. Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service proactively moves fishing huts to nudge the odds in your favor, and the company can tack on dog-sledding or snowmobile excursions to a fishing tour. Alaska River Tours offers fishing cabins where you can watch the aurora from inside the huts if you like, with a fish dinner included.
Arctic Circle Tours from Fairbanks
For a true bucket list experience, you can go even farther afield in search of the northern lights. Like all the way across the Arctic Circle.
Northern Alaska Tour Company is the undisputed leader in this kind of adventure, and the operator has wintertime northern lights trips down to a science. You can take a single-day tour to the company’s aurora-viewing outpost (although not a full overnight trip, this outing still lasts well into the wee hours). Or opt for a multiday trip to the remote northern work camp of Coldfoot, making the daylong drive to get there and then flying back (or vice versa) after several nights of watching for the lights and exploring the frigid beauty of the Brooks Range.
(Camping in Coldfoot, Alaska | Credit: Nickolas warner / Shutterstock)
Aurora Pointe
One of the newer options for northern lights–viewing in Fairbanks is Aurora Pointe, a kind of interpretive center for the natural phenomenon. When you book a nighttime visit, you’ll be hosted by guides who explain why the displays occur, teach you how to take photos of the spectacle, and capture your own portrait with the aurora.
Even if the northern lights don’t appear during your visit, you’ll get access to all the guides’ photos for the month—so one way or another, you’ll walk away with sensational photographs of the night sky.
Another plus: Aurora Pointe is one of the few fully ADA-accessible facilities of its kind, with easy streetside ramp access, ADA-compliant restrooms, and an accessible outdoor deck.
Where to Stay to See the Northern Lights
Let’s not forget the coziest way to see the northern lights: staying in bed until someone calls you to go outside and look at the sky. Almost every Fairbanks hotel with a 24-hour front desk will be happy to give you a wake-up call in those circumstances—but only if you ask for it.
There’s a potential downside, though. The more ambient light there is, the harder it becomes to see the lights, especially with the naked eye. Given enough streetlights, even a bright aurora display can fade into nothing but wispy, tattered sheets of white gauze fluttering overhead.
So the best places for an aurora-bolstered stay are outside of central Fairbanks. At Chena Hot Springs Resort, you can lounge in a rock-lined hot springs pool while watching the lights above. Aurora Pointe’s sister property, A Taste of Alaska Lodge, likewise makes sky-gazing easy. All you have to do is pull on your fuzzy socks and walk out to the communal aurora-viewing cabin, where you can play board games and drink hot cocoa with fellow guests as you watch the northern lights through a large, north-facing window.
Lastly, a few hotels make it possible to see the northern lights without ever leaving bed. These include Borealis Basecamp, where guests can sleep in domes with clear, north-facing walls and a tinkling, unobtrusive “aurora alarm” to let you know what’s happening above your head.
Aurora Villa more closely resembles a traditional hotel, but each room has massive, floor-to-ceiling windows. All you have to do is crack your eyes open and enjoy the show.