Winter Arctic Circle Tours

A winter Arctic Circle tour from Fairbanks is a 12 to 18 hour day, mostly in a heated van or coach on a snow-packed gravel road, with much of the driving done in the dark. You see the Yukon River under ice, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline crossing white country and the Arctic Circle sign at Dalton Highway milepost 115, about 200 miles north of town. On the aurora versions you then spend the drive home watching the sky, and get back to Fairbanks somewhere between 1 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

The tour this page is built around, the Arctic Circle Winter Drive Adventure from Northern Alaska Tour Company, is the plain version: the road, the river, the tundra and the sign, then straight home. It is rated 4.9 by 166 guests on Viator, from $309 per person. Its own listing says it is not an aurora tour, so if the northern lights matter most, skip to the combos further down.

How cold it gets

Fairbanks in winter is cold, and the Dalton Highway is colder. These are the official 1991–2020 normals for Fairbanks International Airport, where every tour starts:

North of the Yukon River, lows commonly reach the −20s to −40s°F, and the Bureau of Land Management warns of windchills down to −70°F on the highway. The coldest temperature ever officially recorded in the United States, −80°F on January 23, 1971, was taken at Prospect Creek Camp, 39 miles south of Coldfoot and north of the Arctic Circle sign. At a −34°F wind chill, exposed skin can get frostbite in 10 to 30 minutes, which is why the stops are short and the van stays running.

Daylight

At the winter solstice Fairbanks gets under four hours of daylight, about 3 hours 39 minutes. At the Arctic Circle sign the sun barely clears the horizon at midday around December 21. Northern Alaska Tour Company says it plainly on its own listing: depending on your date, the day may be more night than daylight. Early and late in the season the days are longer, and in March the drive north happens in real daylight.

Road conditions and cancellation risk

The Dalton Highway does not close in winter. The Alaska Department of Transportation maintains it from camps along the corridor, and most of the traffic is trucks supplying the oil fields. In winter the only services of any kind are at the Yukon River Camp (milepost 56), Coldfoot (milepost 175) and Deadhorse, and the BLM advises independent drivers not to attempt the road between late October and early April. That advice is the main reason people take a tour in winter at all. Read more in our Dalton Highway guide.

Weather can still stop a tour. Alaska Wild Lights and Midnight Sky Adventures both say that if they cancel for dangerous weather or road conditions, you get another date or a full refund. Clouds are a different matter: no operator refunds because the aurora did not show.

Your own cancellation terms vary a lot by listing. The Northern Alaska Tour Company winter tours are all sales final, and the Alaska Wild Lights aurora tour refunds in full only up to 7 days before. The Arctic Circle Northern Lights Full-Day Trip on GetYourGuide, the Midnight Sky Adventures tour and the Arctic Night Tours trip can be cancelled for a full refund up to 24 hours ahead. If your flight into Fairbanks could slip in winter, that difference matters more than a $30 gap in price.

The aurora on a winter tour

The aurora season in Fairbanks runs from August 21 to April 21. The University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute puts the best viewing window at roughly 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., which is exactly when the combo tours are driving south through dark, empty country. The aurora shows on about four of every five clear, dark nights in Fairbanks, but it is never guaranteed, and partly clear skies are the minimum.

The combos handle it differently. The Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour by Alaska Wild Lights, with 989 reviews, collects you from your hotel and fits the day into 12 to 14 hours. Northern Alaska Tour Company’s Arctic Circle Aurora Drive Adventure ends with a stop to look for the aurora at Joy, on the Elliott Highway. The Arctic Circle & Northern Lights – Dalton Highway Tour caps the group at six and times its stops with real-time aurora forecasts. Compare them all on our northern lights tours page.

What time you get back

Keep the next morning free. A hotel with a 24-hour front desk makes the return easier. Our where to stay in Fairbanks page lists the hotels on the pickup routes.

What to wear

Dress in layers, as many as you can wear without sweating. Start with a synthetic or wool base layer, add fleece or down, and finish with an insulated, ideally waterproof parka. Add a hat that covers your ears, mittens (warmer than gloves), wool socks, insulated boots with grip, and a scarf or neck gaiter. Skip cotton and anything tight. Hand and foot warmers help at the long stops. Several operators, Alaska Wild Lights and Midnight Sky Adventures among them, list cold-weather gear as not included, so bring your own. Our what to wear guide goes month by month.

Photography in the cold

Batteries die fast in deep cold. Apple rates iPhones for 32°F to 95°F and warns that they may shut down outside that range, and they recover once they warm up. Keep your phone and spare batteries in an inside pocket and bring them out only for the shot. There is no cell reception at the Arctic Circle Wayside, so download offline maps before you leave. If you want aurora photos without carrying a tripod, the 1 Day Shared Tour Arctic Circle and Aurora Viewing includes aurora photos taken by the guide, and the Arctic Circle with Aurora and Free Photos includes free professional photography.

Which winter tour to book

Take the Winter Drive if you want the Arctic in snow, an operator that has run this road since 1987, and a finish around 1 a.m. Take an aurora combo if the northern lights are half the reason you came: the Alaska Wild Lights tour if you want hotel pickup and the most reviews, the 1st Alaska Tours trip if you want sandwiches included and free cancellation. Our review of the Winter Drive covers the day stop by stop, and winter vs summer helps if you have not picked a season yet.

Check dates and availability for the Winter Drive.