Where to base yourself
Fairbanks. The gateway city, with a full range of hotels, car hire, outfitters and aurora tours. Start and finish here.
Utqiaġvik. A few small hotels in the centre, close to the beach and the heritage centre. Rooms are limited and expensive.
Coldfoot and Wiseman. Basic rooms at the truck stop and a handful of cabins and lodges in Wiseman — the only beds between the Yukon River and Deadhorse.
Deadhorse. Workers’ camps that rent spare rooms to travellers, with meals included. Functional, not scenic.
Food & drink
Everything in Utqiaġvik is flown in, so a grocery basket costs two or three times what it does further south, and a simple restaurant meal is expensive. The town has a surprising spread of small restaurants. Traditional foods such as whale, seal and caribou are shared within the community rather than sold. On the Dalton you eat at the truck-stop buffet in Coldfoot and the camp cafeterias in Deadhorse, which are hearty and good value. Fairbanks has everything, including several breweries.
Money-saving and safety tips
- Utqiaġvik and many North Slope villages restrict alcohol: it is not sold in town, and bringing it in is tightly regulated. Deadhorse is dry. Check current rules rather than assume.
- Whaling is at the centre of Iñupiat life. Watch respectfully, keep out of the way of crews and ask before photographing people, butchering or celebrations.
- Do not buy raw ivory or baleen; finished Native-made handicrafts are legal to purchase in Alaska, but check your home country’s import rules.
- Polar bears and, inland, grizzlies are present. Follow local advice, travel with guides on the coast and carry bear spray on the highway.
- Carry a satellite communicator on the Dalton and file your plan with someone.
- Fly one way to or from Deadhorse to halve the driving and add an aerial view of the Brooks Range.
Sample plans
Two nights in Utqiaġvik
- Fly from Anchorage or Fairbanks
- Whale bone arch, beach and the Iñupiat Heritage Center
- Guided drive towards Point Barrow
- Town walk and midnight sun or winter twilight; fly out
Four days on the Dalton
- Fairbanks to Coldfoot via the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle
- Over Atigun Pass to Deadhorse
- Arctic Ocean shuttle; start south or fly out
- Wiseman and return to Fairbanks
A winter taste from Fairbanks
- Arctic Circle day trip with aurora on the way back
- Dog sledding
- Chena Hot Springs under the night sky
Arctic Alaska: where to stay
Fairbanks has the only real choice of hotels and is where every Arctic Alaska trip begins and ends. Rooms in Utqiaġvik, Coldfoot and Deadhorse are few and are usually reserved directly or through a tour operator.
