Denali National park to Fairbanks

After a few days of rest, wildlife watching, and soaking in Alaska’s silence, we set out to explore Denali National Park and Preserve. Travelling in the off-season came with a huge advantage: almost no crowds. While a landslide closed the park road at Mile 32, we still reached far beyond the usual summer limit of Mile 15 — and the wildlife seemed to know they had the wilderness mostly to themselves.

Moose wandered the valleys, wolves moved like shadows across the tundra, and grizzly bears blended into the landscape like shifting earth tones. Out here, nature was firmly in charge, and we were simply passing through.

With 22.5 hours of daylight and only a brief twilight before sunrise returned, bush camping beneath the endless northern sky felt unreal. We fell asleep to the haunting howl of wolves and the rustle of unseen animals moving through the brush — wilderness at its most raw and immediate.

Further north, we stopped in Nenana, home of the famous Nenana Ice Classic, where locals and visitors bet on the exact moment the Tanana River ice finally breaks each spring.

Arriving in Fairbanks, we found a place where frontier wilderness meets small-town warmth. Under the glow of the midnight sun, we slowed down for a few days — restocking supplies, catching up on laundry, and adjusting to life without darkness. From there, we made a three-day escape to Chena Hot Springs, surrounded by forests and steaming geothermal pools.

Back in Fairbanks, we explored the Chena River aboard the historic Riverboat Discovery, where members of the local Athabascan community shared stories of survival, resilience, and a culture shaped by more than 10,000 years in Alaska’s interior.

Next stop: the long 800-kilometre drive north to the Arctic Ocean — bringing us within 1,750 kilometres of the North Pole.