Far North Alaska Holidays

High above the Arctic Circle lie remote outposts and isolated native communities, perhaps now more familiar to us thanks to the ‘Ice Road Truckers’. Follow the epic Dalton Highway, a 414 mile gravel road that links civilisation at Fairbanks with the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay.

If that sounds a little daunting then we recommend taking the scenic route – flights from Fairbanks are available to Coldfoot and the Gates of the Arctic National Park, as well as to Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, the most northerly city of the continent and home to the Arctic’s largest population of Eskimos.

Wild and remote it may be but the Far North is far from deserted. Immense herds of wild caribou roam amongst the wildflowers of the vast Arctic tundra, under the glow of the midnight sun. Grizzlies, moose and musk oxen can also been seen throughout the region’s plentiful national parks. As summer fades the Northern Lights can be seen, and the Arctic pack ice reaches land, bringing with it curious polar bears.

In the far northwest lies the former goldrush town of Nome – a real frontier town that retains a strong sense of the very wildest of Wild Wests! Try your hand panning for gold or head out to explore the Seward Peninsula, which offers excellent birdwatching opportunities. Nome is also famed as the finish line of the iconic Iditarod dog-sled race. Following the old supply route to the gold mines, the Iditarod Trail runs from Anchorage to Nome, around 1,050 miles of treacherous conditions in a race of epic proportions.