Customers staying in the Fairbanks/North Pole area can purchase optional transportation for their guided day tour for an additional $400 for groups of four people or smaller, plus an additional $50 for every extra person over four total. Tours are private, so you and your group are the only customers in the vehicle. The drive from downtown Fairbanks is approximately 2.5 hours without stops. However, we usually stop in Delta Junction for customers to use the restroom and purchase snacks, as well as at multiple locations for photo opportunities of the Alaska Range, so the forward drive usually takes 3 to 3.5 hours, with the return trip being shorter. Customers participating in a 3-4 hour Standard tour (e.g., Castner Glacier) should expect a total roundtrip length of 9-10 hours; those participating in longer 5-6 hour Standard tours (e.g., Canwell Glacier) should expect a total roundtrip of 10-12 hours. Moose and caribou are usually spotted between Delta Junction and the mountains along the way—sometimes dozens. And the mountain scenery is some of the best Alaska has to offer! Pickup time is set individually for each customer and varies based on daylight hours in winter, length of tour, weather & road conditions, and my & my customers’ schedules, but is usually between 7am to 10am. Later pickup times are usually not available since they result in late returns to Fairbanks which may conflict with aurora tours, except in March through September when daylight hours are longer and Daylight Saving Time is in effect. From mid-November through late January, pickup is usually at 8am to ensure enough daylight for your tour. If you are booking an Expert tour (e.g. Black Rapids Glacier), I highly recommend transporting yourself and staying in Delta Junction or the Lodge at Black Rapids before or after your tour, though you may inquire if optional transportation is available prior to booking. I cannot accommodate early pickup requests (before 7am) and I do not offer transportation for those uninterested in paying for the accompanying tour. (A roundtrip taxi from Fairbanks to Castner Creek would cost nearly $1000, and your taxi driver isn’t going to provide snowshoes or ice cleats and guide you safely to the glacier when the weather is challenging or the trail is snowed over.)

Please note that transportation is NOT available for customers staying in the following locations:
- Chena Hot Springs (1+ hour outside Fairbanks)
- Borealis Basecamp (45 minutes outside Fairbanks)
- Northern Sky Lodge (35 minutes outside Fairbanks)
- Aurora Borealis Lodge (30 minutes outside Fairbanks)
- Any other remote lodge or vacation rental property more than 10 minutes away from Downtown Fairbanks or North Pole

If you are staying at one of these properties, you can still purchase optional transportation from Fairbanks if you can secure your own transportation from your lodging to a convenient spot in Fairbanks such as Pike’s Waterfront Lodge, Fairbanks International Airport, downtown Fairbanks, etc. I cannot pick you up or drop you off at one these properties for an extra fee due to the extra time required. (These properties generally have shuttles available.) Transportation is not always available for every scheduled tour, especially during peak season around the holidays and Spring Break.

Information & Directions for Customers Transporting Themselves

Tours take place in remote locations with no cell phone service nor nearby public facilities, so I don’t meet customers at the actual tour start points. If you are driving from the Fairbanks/North Pole area to your tour, we will arrange a rendezvous time & location in the town of Delta Junction, usually one hour before your scheduled tour start time. From Fairbanks/North Pole, you will navigate to the Richardson Highway and drive south until you reach the town of Delta Junction, approximately 95 miles from Fairbanks. Send me a text or email after you leave to let me know what time you will arrive. The drive to Delta Junction from Fairbanks generally takes 1.5 to 2.5 hours based on road/weather conditions and your driving style. Tourists without experience driving on snow and ice tend to drive slow, so budget 2 hours, please. There is a 50+ mile stretch without a gas station between Salcha and Delta Junction, so don’t forget to fill up on gas before you leave town. Delta Junction is the last stop for gas, indoor restrooms, food, and reliable cell service on the way to tour start points, so I frequently meet customers at the IGA Food Cache (grocery store) or the Delta Petro Wash gas station in Delta where customers can take a break and purchase food & gas as needed. From Delta Junction, you will continue another 40-50 miles south on a very remote & scenic stretch of the Richardson Highway to your tour start point, and there are no public facilities along the way and many cell service dead zones. (AT&T, T-Mobile customers have decent coverage. Verizon customers will have no service after passing Delta.) I allow customers to carpool with me from Delta Junction to their tour start point for no fee depending on the size of the group, the amount of gear I’m transporting, road conditions in the mountains, and my personal schedule, though this is not always possible. I highly recommend customers stay in Delta Junction or the Lodge at Black Rapids the night before or following their tour to break up the drive—both are good locations to view the aurora.

The Richardson Highway is typically icy from mid-October to late March, and driving conditions can be especially tough during or shortly following snowy weather. However, the road is maintained by state road crews and kept in fair shape most of the time. Customers who plan to drive themselves should consider renting a vehicle from Alaska Auto Rentals or another rental company in Fairbanks that outfits their vehicles with winter tires. Good winter tires are more important than having 4WD, though a 4WD vehicle with winter tires will perform best. Note that 4WD will not help you stop faster or maintain better control while braking, so leave more distance when following other vehicles and slow down early/gently, especially before rounding curves. Avoid RWD vehicles. I do not expect customers to drive when road conditions are “very difficult (purple)” or “hazardous (red)” according to Alaska 511, and I work with customers to reschedule or refund tours when roads are bad. However, it is common to encounter “difficult (orange)” conditions during much of winter on at least a portion of the drive, so expect to drive through some potentially intimidating conditions. I am not able to predict the exact road conditions in advance. If you are on a tight budget and the optional transportation would be prohibitively expensive for you, unfortunately there is no other option but to drive yourself since public transportation and other commercial transportation services do not serve the area. Customers cannot be paired with others to reduce the cost. About 75% of my customers drive themselves to the tour start point, many of them with little to no prior experience driving on icy roads, and most of them find it easier than expected. If you will suffer great anxiety over driving yourself, simply pay for the optional transportation and relax, or forgo another expensive tour (e.g. Arctic Circle) where you wouldn’t see anything nearly as awesome as the Alaska Range.