A band of green aurora behind tall spruce trees and snow-covered cabins in Fairbanks, Alaska

Home › Alaska

Northern lights in Alaska

By Deepak R · Updated 23 September 2026

Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo: Karthik Sridharan, CC0 · 10-second exposure: brighter than the eye sees

Yes, from late August to April, but for the best odds skip Anchorage and the summer cruises: go to Fairbanks, in Alaska's Interior, in late February or March.

Fairbanks sits in Alaska's Interior, under the band where the aurora is most often overhead, and Alaska's tourism board names it one of the best places in the state to see them. The nights are the point: you head out to a dark hilltop and wait, and displays come in bursts. By day there is a hot spring, an ice museum, sled dogs and the road to the Arctic Circle.

Best monthsFeb – Mar
BaseFairbanks
Seattle → Fairbanks~3 h 50 m nonstop

Some links on this page go to booking partners. If you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend. How we make money

Where to base yourself

The further from town, the darker the same sky. See where to see the northern lights in Alaska for the spots, ranked.

Fairbanks

The answer for most people

Out of town

The same sky, darker

  • Chena Hot Springs, about 60 miles northeast, and Borealis Basecamp's clear-roofed igloos, about 25 miles out

Anchorage

A gateway, not a base

  • The state's tourism board points visitors to the Interior and the Arctic for the clearest, darkest skies
  • Read northern lights in Anchorage, then plan to go north

A cruise

Mostly the wrong season

When to go

Late February to March. Share of nights at Fairbanks airport with a clear spell between 9pm and 3am:

45%February nights
49%March nights
26–27%September and October nights

How many nights? In February or March, three nights in Fairbanks gives roughly even odds of a proper display; the month-by-month odds are on how many nights you need.

Is there an aurora tonight?

For tonight, use the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute aurora forecast. It publishes a 3-day outlook, which it calls more reliable than its 27-day one. Check it and the cloud forecast each evening: cloud, not the aurora, decides most nights.

Things to do by day

Four experiences to build the days around.

Steam rising off the outdoor rock pool at Chena Hot Springs, its boulders heaped with snow

Chena Hot Springs

~60 mi from Fairbanks · All year

An outdoor hot spring in the snow, with its own aurora tour.

The gravel Dalton Highway curving through a snow-dusted Brooks Range valley in northern Alaska

The Arctic Circle

~15 h round trip

A day up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle sign.

Tours, getting there and a car

Each has its own page with the details.

Aurora tours from Fairbanks

From about $130 · Hotel pickups

A tour drives you out of the city's light to whichever hill is clear. Six compared.

Getting to Fairbanks

Seattle nonstop ~3 h 50 m

One flight from the US west coast, two connections from Europe; from Anchorage, fly, drive or take the train.

A green aurora curtain arching over a snowy trail and spruce forest near Chena Hot Springs, Alaska
Chena Hot Springs, Alaska. Photo: Analogick, CC BY 2.0 · 5-second exposure at high sensitivity: still brighter than the eye sees

Alaska northern lights FAQs

Where is the best place to see the northern lights in Alaska?

Fairbanks and the dark hills around it: under the auroral oval, away from the coast, with the tours and hotels a short trip needs.

Can you see the northern lights from Anchorage?

Sometimes, from dark spots outside the city, but the state's tourism board points visitors to the Interior and the Arctic, so most aurora trips go on to Fairbanks.

More on Alaska's northern lights

Sources (13)