Northern Alaska Arctic Circle Fly-Drive | Dalton Highway Tours

The road from Fairbanks provides views over gently rolling hills of aspen, scrawny black spruce poking through mossy bogs, and meandering streams. Your constant companion is the 48-inch pipeline carrying oil from the North Slope to Valdez. Near the Yukon River, satisfy your big appetite with big burgers at the scruffy Hotspot Café. Moving on, watch for dramatic changes. A favorite stretch of the highway for many falls between the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle, where you encounter tundra and taiga, with evocative granite outcrops around Finger Mountain. Stay alert for sightings of grizzly and black bears. Sometimes, large herds of caribou may cross the highway. Remain inside your vehicle whenever you spot wildlife, since the vehicle serves as a blind and is the safest place to observe animals. At mile 175, you'll reach Coldfoot, offering the last services for the next 240 miles. Then we head into the Brooks Range, where sky-stabbing spires of bare rock tower over 7,000 feet (2,134 meters). As the road drops, it skirts the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to caribou and the nesting ground for millions of migratory birds. An impressive 158 species have been recorded in the region, and many birds can be seen along the highway, from songbirds to flocks of migrating waterfowl to shorebirds, raptors, and rare species from Asia and Africa such as yellow wagtails and wheatears.