Northern Lights & Chena Hot Springs Tour

We spent a few days in Fairbanks and were fortunate to see the lights nightly, but our evening at Chena Hot Springs was the absolute highlight. We got incredibly lucky—right after we stepped into the springs, a rare, intensely strong aurora storm started, with fast-moving lights in different colors. While we know nature is unpredictable, and you can't plan this exact timing, soaking in the springs during such an epic display was unforgettable. The tour itself was well-managed and a fantastic way to visit the springs. Highly recommend!

The worst experience, restaurants have racial discrimination, combinations of non-Americans are overtaxed, and after the restoration theory changed only 20%, but the Americans 15% compromised the time of the most important hot springs

It's a hot spring that needs updating. Our driver, Dylan, was an hour later than quoted. His music choices were from his personal playlist rather than a more neutral base. He narrated some local facts on the loooong drive up and pulled over to see a moose. He did keep us abreast of the timeline. the hope was to be far enough out to catch some Northern Lights on the return but no luck. The locker room for the springs gets crowded and has limited benches to sit on or keep stuff off the wet floor. They make you take off your shoes in the entry area. Make sure to have extra socks or go barefoot/water shoes to locker area. Also, beware of limited towel placement. There are not enough hooks finding a place dry is challenging. Mine did get wet from snow melting into are. The springs were relaxing and have a neat setting with boulders and pretty scenery. The grounds were otherwise clean. There is a gift shop with food items (salad, ramen, etc.) if you do not eat in the restaurant. I did not dine there but others said salmon dinner was great. A popular excursion and a check off the bucket list but don't plan to return. I would say to at least do it once for a chance to catch the Lights outside of the city otherwise, meh, I would pass.

We had 2 tour trips with this company, Alaska Wildlife Guide, on March 13 & 14 2026. The only reason the first “Northern Lights & Aurora Lodge Viewing tour” was good is because we had Christopher who was filling in for the night because someone didn’t show up to work or something. He has his own small company which I cannot recall the name of, sorry, is not an employee of Alaska Wildlife Guide. I wish I knew his company’s name because he and his brother are awesome. But the next night we had scheduled with Alaska Wildlife “Northern lights and Chena Hot Spring Tour” and it was the worse evening ever. Our “tour guide” was Dylan with 2 wks experience and although a nice enough guy he had no idea how to be a tour guide. He was clueless and clearly had not been trained. I have a number of points so if your interested let’s get started. 1) He could drive the van although he drove so fast and it was so bumpy on the way out that one person sitting in the front throw up! 2) the company told us our pick-up time was 3:45pm, they told the other 7 people the same time but we were not picked up until 5:30pm then Dylan asked if anyone needed to use the restroom before our hour drive and one person said yes so Dylan started driving around town to find a restroom. The first place refused to let us use their restroom. We ended up at a 7-11 then almost everyone got out of the van to I guess use the restroom and buy snacks including Dylan. Then he sat and ate his snack. Final we got on the road toward the Hot Springs. 2) He drove 10 miles over the speed limit on the way out hitting every bump and sometimes it felt like we got airborne which I am sure is why the person throw up. Everyone complained to him and on the way back to town he drove 15 miles per hour UNDER the speed limit. 3) Dylan played extremely loud inappropriate music both ways even after someone complained about the vulgar lyrics. This caused my friend and I to get headaches and honestly be in a bad mood and it was hard to enjoy anything about this tour 4) windows so fogged up couldn’t see out to enjoy the view ~is this normal? 5) at the Hot Springs very few instructions or assistance was giving to any of us. We were basically on our own. He did tell us when to meet for dinner and got our table but that was the extent of his interaction with us. 6) we had to track him down to find out what time we were to leave. He said it was up to us ~ weird because with 9 people who gets to decide. 7) Stopped twice to “see the Northern Lights” on the side of the road heading back to town with not much instruction or help to see the them (they were out!!) but by the time I got out of the van people were finished with their 2min look and ready to leave so no time to watch the lights or get pictures which is the main focus of the tour. It’s in the title!!! After the second stop with the same problems, it was decided by the group not to stop again. It really was a waist of time. So sad because the Northern Lights where in the skies. Very disappointing 8) everyone seemed annoyed with Dylan and he seemed clueless to this fact 9) We did not learn one single fact about Alaska on this tour. Dylan did not seem to know one of his jobs was to make us fall in love with his state with interesting facts and tidbits. I assume if he had truly gotten proper training, he would have avoided a lot of what I have listed here. So really the company is to blame. This was by far the worst tour I have ever been on and I have emailed the company explaining all of these issues. So please think twice before spending our money with this company.

The Northern lights and hit springs were wonderful but the rooms felt a little dated