Fairbanks Travel Forum

My daughter will be in Juneau on April 1. I'm thinking of flying my wife to Fairbanks(not permanantly)and having my daughter fly from Juneau to meet her. Both have never been to Alaska before, and will have 5 days to sightsee. First, is Fairbanks best "home base" for their excursions? Second, they are not interested in "Indian" things, but "nature". My daughter is a ecological biologist. They want to see mountains and wildlife.
Suggestions for itineraries are welcome. Any part of Denali open in April?
Thanks for your responses.

I believe that Denali is open all year around. Friends of ours are from outside Fairbanks and reported snowshoeing into the park during X-mas break. I don't know about when the bus starts going into the park, but from what I know there's tour bus that loops in and out in one day, and then there's a backbacker bus that makes stops along the way. There are also some rules about how to stay alive by avoiding grizzly bears. That's all I know. Hopefully another VT member will correct or clarify this information.

It's a perfectly nice town. Really. I spent two days there and did find some nice visit. But if you have only five days to visit and you want to experience nature, Fairbanks is NOT where you want to go. You can either--

1) spend the whole time in Juneau (it has five days of mountains and wildlife within easy hiking distance).
2) fly into Anchorage and visit the Chugach region (ditto).
3) fly into Anchorage and drive south into the Kenai Peninsula. This is what I would recommend, as you could spend a month there seeing mountains and wildlife.

Denali is unsurpassed for wildlife, but early April is probably too early to visit. Also, it's quite possible you won't see the mountain once in five days. The other places will have more temperate climate and almost guaranteed mountain viewing.