Fairbanks owes its
founding
to the discovery of gold. Your driver-guide will bring those early days to life
explaining the misadventures of one Capt. E.T. Barnette and how a rumor of gold
actually panned out.Included are stops at Gold Dredge No. 8, the historic structure that dug the river bedrock of Goldstream and Engineer Creeks for Alaskan miners right up until 1959. While you’re here enjoy a hearty miner’s lunch and try your hand at panning for gold. Keep your findings as a special memento of your visit.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is an 800-mile engineering miracle that carries Alaskan crude from Prudhoe Bay in the Arctic to the seacoast at Valdez. You’ll have the opportunity to visit a portion of the pipeline that passes near Fairbanks and hear many a tale of how “black gold” brought prosperity to Alaska.