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Suggest a Feature →Nenana & Interior Alaska
Alaska deep interior. The aurora, the silence, and the midnight sun.
Clear Space Force Station is located near Nenana, Alaska — a small community on the Nenana River at its confluence with the Tanana River, about 60 miles southwest of Fairbanks. The station operates the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar — one of the most critical components of the US missile defense architecture.
Interior Alaska is a distinct world from the coastal Alaska that most people imagine. Rather than rainforest and fjords, it is boreal forest (taiga), vast river systems, and an extreme continental climate — winters reach -60°F, summers reach 90°F. The aurora borealis is visible for months. The midnight sun runs for months in the other direction.
Fairbanks (60 miles northeast) is the main support city — a university town with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a community built on the knowledge that life in the Interior requires self-sufficiency. This is a genuinely remote assignment by any standard.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
Lavelle's Bistro (Fairbanks)
"The Fairbanks fine dining standard. Local ingredients, real technique."
The best restaurant in Fairbanks — using Alaskan ingredients (salmon, king crab, reindeer sausage, fireweed honey) in a kitchen with genuine culinary ambition. In a city where most restaurant food is utilitarian, Lavelle's stands apart.
Alaska Salmon Bake
"All-you-can-eat Alaskan salmon, halibut, and ribs. Tourism but genuinely good."
A Fairbanks tourist attraction that actually delivers — outdoor dining on a fire-grilled salmon and halibut all-you-can-eat that is significantly better than the concept implies. Gold panning after dinner is cheesy; the salmon is excellent.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Denali National Park
"North America's highest peak. 125 miles south on the Parks Highway."
Two hours south on the Parks Highway, Denali National Park has the most accessible sub-Arctic wilderness in the country. The single road penetrates 90 miles into the park (only the first 15 are open to private vehicles without a permit). Grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, and the massive summit of Denali (20,310 feet) visible on clear days.
Mushing / Dog Sledding
"The authentic Alaska winter sport. Yukon Quest starts in Fairbanks."
Fairbanks is the start/finish of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race — 1,000 miles to Whitehorse, Yukon. Recreational mushing opportunities exist through outfitters near Fairbanks. Watching the Yukon Quest start in February is a genuinely Alaskan community event.
Alaska Range Hiking
"The northern Alaska Range is fully accessible from Fairbanks."
The Alaska Range runs east-west south of Fairbanks — White Mountains National Recreation Area (immediate Fairbanks vicinity) and Denali National Park provide world-class backcountry hiking and backpacking in sub-Arctic terrain. The White Mountains summer trails are less crowded than Denali and equally spectacular.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
University of Alaska Museum of the North
"One of the great Alaska collections. Natural history and Alaska Native art."
The premier museum of Alaska's natural history and Alaska Native cultures — a building designed to evoke the aurora and mountain ridgelines, housing 1.4 million specimens and objects. The aurora gallery, the Alaska Native collections, and the Discovery Room are all outstanding.
Fairbanks Ice Sculpture (Winter)
◈ Rare"The World Ice Art Championships. 50-ton blocks of Fairbanks ice, hand-carved."
Every March, Fairbanks hosts the World Ice Art Championships — international ice artists carve enormous blocks of crystal-clear Chena River ice into elaborate sculptures over several weeks. The multitblock competition produces 20-foot sculptures of extraordinary detail. The nightly illuminated garden is one of the most unusual things you can see in the US.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Running Reindeer Ranch
"Walk with reindeer in the boreal forest. A genuinely unique experience."
A small ranch near Fairbanks where you walk in the boreal forest with a herd of domestic reindeer — close enough to touch, watching them forage through the taiga. Not a gimmick: the experience of moving through Alaskan boreal forest with reindeer is genuinely unusual.
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"The city. UAF, the museum, and everything Clear lacks."
An hour northeast, Fairbanks is the essential support city — Costco (arrive at the Fairbanks Costco, it will have items the rest of Alaska does not), the University museum, hot springs access, and the fullest urban experience available in Interior Alaska.
"The mountain. 20,310 feet. Two hours south."
The most dramatic day trip from Clear SFS. The Parks Highway south to the Denali entrance is one of the great drives in Alaska. Clear days when Denali is fully visible are relatively uncommon even from the park; when it appears it dominates the sky.
The extreme temperature swings in Fairbanks (-60°F to 90°F in the same year) require appropriate vehicle preparation — engine block heaters, battery blankets, and synthetic lubricants. Never skip this.
The Midnight Sun in summer (June) means it never fully gets dark. Many people find this disorienting for sleep; blackout curtains are essential.
Join the local community events regardless of whether they seem unfamiliar. The Ice Classic, the Yukon Quest start, the summer solstice events in Fairbanks — these are the community bonds that make remote assignments sustainable.
Clear SFS is one of the most genuinely remote assignments in the US military. The nearest city of any size is 60 miles away, and Fairbanks is not a major metro. Winters are extreme by any global standard. Darkness from October through March is psychologically significant. The aurora is extraordinary; the mission is consequential; the community is tight. But this assignment requires genuine psychological preparation and active self-management to thrive rather than endure.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.