Steese Highway, Alaska, United States

5Estelle O 5:00 PM Sep 9, 2022

Lovely drive
Beautiful drive for as far as the rental car companies will allow you to go. The expressway part of the Steese is very frustrating with all the detours due to the very limited amount of time Fairbanks has in the summer to repair its highways and streets from the ravages of winter. The Steese is easily accessible from the Johansen Expressway, but down Airport Way to the Steese Expressway will cause you to tear your hair out until the construction and the detours are finished. Just something to be aware of if you're traveling in Alaska in the summer. The detours and construction go with the territory; I had forgotten about that. The natives probably all understand how to get there from here and here from there; visitors are toast.

4Rhys J 5:00 PM Jul 9, 2017

Remote highway through stunning landscape with interesting attractions
My wife and I flew along a section of the Steese Highway during our escorted ‘Natural Wonders of Alaska’ tour with Titan Travel. We were based for 3 nights on a room only basis at the comfortable and friendly Bridgewater Hotel, Fairbanks, located on the banks of the Chena River. We'd booked an optional evening excursion to fly over the Arctic Circle from Fairbanks to Coldfoot and then travel by road along the Dalton Highway to the small village of Wiseman. Our 8 seater light aircraft took off from Fairbanks and we were fortunate to have a warm evening with clear skies offering panoramic views in all directions. Our flight path followed Steese Highway from Fairbanks to the community of Fox at the junction with Elliott Highway about 11 miles north of Fairbanks. Steese Highway continued in a north eastern direction whilst our aircraft continued north following Elliott Highway to it's junction with the iconic Dalton Highway. We then followed the Dalton Highway northwards until our descent and landing at Coldfoot. Our experienced and friendly pilot was also our knowledgeable guide during our flight. He provided us with facts, stories and anecdotes through our headphones whilst drawing our attention to the wonderful landscapes below. He explained as we flew along the small section of the Steese Highway, that it extends for 162 miles from Fairbanks to Circle, a small community on the Yukon River about 50 miles below the Arctic Circle. It's highest pass is Eagle Summit at 3,685 feet and the views apparently from this pass as well as from others such as Twelvemile (3,190 feet) and Clearly (2,233 feet) are quite breathtaking on a clear sunny day. He also drew our attention to some of the other attractions along the highway including some historical gold mine workings such as those at Gold Daughters (apparently Alaska’s largest mining relic museum), Gold Dredge 8 and Chatanika Gold Camp (listed apparently on the National Register of Historic Places), the State Recreation Areas at Chatanika River and Chena River and the District Historical Society Museum at Circle. The highway was completed in 1927, is a designated Scenic Byway, and is named after General James G. Steese of the United States Army and former president of the Alaska Road Commission. My tour of Alaska didn't allow time for me to travel by road along the Steese but at least this excursion gave me an excellent vantage point to view the section between Fairbanks and Fox from our aircraft. It also gave me the opportunity to learn more about it's history and many attractions from our pilot. Should I ever return to Alaska I hope I'll have the opportunity to travel along it's whole route to become even more familiar with this scenic and remote highway.