This Sustainable Alaskan Resort Has an Ice Museum, Natural Hot Springs & Its Own Greenhouse

Chena Hot Springs, Alaska

Most Alaska attractions shut down in winter. But Chena Hot Springs is at its best when temperatures drop below zero and the northern lights come out.

The natural hot pools have been drawing people here since gold rush days, but now there’s more: geothermal greenhouses, an ice museum that never melts, and a whole resort running on underground heat.

There’s an Ice Museum

You can check out the Aurora Ice Museum at Chena where it stays 25°F year-round thanks to a special cooling system invented in 2005. World champions Steve and Heather Brice built it using over 1,000 tons of ice and snow they collected right on the property.

When you go inside, you’ll see life-sized ice knights on horseback, a two-story tower you can climb, and five colorful chandeliers that change colors just like the Northern Lights.

Your hair freezes while you’re nice and warm in the water

When you soak at Chena Hot Springs in winter, you’ll feel the crazy difference between the 106°F water and air that can get as cold as -56°F. While your body stays toasty in the hot water, ice actually forms in your hair!

The mineral-rich water has lots of sulfate, chloride, and sodium bicarbonate that constantly flows through the outdoor rock lake, so you’re always soaking in fresh water.

They grow veggies even in the dead of winter

The resort started their first greenhouse in 2004 as a test to see if they could grow food year-round. They managed to keep it 78°F inside even when it was -56°F outside.

Now they have two big 30×72 foot greenhouses built on heated concrete floors. They grow tomatoes hanging from the ceiling, plus peppers, cucumbers, herbs, and an impressive 33 different kinds of lettuce that they serve in the restaurant.

You can see the northern lights while soaking

From late August to April, you can watch the northern lights dance overhead while you’re relaxing in the hot springs. Chena sits right under an active aurora zone in the sky, making it one of the best places in Alaska to see the lights.

Since 2008, they’ve had a special aurora viewing building near the main lodge so you can easily step outside to take photos without traveling up to Charlie Dome.

Dogs pull sleds on wheels in summer

You don’t have to visit in winter to experience dog sledding at Chena. In summer, they hook up their Alaskan Huskies to special wheeled carts instead of snow sleds.

The kennel has more than 50 dogs that work all year long. Each team needs 8-12 dogs to pull the cart, and your ride lasts about 30 minutes on their 1.5-mile trail, giving you a real taste of this Alaskan tradition no matter when you visit.

Springs are too hot to touch at first

When the water comes out of the ground at Chena, it’s a scalding 165°F—way too hot to touch! The springs cover a 40-square-mile area, and the resort uses three different wells: one for the pools, one for heating buildings, and one for making electricity.

The same hot water that fills the springs also heats the buildings through pipes in the concrete floors.

You drink from glasses made of ice

At the Aurora Ice Bar, you can order an appletini served in a glass carved entirely from ice for $15. After you finish your drink, you get to follow tradition by smashing your ice glass outside the museum.

You’ll sit on stools covered with caribou hide at a bar completely made of ice. The ice carvers have to make over 100 new glasses every day during busy times because they’re all one-use only!

Lowest temperature geothermal power plant runs the resort

Chena runs on hot water that’s only 165°F—making it the coolest geothermal power plant in the world. They installed it in 2006, and it pumps out 680kW of power, which cut their energy costs from 30 cents to just 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

In its first 27 months, the plant ran 99.4% of the time without problems and saved 228,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Massages await you in the middle of nowhere

Even though Chena is 60 miles from the nearest city, you can still get pampered with professional massages from 9am to 9pm daily. The restaurant serves fresh ‘greenhouse to table’ meals with veggies grown right at the resort.

You can stay in rustic cabins, regular lodge rooms, or family suites with private bathrooms. If you want the nicest rooms, ask for the newer Fox building, where the accommodations have been updated.

Military vehicles take you to see the lights

When you go on an aurora tour, you’ll ride to Charlie Dome in tough military-style vehicles or tracked snow cats. The dome is higher up than the resort, giving you a clear view in every direction.

At the top, you’ll find two heated yurts set up like Mongolian tents with hot drinks, snacks, and board games to keep you busy while waiting for the lights, which usually appear between 11pm and 2am.

Fishing right outside your door is world-class

Just a short walk from where you’re staying, the Chena River offers amazing catch-and-release fishing for arctic grayling. If you’re a beginner, try one of the four stocked ponds along the road with rainbow trout.

The river’s also perfect for canoeing, with lots of places to put in your boat. You can take a quick 2-hour float or spend several days paddling through the pristine 397-square-mile Chena River State Recreation Area.

Sitting in the hot springs during snowfall feels magical

When snow falls while you’re in the hot springs, you’ll feel like you’re inside a snow globe. Steam rises from the water as snowflakes fall and instantly melt when they hit the warm surface. The outdoor pool is surrounded by real boulders collected from nearby.

They empty and clean the pool weekly, so the water stays crystal clear, and the bottom is covered with smooth pebbles that feel nice on your feet. The water’s about 4 feet deep, so most people can stand.

Hot springs keep ice frozen, oddly enough

The resort uses the hot springs to power a unique cooling system that keeps the Ice Museum frozen all year. This clever system won an award in 2005 for being the best new geothermal project in the United States.

The same technology controls temperatures in the greenhouses and warms the floors throughout all the buildings at the resort.

Visiting Chena Hot Springs

• Location: 56.5 Chena Hot Springs Road, 60 miles east of Fairbanks
• Hours: Hot springs open 7:00am-11:45pm every day of the year
• Best times to visit: September-March for aurora viewing; June-August for outdoor activities

Bring your own water and make sure your gas tank is full before leaving Fairbanks. Only ACS Alaska and Verizon cell phones work at the resort.