Active Pursuits

Get guidance at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, in the Morris Thompson Center at 101 Dunkel St. (tel. 907/456-0527; www.nps.gov/aplic). The staff will advise you on outings, outfitters, and where to find rental equipment. Two publications you can buy at the center could also help greatly. The "Fairbanks Area Wildlife Watching Guide" is a $6 booklet that contains thorough descriptions of the best places to go and tips for success. Outside in the Interior, by Kyle Joly (University of Alaska Press, $20), describes more than 50 routes for a variety of activities and includes detailed maps of each. Published late in 2007, it is the region's only trail guide. Both are for sale in local bookstores as well.

Gearing Up

You can rent most of what you need for outdoor explorations around Fairbanks and along the region's extraordinary rural highways from a set of local businesses that have grown up around the needs of adventurers. Some of the outdoor opportunities I describe require a drive on unpaved roads, including portions of the Steese Highway. One of those, GoNorth Alaska Adventure Travel Center also rents canoes, bikes, and camping gear, and offers a shuttle for canoeists and hikers. For ski rentals, see the appropriate sections below.

Alaska Outdoor Rentals & Guides, owned by the knowledgeable Larry Katkin, has its main location on the riverbank at Pioneer Park (tel. 907/457-2453; www.akbike.com or www.2paddle1.com). The company rents canoes, kayaks, and bikes, and offers pickup or drop off for paddlers in town or far afield -- even for trips on the great Yukon River. For an easy in-town paddle -- say, from the park to the Pump House Restaurant and Saloon -- you would pay $37 for the canoe and $19 for the pickup. If you want to go beyond the road system, Larry also carries foldable canoes that will fit in a bush plane. He also offers lessons. This is a good place to start a mountain-biking outing, too. Bikes rent for $8 an hour, $27 a day. You can also rent canoes from the long-established 7 Bridges Boats and Bikes, at 7 Gables Inn, 4312 Birch Lane (tel. 907/479-0751; www.7gablesinn.com/7bbb), for $35 per day or $100 per week, and they will drop you off at the river and pick you up at your destination for $2.50 per mile out of town, with a $15 minimum. Guests at the inn get free rentals (same phone; www.7gablesinn.com). Street and mountain bikes go for $25 a day.

Equipped for the Backroads

Exploring Alaska's gravel highways -- camping and fishing along the way, perhaps launching a canoe in a remote lake -- can be tough for visitors to arrange because of the policies of most car-rental agencies, which don't allow clients to drive off pavement. An exception is the Alamo/National franchise in Fairbanks, with locations at the airport and at 4960 Dale Rd. (tel. 907/451-7368). They rent four-door, four-wheel-drive pickup trucks for travel on gravel roads such as the Dalton, Steese, and Denali highways. Be sure to call the local franchise, not the national reservation number.

GoNorth Alaska Adventure Travel Center, at 3500 Davis Rd. (tel. 866/236-7272 or 907/479-7272; www.gonorthalaska.com), goes a step further, renting not only SUVs and trucks, but also campers on four-wheel-drive pickups and motorhomes. All are allowed on gravel roads, but for the motorhomes, there's an extra fee. The firm also runs a tent-camp hostel; arranges self-guided outdoor trips; rents canoes, bikes, and camping gear; and drives a shuttle for canoeists and hikers. With unlimited mileage, a pickup camper is $125 to $220 a day; insurance of $21 to $26 a day is required unless you present proof of your own coverage, so be sure to ask about what paperwork you will need when you reserve.

Special Places

Creamer's Field -- At 1300 College Rd., right in Fairbanks, this 2,000-acre migratory waterfowl refuge is a former dairy farm that was saved from development in 1966 by a community fund drive. The pastures are a prime stopover point for Canada geese, pintails, and golden plovers in the spring and fall. We've seen many swans there in the spring. Sandhill cranes, shovelers, and mallards show up all summer. The Friends of Creamers Field (tel. 907/452-5162; www.creamersfield.org) operates a small visitor center (907/459-7307) in the old farmhouse with displays on birds, wildlife, and history, open Mid-May through Mid-September daily from 10am to 5pm and during the rest of the year on Saturdays from 12-4pm. They offer guided nature walks in summer Monday through Friday at 10am with an additional walk on Wednesdays at 7pm. Special walks at different times may be arranged for groups of 6 or more with minimum of a week advanced reservation. You don't need a guide, however. You can explore the 3 miles of trails through the forest, field, and wetland. I especially enjoy the Boreal Forest Trail nature walk, interpreted by information signs and an excellent booklet you can pick up at the visitor center or from a kiosk at the trail head. During the summer months, you will often see large flocks of sandhill cranes, geese and ducks on the field. You can use the wildlife-viewing platforms around the edge of the field and out on the farm road trail. The Alaska Bird Observatory (tel. 907/451-7159; www.alaskabird.org) conducts research and educational programs on the Creamer's Field refuge, including bird walks and bird banding that visitors can observe (call for times). It is the farthest-north facility of its kind in North America. The organization's building has interpretive displays, a nature store, and a library. Located just west of the refuge on the grounds of the Wedgewood Resort , the observatory can be hard to find -- look for the signs.

Chena Lake Recreation Area -- This is a wonderful and unique place for a family camping trip. A birch-rimmed lake created for a flood-control project has been developed by the local government to provide lots of recreational possibilities: flat walking and bike trails; a swimming beach; fishing; a place to rent a variety of nonmotorized boats; a self-guided 2.5-mile nature trail; a playground; big lawns; volleyball courts; and the terrific campground, with 80 camping sites, from pull-throughs for RVs to tent sites on a little island you can reach only by boat. In the winter, it's a popular area for cross-country skiing, ice fishing, dog mushing, and snowmobiling. Use of the area in summer requires a $4 fee per vehicle. Tent sites are $10 per night and RV sites are $12. Drive 17 miles east of Fairbanks on the Richardson Highway and turn left on Laurance Road as you leave North Pole. For information, contact Fairbanks North Star Borough Chena Lake Recreation Area (tel. 907/488-1655; www.chenalakes.com). Follow the same directions to the Moose Creek Dam Salmon Watch, driving along the dike past the recreation area. This picnic and viewing site was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers atop the flood-control project so that people could watch spawning salmon in crystal-clear water from late June to the end of July. Use of the salmon watch is free, so tell the recreation-area gatehouse you are going there.