Chena Hot Springs Resort Alaska

Chena Hot Springs Resort is a year-round wilderness resort 60 miles east of Fairbanks in interior Alaska, where naturally hot chloride-mineralised geothermal springs emerge from deep fault systems in the Chena River valley — a remarkable geological anomaly in a region where permafrost reaches metres below the surface. The springs maintain pool temperatures comfortable for bathing regardless of the exterior temperature, which can plunge to –50°C in January, creating one of the world's most extreme contrasts between outdoor Arctic winter and warm mineral spring bathing. The resort is one of Alaska's premier Northern Lights viewing destinations, with aurora activity viewable from the outdoor spring pools on clear nights from September to April, and the on-site Aurora Borealis Observatory provides guaranteed dark sky conditions. Chena Hot Springs also operates the world's most northerly renewable energy plant using geothermal heat to generate electricity, replacing diesel fuel in a sustainable energy project that makes the resort a model for remote Arctic community energy independence alongside its extraordinary natural thermal bathing.