Alyeska Pipeline Viewpoint

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Alyeska Pipeline Viewpoint is a Scenic Lookout at Fairbanks, AK 99712, United States

The Alyeska Pipeline Viewpoint is a roadside stop just north of Fairbanks, on the Steese Highway, where you can walk right up to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It is a monument to raw engineering. Completed in 1977 and named for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company that built and runs it, the pipeline carries crude oil some 1,300 kilometres from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to the ice-free port of Valdez in the south. Here it runs above ground on tall supports, a silver line snaking off across the taiga, and interpretive signs explain how it was raised on stilts and fitted with heat pipes to keep the permafrost from thawing beneath it. A cleaning device called a pig, once sent through the line, sits on display. It is a quick but genuinely interesting stop. Fairbanks lies at around 65°N almost beneath the auroral oval, and away from the city on a clear winter night the pipeline makes a striking foreground for the northern lights overhead.

Where to find Alyeska Pipeline Viewpoint?

64°55'45"N, 147°37'45"W

Aurora hunting in Fairbanks?

The aurora season here runs from August to April, with the best chances of seeing the Northern Lights in September, October, February and March. Alyeska Pipeline Viewpoint offers open skies and natural beauty - ideal conditions for spotting the aurora.

What do people think of Alyeska Pipeline Viewpoint?

  • 4.5

  • Great place to see the northern lights close to Fairbanks.

    Lara 💚 P26 February 2013

  • Get a look at the pipeline! Learn about pigs! See how big it is! Get your picture taken!

    Rick W21 March 2012

  • The display board does a decent job of describing the pipeline. If you want to learn more about the heat pumps and permafrost then visit the pipeline exhibit at the UAF Museum of the North.

    Colby M24 August 2014

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