Officially, the city of Fairbanks is about 1,700 miles south of the geographic North Pole, where a frigid expanse of snow and ice stretches all the way out to the horizon. As it turns out—the actual North Pole isn’t exactly as cheery of a place as we make it seem. Instead, the real, festive, Christmas-time cheer is found year-round at the other North Pole only 13 miles from Fairbanks.
Here, in the small town of 2,200 people on the southeastern outskirts of Fairbanks, candy canes, Christmas trees, and caroling Santas are found during all times of year. On a Fairbanks day trip to North Pole, the very first place you’ll want to visit is the aptly-named Santa Claus House. Have you ever wondered what happens to all the letters that are addressed to the North Pole and Santa? Believe it or not, many of the letters actually end up here in the tiny Alaskan town, and the Santa House even mails out letters that are addressed and signed by Santa. The street lights here are candy cane red and white, and streets have names such as Snowman Lane and St. Nicholas Drive.
If a letter is addressed to “1 Santa Claus Lane”—which is a real street in this town—there’s a whole troupe of volunteers who are ready to pen a response. In total, the North Pole post office estimates 400,000 letters are sent here each year.
While the town is understandably packed in the weeks leading up towards Christmas, taking a Fairbanks day trip to North Pole is still lots of fun in the summer. Aside from wandering through the Santa House and reading the thousands of letters, the town is a stop on the road leading out towards Chena Hot Springs Resort. You can spend the day hiking in the Chena River Recreation Area, and of course sit on Santa’s lap—even in the middle of July.
- Contributed by Kyle Ellison
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