Chena Hot Springs

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We spent two wonderful days soaking in the Chena Hot Springs, which is 60 miles NE of Fairbanks. Chena Hot Springs became famous for curing crippled prospectors of their aches and pains as long ago as 1905. Many people visit the hot springs in the winter, because the Aurora Borealis is visible here. It would be especially nice sitting in the hot springs while viewing the "Northern Lights".

Chena Hot Springs is the lowest temperature geothermal resource to be used for commercial power production in the world. The entire resort is powered by geothermal including their extensive greenhouses (growing tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and herbs) year-round.

Chena Hot Springs is working toward becoming a self-sustaining community, and an important part of making this vision a reality is to strive for greater independence in food production. Chena installed a small test greenhouse in 2004, which has operated year round and is heated entirely with water from their geothermal resource. Last Winter, they were able to maintain greenhouse temperatures of 78°F while outside temperatures dropped to -56°F, which is typical for Interior Alaskan winters. This 134°F temperature differential was the largest recorded for any controlled environment production facility in the U.S. last year.

It is a fascinating place combining the old roadhouse with a modern-day vision.

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