Steese Highway
Steese Highway is a State Scenic Byway in Alaska. Within Alaska it covers roughly 140 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Steese Highway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Steese Highway climbs 161 miles from Fairbanks to Circle, a gold-rush town on the Yukon River about 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Numbered Alaska Route 6 for most of its length (Route 2 for the first 11 miles to Fox), it was built by the territorial Alaska Road Commission and officially opened in 1928 to serve the Circle Mining District, whose gold strikes in the 1890s predated the more famous Klondike rush by a few years. The highway is named for Army General James G. Steese, an early Road Commission president, and stays paved for roughly its first 81 miles before turning to gravel near the old mining town of Central. Along the way it crosses Eagle Summit, one of the few road-accessible spots in Alaska where the midnight sun stays visible in June, and follows the Chatanika River through country used by caribou and Dall sheep. It's a designated Alaska Scenic Byway, popular for gold-rush history, wildlife viewing, and access to backcountry gold-panning claims near Circle.
- Fairbanks to Circle
- Eagle Summit
- Circle Mining District
- 161 miles
- Chatanika River
- midnight sun
- Yukon River
Plan a drive on Steese Highway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Steese Highway
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Steese Highway.
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