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All the United States Alaska Fairbanks Aurora Ice Museum

Aurora Ice Museum

Mind-blowing carvings and fantasy ice scenes grace the largest year-round ice environment in the world.

Fairbanks, Alaska

Added By
Rachel James
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Aurora Ice Museum   Channel City Camera Club / CC BY 2.0
Aurora Ice Museum   Channel City Camera Club / CC BY 2.0
Ice fireplace   Ian Collins / CC BY-ND 2.0
Ice chapel   Ian Collins / CC BY-ND 2.0
Aurora Ice Museum bar   drbroundtheworld / Atlas Obscura User
Ice Toilet in Aurora Ice Museum   drbroundtheworld / Atlas Obscura User
Bar inside Aurora Ice Museum   drbroundtheworld / Atlas Obscura User
Aurora Ice Museum   drbroundtheworld / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Located at the Chena Hot Springs Resort, the Aurora Ice Museum is the world's largest year-round ice environment.

You may be wondering just what this means exactly—it means jousting knights, polar bear bedrooms, a 2-story snowball fight structure, and perfectly chilled cocktails in icy martini glasses for visitors of age.

Champion ice carver Steve Brice has created a winter wonderland of ice sculptures depicting all sorts of crazy shenanigans for the polar region, including entire rooms built out of ice and the awkwardly fascinating "ice outhouse." Igloos, spheres, a giant chess set, and a full-sized pair of knights jousting on horses are just a few of the amazing examples of Brice's work. The entire place is lit up with ice chandeliers that splay the colors of the Aurora Borealis across the glimmering walls, and everything at the bar, from the glasses to the bar itself, are crafted from ice harvested locally and shaped for your delight.

The ambitious beginnings of the museum were to create an ice hotel, but it was decided that being a year-round ice environment was a lofty enough undertaking, and they scaled it down to a museum. Several tours are available throughout the day, and parkas are provided.

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Natural History Collections Architectural Oddities Ice Castles Statues Architecture

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Rachel

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drbroundtheworld, Michelle Cassidy

  • drbroundtheworld
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

January 27, 2015

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Aurora Ice Museum
17600 Chena Hot Springs Rd
Fairbanks, Alaska, 99712
United States
65.053866, -146.059364
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