Chena Hot Springs is an unincorporated community and hot spring resort in the

Fairbanks North Star Borough The Fairbanks North Star Borough is a borough located in the state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,665, down from 97,581 in 2010. The borough seat is Fairbanks. The borough's land area is slightly smaller than that of ...

, Alaska, United States, 56.5 miles northeast of

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

near the Chena River State Recreation Area. The resort makes use of the first low-temperature binary

geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...

plant built in Alaska, and is working on several

alternative energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a Orders of magnitude (time), human timescale. It includes sources such as Solar power, sunlight, wind power, wind, the movement of Hydropo ...

projects, including production and use of hydrogen and vegetable oil for fuel. The resort is conducting collaborative experiments in

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

production of vegetables with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

History

Chena Hot Springs was founded over 100 years ago by two gold mining brothers, Robert and Thomas Swan. In 1905, Robert Swan was suffering from

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

and needed a place to calm his pain and be comfortable. The two brothers set out to find the

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

. It took them a little over a month to reach the hot springs after searching for it in Interior Alaska’s harsh landscape. In 1911, twelve small cabins were built to accommodate visitors. The twelve cabins developed, establishing it as a resort in the interior of Alaska. The United States Department of Agriculture sent chemists to analyze the water. Warning sign at Chena Hot Springs (40756466683)

Warning sign at Chena Hot Springs (40756466683)

Demographics

Chena Hot Springs has never formally reported a population on the U.S. Census. The USGS reported it had an estimated summer population of 10 for the resort.

Weather

The coordinates for Chena Hot Springs Alaska are 65'03'' N and 146'03'' W (65.05, -146.05). The average yearly temperature for the area is , with the highest temperature being in July at and the lowest temperature being in January at . Annually the average amount of precipitation is . The average snowfall amount in Chena Hot Springs is annually. Chena Hot Springs has visibility of the Aurora borealis, especially around the March equinox.

Aurora Ice Museum

The Aurora Ice Museum contains carved ice sculptures and is located at the hot springs resort is open throughout the year. Some of the sculptures depict igloos, a large chess set, and jousting knights on horseback.

Geothermal Power Plant

Chena Hot Springs Resort uses two 200kW Organic Rankine cycle (ORC)

geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...

power plants to generate energy, the first in Alaska. The resort moved the diesel generators used in the past to a backup role since July 2006, and it is successful in reducing the cost from 30 cents/kWh to 5 cents/kWh.

DC6 On Display

Everts Air Cargo retired the Douglas DC-6A N6174C “Good Grief” on October 2, 2016, after it made the final flight from Anchorage to Chena Hot Springs, after its 62-year flight career.Alaska - Canada News, Former Everts DC-6A on Display at Chena Hot Springs Resort – May 12, 2019
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References

External links

*
Renewable Energy Center

Ice Museum and Geothermal Power Plant

Wildlife
from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Weather
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