Coldfoot, Alaska

Coldfoot is a tiny outpost, really mainly a truck stop, located 174 miles into the Dawson Highway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The name supposedly originated after a group of prospectors, following the lure of gold northward into the Yukon territory, reached this point north of the Arctic Circle, got cold feet and turned around. The town has only a few permanent inhabitants, who serve the needs of sportsmen and the celebrated “Ice Road Truckers” driving the gravel road to and from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. The town is near the entrance to the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Its airfield is used as a landing for optional flightseeing tours north of the Arctic Circle from Fairbanks.