FYI, I’m just now writing my review because I’ve been recovering from Covid and I wanted to find the right words to describe how terrible this tour was. Let’s begin with pick up time, the guide (Bruce) was on time, he explained we had to pick up one more couple to be on our way. This is where the not so fun part begins. Btw, the van was pretty beat up for this trip and my wife and I sat in the very back, there was a total of 8 of us in the van. 2 people per row, and this was already a tight squeeze. First off, Bruce was not the most well versed at any facts of history or stories pertaining to this tour or Alaska in general. He barely spoke about where we were going or what we were going to see. Our first stop was the pipeline…which caught me by surprise because we just pulled over at the site and got out of the van (me thinking it was a bathroom stop). We get out of the van and he doesn’t even say a word, not even “here we are at the pipeline.” After we saw the pipeline, we continue to drive on and it gets better (sarcasm). Next stop, a convenience store for a bathroom break. Not much to see here, we took a short walk to the river (overrated). Drove a few more hours and we reach the finger rock (great view but still over rated) keep in mind, we still don’t get a lot of talking tour guide stuff from Bruce. We continue to drive and finally reach the Arctic circle. Not much to see here as far as I’m concerned, there’s a sign with the Arctic circle and we take photos. By this time it’s around 8pm and we’re heading back to the hotel. It gets better (sarcasm), Bruce briefly mentions he almost forgot to flip the switch for the 2nd gas tank in the van. When he does so, the 2nd tank apparently is empty but he doesn’t tell us this and keeps it to himself. On the way back, we stop at the convenience store to fill up on gas which apparently closed at 7pm, it’s now 9pm. Luckily, just by shear luck, the attendant had not left yet and we are able to put $100 worth of fuel in the tank. On the continuing trek home, I ask to sit in the front seat of the van because my back could not take anymore of the abuse of this unpaved gravel road. I did this for a reason, Bruce was worrying me as he was demonstrating signs of fatigue on the drive home. Keep in mind, there are no lights on this road, no pavement, and very poor traction. while I was chatting with Bruce, he mentioned to me about the gas tank being nearly empty, he tells me before this last gas stop, the “miles to empty” screen indicated 15 miles left. Also keep in mind, there are very limited services available on the Dalton Highway. Another complaint of mine is the provided meal for a twelve hour tour…it was lacking to say the least. It was a soggy subway sandwich with a bag of chips, two bottles of water and two fun sized candy bars. Come on seriously, that’s what $250+ per person and all I get is a soggy sandwich that I have to make it last for this long of a trip? I think you can do better than that. I was amazed at the fact we could’ve been stranded on this road in the middle of the night. After all this, Bruce is still not a chatty tour guide. So around midnight or so, he pulls over on the side and we’re wondering what are we pulling over for. He finally mentions to us, “let’s see if we can find the northern lights.” We were surprised at the stop we got out of the van to look for them. I realize this is not guaranteed but at this point I just wanted to go back to the hotel and call it a day. We stop two more times to look for the northern lights but to no avail. I seriously hope if you are going to spend the money for this tour, I hope the outcome is better than mine. I went into this knowing it was a very long tour but I didn’t think my life was going to be in danger or I had to work a shift of “keeping the driver awake.” I apologize for the long read.