alaska's first salt cave

Pike's Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks has completed Alaska's first true therapeutic salt cave, designed by Dr. Margaret Smiechowski, one of the earliest pioneers of salt cave wellness in the United States. The cave sits on Hoselton Road and is the first true halotherapy room built in the state.

The salt cave is part of a larger wellness destination that owner Jay Ramras is building at Pike's, a lodge along the Chena River. Halotherapy uses dry salt air in a controlled environment to support breathing, relaxation, and stress relief, giving Fairbanks residents and Interior Alaska visitors a wellness option the market has mostly lacked outside gyms and the occasional spa.

The full wellness center is scheduled to open in September. The salt cave itself is already finished and ready, even as construction continues on the rest of the project visible to anyone driving past Pike's on the way to the airport.