Circle is a census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 104, up from 100 in 2000.Circle is 160 mi northeast of Fairbanks at the end of the Steese Highway. Circle was named by miners in the late 19th century who believed that the town was on the Arctic Circle, but the Arctic Circle is about 50 mi north of Circle.Every February, Circle City hosts a checkpoint for the long-distance Yukon Quest sled dog race.Many of the events in John McPhee's non-fiction book, Coming into the Country, occur in Circle.