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Explore all the best attractions in Palmer, Wasilla, and Anchorage
These are our recommended experiences for enjoying Palmer, Wasilla and nearby areas, with “must-see” activities & attractions at the top of the list! Enjoy these opportunities and fill your days with these off-the-beaten-path experiences as you go through our activity list.
Matanuska Glacier
Trek on the Matanuska Glacier…this trip is one of the best experiences you will have of Alaska. When the weather is bad in and around Anchorage, it’s often sunny and mild at the glacier but rain or shine…it’s truly a once in a lifetime experience. Have lunch at the Long Rifle Lodge, just outside the park, for a breath taking view of the glacier before we explore its many wonders.
Deep canyons and distant, snow-capped mountains run parallel to the Matanuska River, opening up to the Matanuska Glacier. With cascading moulins and crystalline glacial prisms this 3-hour hike with Mica Guides across Matanuska Glacier provides a rare opportunity to gain insights into glaciology, geology and natural history
- 9-9 daily • Website
Independence Gold Mine & Hatcher Pass
A place of unearthly natural beauty, Hatcher Pass is nestled between emerald mountains and alpine slopes with hikes as high as 8000 feet. The pass road offers a spirited drive with panoramic views of rocky crags and crystalline waters. Tour the grounds and buildings of the Independence Gold Mine. This newly updated attraction is set in the midst of beautiful mountains and streams. This is a remote gold mine embraces in the clefts of the Chugach Mountains which provides visitors with unique hiking, interpretive signs, and an immersive experience amongst the ghost town’s buildings.
Within the area exists opportunities to visit the historic Independence Gold Mine for travelers interested in enriching themselves through culture or panhandling. Further along the pass Summit Lake showcases blue-green glacier-fed waters nestled high in the mountains. In early summer, ice in the lake creates a motley prism of color.
You can walk around on a self-tour any time.
- 11-6 daily • $6 entrance, $5 parking fee • Website
Iditarod Race Headquarters is an Alaskan heritage and cultural sight. Historically renowned for its role as a trade and delivery route, this was once Alaska’s lifeline to medication, supply and post from the mainland. Today, Iditarod Race Headquarters maintains the tradition of mushing with the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race. You’ll have the rare opportunity to experience a real dog-sled ride and the chance to mingle with the huskies afterwards. The Iditarod Race Headquarters provides visitors with an in-depth understanding of the history and cultural importance of the Iditarod through exhibits, video screenings, and a uniquely curated gift shop.
The Iditarod Headquarters—the last great race—is a great Alaska experience. The Headquarters is a living museum of the race that commemorates the diphtheria serum run to Nome.
- 9-5 daily • $10 cart ride/museum free • Website
Palmer
The quaint downtown of Palmer provides stunning views of the Chugach and Talkeetna mountain ranges. A balance of relaxation and adventure, Palmer heritage gardens and charming Colony House provide a peaceful escape. Palmer’s gardens showcase the stunning bounty of Alaskan wildflowers and crops. The Palmer Colony Farm preserves the history of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” containing the only functioning dairy farm still in existence from the original 1935 colonies. Stroll through Palmer’s Main Street and enjoy their artisanal shops, quaint local culture, and historic Depression-era beginnings at the Palmer Visitor Center. Touring Palmer’s milking parlor, barn and gardens provides an educational experience of Alaska’s agricultural history.
If you’re visiting Palmer on a Friday, the Palmer’s Friday Fling presents live music by local musicians, and handiwork from local craftsmen and artists. You can even get a rustic lunch by a local food vendor before leaving for your next adventure.
- 9-6 daily • free • Website
Nestled in the heart of the Chugach Mountains, the Alaska State Fair has something for pretty much everyone. The fair showcases Alaska’s uniqueness and quirkiness with giant vegetable competitions, deep-fried-everything and back-to-back concerts and a bounty of rides. If you’re visiting during the last two weeks in August, the fair provides small-town appeal in a last-blast to summer.
Palmer’s Musk Ox Farm is the only place in the world which grants up close opportunities to view these exotic animals. Rarely seen outside of Greenland, Norway, or Siberia.
This unique domestication project has continued since 1954. The project promotes the use of qiviut (the fine under-wool of the musk ox) as the basis of the Arctic native textile industry, providing an economic supplement to communities throughout Alaska. Learn about the domestication of musk oxen, and why the qiviut wool is so prized from these mammals.
- 10-6 daily • $16 • Website
Set on a 200-acre plot, the Reindeer Farm has been in the Williams family for three generations— it was part a colony started in 1935 by the U.S. Army to increase agricultural production in the far north.
An excellent experience for witnessing some of Alaska’s renowned wildlife, visit the corral to see elk, bison, moose, horses, elk and of course reindeer. A wonderful experience for kids, adults, and wildlife lovers.
- 10-6 daily • $16 • Website
Your official U.S. government weather forecasts, warnings, and meteorological products for forecasting the weather, tsunami hazards, and information about seismology. United States Department of Commerce NOAA / National Weather Service U.S. Tsunami Warning System. NOTE: A government-issued photo ID is required to enter the facility.
Each Friday, the NTWC offers three tours at 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. Please contact NTWC at 1-907-745-4212 if visitor groups will exceed 6 people.
- As Scheduled • Free • Website
Fishing in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley
Alaska’s waterways are rich with salmon and halibut, providing some of the most decadent fishing opportunities in the world. Right in the rivers of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley lie honeypots where the big ones thrive. We have guides available to all our guests, and riverboat services can be found all around Alaska, but notably in Talkeetna.
Fish for Salmon and his team share their experience and local expertise to help you secure you first big-catch in salmon-rich waters along the Susitna draining rivers.
- Scheduled Tour (6 hour tour) • Website
Alaska at its Best! Ride with a team of Iditarod huskies. We run through stunning scenery on actual training trails for a wilderness experience. Meet an Iditarod musher and his canine team at their home training facility. Your host will tell stories of the lonely trail, cold nights, isolated winters, and the difficulty and glory of the Iditarod. Enjoy a real dogsled-ride or a trail walk with the puppies, book a set presentation time to participate.
- 9:30 or 1:30 (2 ½ hour tour) • $99 • Website
Experience your own independent ATV ride on a guided tour to Knik Glacier and the scenery Chugach Mountains. Great for the adventurer interested in an intimate experience with Alaska’s backcountry, this ATV ride present a unique opportunity to view wildlife and the rugged Alaska outback. Often referred to as Alaska's 'sunny glacier', a unique microclimate or "rain shadow" has created a truly diverse ecosystem. A northern desert surrounded by snow covered peaks, hanging glaciers, and waterfalls.
- As Scheduled • $225-395 • Website
Travel through the Alaskan wilderness on a two-part tour that leads over land and sea on your way to Knik Glacier. Sail over dark-blue waters on a speedy airboat after journeying through the rugged wilderness in a safari-style van. See crystal-blue glaciers up-close with a stop at Glacier Camp where you learn about the immense processes that resulted in these stunning ice formation. Hop into a custom van for a four-mile safari-style adventure through pristine landscapes where wild moose roam. Fly over the white-capped waves on a high-speed airboat that lets you feel the crisp Alaskan air on your face.
- 3 hours • $125 • Website
Eklutna Historical Park & Lake
The village of Eklutna provides visitors a cultural opportunity to learn about the Russian Orthodox Church and its influence on native Alaskan culture. From the onion-shaped domes of New Saint Nicholas Church to the vibrant swaths of color speckled across the Athabaskan spirit houses, nowhere else does secular religion blend with native tradition in this way. Within the park, a hike along the Eklutna River grants views of deep river gorges and plummeting, galactic ally white waterfalls at Thunder Bird Creek. Finally, we’ll walk to beautiful Thunderbird falls and enjoy the views.
Anchorage
The Anchorage Museum and Alaska Native Heritage Center provides local demonstrations and unique handicraft unobtainable elsewhere. You can visit just one, or get a combo ticket to both for $29.95
The Native Heritage Indian Center is where you will get to see and touch the history and culture of Alaska Natives. The Alaska Native Heritage Center is Alaska's premiere interactive cultural destination; a gathering place that celebrates, perpetuates and shares Alaska Native cultures. The Indoor and Outdoor center includes five traditional village sites, artifacts, tools, ceremonial objects, qayaqs and canoes, and household tools required to insure the interactive nature of the experience for our Heritage Center visitors.
Alaska Native Heritage Center promotes native culture and traditions with educational programs and a variety of exhibits. From traditional Longhouses to handiwork and performance arts, the center recognizes traditional native art forms, many of which are in danger of being lost.
Many types of native handicraft are on display, including: bark baskets, moose hide boots and seal hide tunics. The Alaska Native Heritage Center doesn’t just provide walk-by viewing opportunities, but seeks to immerse its visitors in dynamic, evolving culture.
- Alaska Native Heritage Center • 9-5 • Website
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is a sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, education, research and quality animal care.
- Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center • 9-6 • Pricing per tour will vary • Website
Nestled at the base of Mt. McKinley, historic Talkeetna is characterized by its quaint and whimsical frontier culture. With panoramic views of snow-domed mountains and roaming ranges, Talkeetna provides incredible outdoor opportunities and some of the greatest fishing in the world. Talkeetna provides unique local opportunities to do and see from flightseeing, fishing, riverboat tours, hiking, mountain climbing and zip lining.
Walk through history to the Alaska frontier town of Talkeetna for views of Denali (Mt. McKinley) and embark on a River Boat Safari where you will see Alaska backcountry, wildlife—as well as experience the thrill of “riding the river” with an experienced riverboat guide.
- As Scheduled • Website
Mahay's Jet Boat Tours offer a spectacular experience north of Talkeetna, with opportunities to view a historic trapper’s cabin, beaver activity, native settlements, and rumbling whitewater at turbulent Devil’s Canyon.
- 9:30 (5-hour tour) • Website
Denali National Park is one of Alaska's most popular tourist destinations. Encompassing more than 6 million acres, it is home to North America's highest peak, Mt. Denali at 20, 320+ feet. With terrain of tundra, spruce forest and glaciers, the park is home to wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, moose, caribou and Dall sheep.
A 3 ½ hour drive from Lake Lucille B&B is the gateway of Denali National Park making for a good, long day trip. Get up early, have a hearty breakfast and return as the stars settle over Lake Lucille.
- As Scheduled • Price will Vary • Website
Aerial views of Denali from Talkeetna
This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, seeing the glacial waters, snow-capped mountains, and vast alpine forests from above are an unbeatable sight. Take a Denali flightseeing tour and experience one of the great mountain landscapes on earth. Over six million acres of mile high granite gorges, ancient blue glaciers and endless icy peaks...let's go! Add a glacier landing to any of our Denali flight seeing tours to walk among the great peaks and experience an environment known only to mountaineers. Our flights are safe, smooth and exciting. Check our photos for further inspiration. We look forward to flying with you.
- As Scheduled • $200 and up • Website
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