Alaska Garden and Art Festival
See the Alaska State Fair gardens at the peak of their beauty during midsummer. The festival is blooming with gardening expertise with speakers, hands-on workshops, gardening seminars and exhibits. The festival also includes garden artists and vendors, food and live music.
Where: Alaska State Fairgrounds, Palmer; enter through the red gate
When: July 21
Cost: $5 adults, free for age 11 and younger
Phone: 745-4827
Web: www.alaskastatefair.org
Alaska Live Steamers
Ride a scale-model railroad over about 11u20442 miles of track that includes a high trestle, bridges and a tunnel.
Where: Next to the Wasilla Airport, Wasilla
When: First and third weekends of each month, mid-May to mid-September
Cost: $4
Phone: 345-2885
Web: www.alaskalivesteamers.org
Alaska State Fair
It's not often that a huge cabbage is a highlight, but the fair is home to some of the world's biggest vegetables. Other highlights include Alaska arts and crafts, food, flowers, concerts, fireworks, livestock exhibits, a lumberjack competition, rodeo, sprint-car races and a demolition derby. This year's theme is "Fun Amongst the Giants." The Alaska State Fair parade in downtown Palmer is Aug. 24.
Where: Alaska State Fairgrounds, Palmer
When: Aug. 23 to Sept. 3; hours are noon to 10 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends and Labor Day
Cost: $10 adults, $6 youths 12 and younger and seniors
Phone: 745-4827
Web: www.alaskastatefair.org
Alaska Transportation Exposition
The annual event brings together vintage tractors, antique autos and motorcycles from around the state. The expo also includes food booths, homemade ice cream, a parade, miniature displays, entertainment and pedal tractors for children.
Where: Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry, 3800 W. Museum Drive, off the Parks Highway, Wasilla
When: Late June
Cost: $8 adults, $5 students and seniors; $18 per family
Phone: 376-1211
Web: www.museumofalaska.org
West Coast / Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
The center monitors seismic and tsunami activity worldwide. The center's area of responsibility is Canada and all of the United States except Hawaii. The center opened in 1967 after the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and a subsequent tsunami that killed 114 people.
Where: 910 S. Felton St., Palmer
When: Tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Fridays
Cost: Free
Phone: 745-4212
Web: wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov
Colony House Museum
Take a trip back to the mid-1930s at the museum and follow a band of pioneers from the Midwest who traveled to Alaska to begin a farming community during President Roosevelt's New Deal era. The museum is in one of the original farm homes built by the pioneers and is furnished in period decor and artifacts. Many of the items were donated by the original settlers.
Where: 316 E. Elmwood Ave., Palmer
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, May 1 to Aug. 31; special openings are available
Cost: $2 adults, $1 younger than 12
Phone: 745-1935
Dorothy Page Museum and Historic Townsite
Get a glimpse of Alaska and Wasilla's history at the museum, which opened in 1967. A variety of displays focus on local history, Alaska wildlife, homesteading, gold mining and the Iditarod race. Several buildings are on display, including the original schoolhouse from 1917, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum building, also on the National Register, was constructed in 1931 as a community hall. Showing throughout the summer is "Alaska Positive 2006: Alaska's Statewide Photographic Arts Exhibition." A farmers' market is noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays beginning in mid-June.
Where: 323 Main St., Wasilla
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays through Sept. 30
Cost: $3 adults, $2.50 seniors, free for children 12 and younger
Phone: 373-9071
Web: www.cityofwasilla.com/museum
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters
You needn't endure snow and cold to enjoy the Iditarod. The race takes place in March, but summer visitors to race headquarters can see Iditarod race displays, souvenirs and videos. Sled dog rides with a wheeled cart are available. A veteran musher is on hand with sled dogs and puppies.
Where: Mile 2.2 Knik Road, Wasilla
When: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, mid-May to mid-September
Cost: Free; $10 for sled dog rides
Phone: 1-907-376-5155, Ext. 108
Web: www.iditarod.com
Independence Mine State Historical Park
Take a trip back to Alaska Gold Rush history with a visit to this scenic mine. The state has refurbished many of the buildings at the Hatcher Pass site. The park has handicap-
accessible walkways, paved paths, a pavilion and more than 30 interpretive panels. Guided historic-building tours of the park are offered several times a day. The pass is named for Robert Lee Hatcher, who discovered gold in Willow Creek Valley in 1906. The mine, on the National Register of Historic Places, closed in 1951. From Palmer and Wasilla, the road to the park is paved.
Where: Mile 17 Hatcher Pass Road, off Fishhook Road
When: Park is open 24 hours a day from early June to Labor Day; visitors' center is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily starting in early June
Cost: $5 per vehicle or a $40 seasonal pass
Phone: 745-3975, 745-2827
Web: www.dnr.state.ak.us
Mat-Su Governor's Picnic
Join local residents for a picnic that includes a barbecue, live music and games.
Where: Iditapark, Wasilla
When: July 20
Cost: Free
Phone: 376-1299
Web: www.wasillachamber.org
Mat-Su King Salmon Derby
The eighth annual derby features weekly prizes, youth prizes and a pro class. The grand prize is $10,000 cash. There also will be a tagged fish worth $10,000. Participants can fish in all legal waters in the Susitna and Knik river drainages. Weekly prizes.
When: May 20 to July 13
Cost: $10 adult single-day tickets, $20 full derby; $50 pro class; $5 youth
Phone: 376-1299
Web: www.matsukingsalmonderby.com, www.wasillachamber.org
Mat-Su Visitor Center
The center, which affords visitors outstanding views of the Chugach Mountains, is a great starting point for vacationers in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Visit with local Alaska staff members who can provide information about things to do in the Mat-Su area, including free guidebooks and brochures. There is information about last-minute accommodations and activities. The center houses a gift shop with Alaska maps and souvenirs and offers free Wi-Fi.
Where: 7744 E. Visitors View Court at the Trunk Road exit, Mile 35.5 Parks Highway
When: 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily, mid-May to mid-September
Cost: Free
Phone: 746-5000
Web: www.alaskavisit.com
Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry
The 20-acre museum has a huge collection of artifacts from Alaska's history in the railroad, fishing, mining, farming, logging and oil industries. Indoor and outdoor displays feature boats, tractors, trains, aircraft and construction equipment. Call the museum for information about special events.
Where: 3800 W. Museum Drive, off the Parks Highway, Wasilla
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays, May 1 to Sept. 30
Cost: $8 adults, $5 students and seniors; $18 family
Phone: 376-1211
Web: www.museumofalaska.org
Musk Ox Farm
Get up close with these fascinating animals that are native to the harsh Arctic and a link to the last ice age. The Musk Ox Farm is home to a unique domestication project that began in 1954. Photograph musk ox bulls, cows and calves. Regular tours are offered. There are interpretive exhibits in the museum and a gift shop where visitors can purchase garments made of musk ox under-hair, called qiviut, from Oomingmak, a musk ox producers' cooperative.
Where: Mile 50.1 Glenn Highway, Palmer
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., May 13 to Sept. 30
Cost: $8.50 adults, $7 seniors, $6 children ages 5-12, free younger than 5
Phone: 745-4151
Web: www.muskoxfarm.org
Nova rafting
The company offers several trips in Alaska, including both white water and river floats on the Matanuska River outside Palmer. The company has guided oar rafting with paddle assistance or paddle rafting. It also offers day and multiday trips on the Talkeetna, Copper, Chickaloon and Kings rivers.
Where: Hope and Chickaloon
Cost: Varies
Phone: 1-800-746-5753
Web: www.novalaska.com
Palmer Colony Days
The annual festival honors the colonists who arrived to establish a farming community in 1935. The three-day festival includes a juried parade, a craft fair, a produce market, a garden fair, wagon rides, classic car rally, children's games, amusement rides, road run and entertainment. There is a parade at 11 a.m. June 9.
Where: Downtown Palmer
When: June 8-10
Cost: Free
Phone: 745-2880
Web: www.palmerchamber.org
Palmer Visitor Information Center
The log cabin in downtown Palmer is the starting point for many adventures in the Valley. The center includes the Colony Showcase Garden, which features annual and perennial flowers and Alaska's famous giant vegetables. The visitor center also is home to the Palmer Museum of History and Art, which features artifacts from early 1900s pioneer life. Exhibits include dairy farming, the Colony project, mining, homesteading, mushing and trapping. A historical walking tour begins at the center.
Where: 723 S. Valley Way, Palmer
When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, May 1 to Sept. 30
Cost: Free
Phone: 745-2880
Web: www.palmerchamber.org
Reindeer Farm
Visit with Rudolph and about 140 of his friends at the Reindeer Farm outside Palmer. The farm is one of the original Colony Farms from the 1930s. In the wild, reindeer are called caribou. At the farm, the tame animals can be petted, hand-fed and photographed. Also at the farm are moose, Sitka blacktail deer, Rocky Mountain elk and a young bison. Horseback rides lasting from one to several hours are available by appointment. The guides take riders to the Matanuska River or up the Butte.
Where: Bodenburg Loop Road, off Old Glenn Highway
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, May 1 to mid-September
Cost: $6 adults, $4 children ages 3-11
Phone: 745-4000
Web: www.reindeerfarm.com
Wasilla Independence Day Festival
Events include a parade, community concert, picnic and games.
Where: Downtown Wasilla, Iditapark
When: July 4
Cost: Free
Phone: 357-9120
Web: www.cityofwasilla.com
