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We've compiled the best of the best in Mat-Su Valley and Beyond - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
The famous competition's headquarters displays dogsleds, mushers' clothing, and trail gear, and you can watch video highlights of past races. The gift shop sells Iditarod items. Dogsled rides take place year-round; in summer the sleds are on wheels.
On a 20-acre site the museum exhibits some of the machines that helped develop Alaska, from dogsleds to jet aircraft and everything in between. The Don Sheldon Building houses aviation artifacts as well as antique autos, trains, and photographic displays. There is also a snowmachine (Alaskan for snowmobile) exhibit.
Sixty or so animals roam at the Musk Ox Farm, which conducts 30-minute guided tours. There's a hands-on museum and a gift shop featuring hand-knitted items made from the cashmere-like underfur (qiviut) combed from the musk ox. The scarves, caps, and more are made by Oomingmak, an Alaska Native collective.
On a sunny day the town of Palmer looks like a Swiss calendar photo, with its old barns and log houses silhouetted against craggy Pioneer Peak. On nearby farms on the Bodenburg Loop off the Old Palmer Highway, you can pay to pick your own raspberries and other fruits and vegetables. The peak picking time at Pyrah's Pioneer Peak Farm, which cultivates 35 kinds of fruits and vegetables, occurs around mid-July.
