My wife and I went on the 3 hour Matanuska Glacier Family Tour and it was incredible…read more Our tour guide, Liv, was very nice and very knowledgeable and made sure everyone on the tour was safe and that we understood the safety instructions. The glacier was beautiful and the tour was the perfect length to enjoy and not become overtired. I highly recommend this tour.

A must do tour if the Matanuska Glacier. Nova Alaska guide (Jackson) was well versed with the…read moreglacier and helped with the do's and don'ts for our group. An amazing experience in all. We all loved it.

I'm not sure I can adequately describe this experience. We may not have done it because it cost…read more about the same as our r/t airline tickets from Florida but one in our party said....."we have to do this"...ok. I can say I am VERY glad we did, it is well run-safety always an issue with helicopters and winds, white outs and such. Once in the air and feeling the winds move us around between tight snow capped cliffs; I felt some anxiety. Where we left from (headquarters) was chilly but no snow, where we landed in 18" of new snow from over night...hello. It was like a different world, kind of in a basin with snow capped mountains all around..beautiful! The dogs are leashed to their dog houses and were very excited we had come to allow them to run! Our driver was Dallas Seadey the winner of this years Iditarod as well as 5 other times! How cool is that? He granddad was in the first race ever so it's in his blood. Dallas was so friendly, down to earth and a treasure of information. He and the dogs are in sync. It was cold, believe me, but I wouldn't have missed this for anything!

Fantastic. Bucket-list kind of thing. Took my two adult sons out for a 4 hour trip, and wish it…read morecould have been longer. I will admit to some trepidation as I am not in the best of shape (think too "round" and too used to sitting), but it worked out great! A perfect mixture of the fun of driving ATVs in the wilderness with stops to explore nature and learn the natural history of this special place. Started with Oliver picking is up at the hotel in Anchorage. In a brand new and spacious van. He is prompt, smart, and very engaging. A delightful conversationalist for the 40 min drive to the launch point. We were then provided excellent, new, or seemingly new equipment (gloves, gators, helmets, and ATVs) and then given a safety briefing, and operations review of the equipment. And we were off... A wonderful morning of trails through woods, through stream beds, up to glacial lakes. We saw bald eagles, 1 moose, some sheep, and felt like we were in a truly special place. The guides were careful to make sure we had a fabulous (and safe) time. On the way back, we came to the aid of a stranded Alaskan who had lost a belt on their ATV, and we brought him back out. It's difficult to imagine a better morning introduction to Alaska. Would recommend it to anyone...no, no everyone!

What an amazing place to visit! They have soooo many animals…read moreto feed and pet and watch. There is staff everywhere to teach/ tell you anything. My group was all adults and we spent over an hour and a half. You could do longer or shorter. It's really worth it! Riley is a staff member and he is amazingly knowledgeable!

This was an amazing experience! Seems like such a small operation but what they have to offer is…read moreamazing. Aside from the reindeer, the bison, cows, and other unique animals were just so cool. Taking a pic with the baby reindeer at the end was the icing on the cake. Would definitely want to come here again!

This park/ campground was amazing with epic views and there were play areas for the children or…read morepavilions for parties. Many campgrounds sites were available, but we were just there for a walk and taking some photos. Planes were flying above as it's near the Palmer airport and I got some great shots of the airplanes flying above. This airport is predominantly single engine planes. Trails were marked well, but keep track of where you are, as we were not sure on the way back, but you have cell service to look at where you are exactly to find your way back. It's next to a cemetery, which was a great spot for photography also. Overall a great choice for an easy stretch out your legs hike, with marked options for longer hikes/ mountain biking trails.

One of the nicest, most modern campgrounds in Alaska. To start, they have on site hot showers…read more Thats unprecedented in Alaska. They also have a volleyball court, playground, children's bike course, and beautifully landscaped facility. This is much more on par with what you would expect in the lower 48. They also have a nice set of short trails (not safe for children who are incapable of following directions due to shear cliffs), but other than that they are fairly easy with nice views and not terribly difficult.

A few notes: 1. The…read moremap location on this is wrong. Here is a link to Google Maps. https://goo.gl/maps/2tCGimSECBKfwTj48 2. The trail is called Fishhook on the sign and on Google Maps, but I've also heard of it referred to as Marmot. 3. This trail is rated a variety of ways. It isn't long at 1.3 miles (one way), but it is steep. My Garmin registered 2000 feet of elevation change. I would rate the trail as moderate for distance and technical skills. There are some moments where the trail is pretty narrow. I would rate it as hard for exertion level. Locals will see it as a short and little difficult. Out of towners may view it as hard to expert. 4. Bring sunscreen on sunny days and bug spray if it is not windy. I saw a mosquito the size of a quarter on several occasions. Luckily, it was a bit windy. It is roughly .7 miles to the top of the first rise. Nothing is as steep after the first .7 miles, but the trails does meander up along a ridge until it reaches the top. It took me about 80 minutes to make the summit. I stopped along the way for pictures and taking in the views. Going down was faster, but tough on the toes and the bottoms of my feet. Hiking poles would have made the descent a lot easier on my toes. When I hiked in late June, it was very dusty and sandy. It was easy to lose footing on the ascent and descent if you are not careful. Nearly the whole hike rewards the traveler with 360 degree views of Hatcher and even down in to the Valley to Pioneer. There's a black tube at the top with a journal and pens. Sign your name, write a note. See who has been there before. The last .6 miles included lots of ground squirrels . If you stop and sit for a while, you will almost certainly see them running about, munching on vegetation, or licking rocks.

We hiked this in late October. It is absolutely gorgeous, but it's a rigorous hike with very steep…read moreparts. There was lots of ice and mud, so we were slipping a LOT. We could not make it to the top. Made it about 3/4 of the way. It was the first hike we haven't finished.

Welcome. Welcome to…read morethe best rock climbing (on the road system) in Alaska! The good news: - Rock quality is good, great for Alaska. - Views are stunning: this area looks like medieval Scottish highlands. You'll keep expecting a bunch of kilted warriors to run out from behind some granite rock band, chasing a wounded Grendel. The bad news: - It's pretty much mandatory to have a high clearance vehicle to reach the good climbing (which is at absolute end of Archangel Rd, past the gate). All trucks can make it, and most SUV's and Subaru's should be able to make the journey as well. Anything else WILL get heavily scrapped. This road is very rough and very rocky. You know how the warnings about most roads in Alaska (Haul Rd, McCarthy Rd, Denali Hwy, etc) are just ghost stories designed to scare tourists? THIS IS NOT LIKE THAT. There are deep ruts and there are large embedded rocks. You don't need 4WD or AWD, the road is flat. But your vehicle better have its belly at least 7 inches off the ground. - The weather. Generally not good. It's wet and rainy here almost all the time. It can be birdies and sunshine and lawn mowin' and crisp Coors Light in Palmer but...be a land of dreary granite buttresses up here. So, what if I don't about climbing? What's in this valley for me? I'm glad you asked. About 2.9 miles down the trail (you can do this in just about any car, if you drive carefully) you'll find a trailhead and parking lot. This is the Reed Lakes Trailhead. It's a moderate hike to some beautiful lakes. It also has pretty good berry-pickin' in the fall, but don't tell anyone! If you drive to the end of the trail you can poke around the Fern Mine: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fern-mine-at-archangel-valley-palmer If you wander at least 0.5 miles away from the road, there are many spots where you are allowed to backcountry camp here. Highly recommended, it's picturesque and it's free! This road gets shut down as soon as the snow sticks, so don't even try it! It is open for winter recreation activities, though.

Looking for that serene and hidden lake in a bowl of hills and rocky outcropping? Then this is a…read moreplace you should check out! I took my paddle board out and it was wonderful. There was enough wind to slowly push me back from the far point to the left if you're standing in the dock. Once you turn off the Glenn Highway it's 2 miles to the Bonnie Lake parking lot. About .8 miles along the road you'll pass Ravine Lake. I didn't see a public use area there. The road does get quite narrow as the lake gets closer. And the road has some steep turns near the end. Drive slow and watch for traffic coming the opposite direction. Once you arrive at the parking lot for Bonnie Lake, Facilities are up the hill and around a corner from the sign board. I didn't see a fee station. There's a small dock available next to the boat launch. The sign says no jet skis and had rules for sizes of motors on boats. Fishing is allowed. It's rather shallow at the ends. Lots of plants that make paddling hard.

Warning: This is NOT an easy or "lazy" hike. There is one area that flattens out for a little…read morereprieve after about a mile and a half and another somewhat flat area around 2 miles in. There are several false summits. Which is a challenging mental battle after the first 2.0 miles of going consistently UP! The first false summit comes somewhere around the time you exit from the trees and shrubs about 1.2 miles in. Around this point you will arrive at a picnic table. The natural instinct on your first trip up is to look up and see rocks and think "I'm almost there!" You're not. You're only about halfway there. But keep going because. This segment is above the tree line and affords some spectacular views of Pioneer and Matanuska Peaks. This is a superb trail to hike year round. It receives a great deal of foot traffic even through the winter which means the trail is easy to follow and the snow is packed down. Note: If you see a smooth surface of snow on part of the trail in the winter, this is from people sliding down the trail on their butt! Fun times! Enjoy that! Note: Moose frequent this area and are far more prevalent in the winter. Keep and eye out! Note: This parking lot has a good deal of crime. I'd suggest not leaving no anything valuable. I often leave a window down or a sign saying it's unlocked so my windows don't get broke.

You wanna get high in Palmer?…read more This is a safe bet. Fantastic views of Pioneer Peak and Palmer. This trail is actually pretty steep, don't be fooled by the "lazy" moniker! Don't be too intimidated though, this trail is pure hiking. It's got a 'Merikan flag at the top, like many AK hikes. Like many AK summits, this flag is also usually frayed.