Knik-Fairview, AK Outdoor Activities

The instructors at Alaska Kayak Academy share their love for sea kayaking by training and leading adventures in Alaska's rivers and coastal waters. Scheduled year-round, classes range from basic paddling instruction to deep-water rescue techniques. Guided trips cater to all levels of paddlers, with day trips along salmon runs and through the glacial ice of Prince William Sound. Rentals equip paddlers for independent exploration, refining skills, and humming quietly to themselves in peace. Alaska Kayak Academy also encompasses a store, where staff advise on gear such as new and used kayaks and the trendiest way to don a life jacket.

Having adopted the nickname of Alaskan aviation innovator Bob Reeve, the Anchorage Glacier Pilots have had the state's history in their lifeblood since they first took the field in 1969. Over the years, the Pilots' rising collegiate stars have won the National Baseball Congress World Series—held in Wichita, Kansas—five times. Each game, up to 5,300 baseball fans can pack the stands at Mulcahy Stadium, which was built back in 1953 when every American was legally obligated to eat a whole apple pie during the seventh-inning stretch.

Under the expansive white arc of Tanglewood Lakes Golf Dome, bright lights illume 40 indoor driving stalls split between two levels, as well as a PGA Tour golf simulator. Within each stall, golfers swing their own clubs or a set of complimentary loaners as they aim for targets posted at both short and long ranges. The green beneath the targets doubles as an athletic field, which patrons can reserve for soccer, softball, or grazing placid herds of cocker spaniels.

Moose saunter through the Alaskan wilderness in the warmer months; salmon and grizzlies fill the streams. When visitors mount ATVs or snowmobiles behind the local guides of Alaska Backcountry Adventure Tours, they count themselves among these lucky inhabitants of the woodsy Alaskan landscape. Patrons can also opt for hiking, camping, and rafting day trips or overnight stays in lodges and log cabins cozier than a sleeping bag stuffed with marshmallows. During summer, they can drink in the monolithic majesty of Knik Glacier, and awe-inspiring mountain peaks and glaciers backdrop each of the excursions, some of which include campfire meals cooked up in front of the natural grandeur.

The Musk Ox Farm director Mark Austin is the first to admit that Maple, a three-day-old musk ox calf, is the cutest thing in the world. Her thin legs take wobbling steps. Her fine fuzz tickles her giant mother’s belly. And when she ambles through the pasture after nursing, her bright pink tongue wags from the side of her mouth. And Maple is just the beginning: 11 more calves are on the way this spring season, and the farm will soon burst into a flurry of feeding, combing, inserting microchips, tending to mothers, and, of course, greeting visitors.

Though he acknowledges the endearing quality of a baby musk ox in spring, Mr. Austin worries that visitors to The Musk Ox Farm might get so caught up with the new calf that they miss the farm's larger project. “I’m trying to battle the perception we’re a roadside attraction. It’s not just about getting out of your car and snapping a photo of a musk ox for your Alaska photo album.”

Not that Mr. Austin hasn’t snapped a few photos of Maple himself. He simply hopes the spectacle won’t overshadow the nonprofit farm’s scope, which begins and ends with the animals themselves. Although the majestic species is about 600,000 years old, domestication efforts began only 60 years ago by Farm founder John Teal. Every spring, the several-hundred-pound animals shed their qiviut, a thick under wool, some of which the farm ships to the native knitters’ cooperative in Oomingmak. There, members knit the wool into delicate lacy garments that they eventually sell to supplement their subsistence lifestyle. So when Mr. Austin looks at Maple, he sees not just a huggable calf, but the source of positive economic change for rural native Alaskan women. “The animals are fascinating,” he says. “But it’s the big picture that gets me up in the morning.”

Rockin’ B Riding Club’s 2.5-acre ranch boasts an indoor and an outdoor arena as well as a network of wooded paths for private rides. These facilities are home to seven school horses, who help teach young riders equestrian basics during camps and lessons alongside veteran instructors. Using the Certified Horsemanship Association curriculum, teachers focus on the basics of English- or Western-style riding but also throw in lessons on how to groom horses and how to tell the difference between a mare and a tall four-legged table.