The Musk Ox Farm — Attraction in Alaska

Learn about qiviut, the Musk ox downy undercoat, which is 8 times warmer than sheep's wool. It is also soft and gentle on the skin for those of us who are sensitive to the stretchy fibers of wool. It's worth a trip to Palmer to experience these interesting and rare creatures. The staff was helpful, polite, and knowledgeable. The tour of the farm was an adventure. We found ourselves escorted by "Ginger," who took a particular (dis)liking to my husband. She tried to lunge at him, but the angle was wrong. Honestly, it was very cute. The 4 month old pen was adorable. The beauty of the surrounding scenery adds to the experience. These rare animals are fascinating and have played a small role in preserving the culture of native people by providing material for their meaningful woven crafts. Go and enjoy. If you have any loved ones who knit, consider getting a sample of the qiviut. For the kids, pick up a couple Jan Brett books about Cozy the Musk ox. ...

What I was expecting when visiting the Musk Ox Farm was another family run farm with the same message "we raise these things and feed them X, look how cute they are etc etc." What we ended up experiencing was not just a farm, but basically a researcher facility working to better understand these animals. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, not just about the processes on the farm, many of which they essentially pioneered, but also the studies on genetic diversity of the Alaska Musk Ox population in Alaska, the history of Musk Ox in the state of Alaska, and the current research of (of all things) traumatic brain injuries in ramming animals.

Overall there is much more to this place than just a farm raising another live stock animal and I think it's worth supporting the work they do to better understand this under...

The farm and the Musk Ox were great. Cold, but great. Our guide was absolutely amazing. Friendly, knowledgeable and very fun to talk to. She patiently answered every question even though it was 11 degrees out by the paddocks. This would be a 5-star review except for the fact that the girl in the gift shop assured us the mittens my wife bought for 120 dollars were hand-knitted by one of the knitters in the Palmer area. Finding out by looking at the label to get care instructions that the mittens are actually knitted somewhere in Peru was a bit upsetting. If the knitted items are made in Peru that is fine but just be up front about it instead of lying to people who visit...