5/25/23: Glennallen-Palmer Reindeer Farm on our Last Day!

This was the breathtaking view of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains Steven and I had as we left Glennallen and headed southwest on the Richardson Highway en route to Palmer. You might recall that we'd briefly visited Palmer and learned about its Matanuska Colony on the first day of our road trip after disembarking the cruise boat. We'd come literally full circle on our almost two-week road trip, starting and ending in Anchorage later today.

I believe the rocky outcrop in the center was called Sheep Mountain.

Steven and I have been so fortunate to have driven some breathtakingly beautiful roads, but the 120-mile stretch to Palmer would have to count among the best anywhere!

Back in February of 2023, I had reserved a guided tour at the Williams Reindeer Farm in Palmer. Funnily enough, on our previous time in Palmer, we'd toured the excellent Musk Ox Farm

Set on a 200-acre plot, the Reindeer Farm has been in the Williams family for three generations. It was part of an original Matanuska Colony farm, established in 1935 by the U.S. Army to increase agricultural production in the far north. But this family's passion led them in a different direction. “My dad always wanted to have a moose farm,” says Denise Hardy, who helps her parents with the animals. Since domesticating moose wasn’t possible, he got 120 reindeer instead. Fun fact: A reindeer is a domesticated caribou! 

The barn dates to the days when the farm was part of the Matanuska Colony, almost a century ago.

 Our guided tour, the only way to visit the farm, started in one of the farm's old barns with Joshua, the third-generation, 35-year-old co-owner, who told us his family bought it when they moved to Alaska in 1935. They had to clear the property of trees before bringing over reindeer, aka caribou, from Russia. He said his farm now had 290 reindeer, the most significant number in 39 states. Usually, reindeer are confined to Christmas tree farms, zoos, and malls for display purposes only, according to Johua. 

While watching some slides, Joshua said the farm recently needed agritourism to keep it afloat. They created a pumpkin patch so children could celebrate Halloween on the farm. However, the combination of too much sun and a too-short growing season meant that they had to buy 100% of their pumpkins at the local Walmart, which must bring them in from the Lower 48. The problem is that the pumpkins freeze to the ground, however. It didn't sound like their agritourism was a rousing success!

At Christmastime, 75,000 lights are placed on the property to make it festive for all the patrons!

Joshua talked about the Running of the Reindeer, a 5-block race through downtown Anchorage that attracts 2,000 Alaskans. Luckily, noone gets seriously injured each year. It sounded like a takeoff of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona!

Did you know that antlers grow every year and that male, female, and even baby reindeer all have antlers? I sure didn't! Baby reindeer antlers are covered with soft fur called velvet, which grows about 1 inch a day. 

We found out that bulls' antlers get very big, very fast in the fall, but they scratch them off. In the breeding season, they get so aggressive that just one bull is put in with a harem of ten females on the farm. They also lose their antlers when they fight very hard. Only pregnant reindeer keep their antlers. 

Other fun facts: Baby reindeer are born in April. Reindeer can jump six feet straight up with no running start!

After the introduction and short video, we toured the stalls where we met Angie, a six-month-old baby alpaca!

Joshua holding a rack of 5-ft.-wide, 45-pound antlers!

Joshua told us these were Turkey Lurky and Bob!

Three-week-old reindeer Jane, Elizabeth, and Lizzie, named after the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice.

Before you ask, I can't remember what I was feeding the reindeer, but it was great fun!

It was impossible to imagine a more stunning location for the reindeer farm.

Lola was the farm's Highland cow.

I can't remember if Joshua said that the alpacas, Izzy, Sky, and Ulysses, had been brought from South America or were native to South America.

Feeding Ulysses:

Annie Oakley, a "baby" Plains Bison weighing 700 pounds, and ...

... Butch Cassidy.

Good advice, methinks!

Billie the Kid was the runt of the litter.

More Shetland cows:

Hours after Lucy the Moose was born on June 2nd, 2020, in Wasilla, home of the Iditarod Trail Race Headquarters that we'd toured, she was abandoned by her mom and didn't receive any precious colostrum in her first 24 hours of life. Once she was rescued by Alaska Fish and Game, she was brought to the Reindeer Farm and was given donated moose blood when she was a week old. That provided the lifesaving antibodies she needed to fight off diseases. Lucy was bottle-fed by the Williams' family and will spend the rest of her life on the farm.

A funny shot of elk, which are all domesticated animals! 

One of the elk was called a 9-point elk because it had 9 points, or tines, on each side. Having the large rack indicated a large, mature bull elk, suggesting significant age and health.

Joshua pointed out that the University of Colorado, based in Boulder, about an hour from our home, should ditch its sports teams' moniker, the Buffaloes,  because the name was incorrect. It's erroneous to call the animals buffalo; they're actually bison. Tell that to our eldest, Nina, and her husband, Will, who are proud CU fans and even buy season passes to CU football games, though they live 1,800 miles away in Brooklyn, New York!

The Reindeer Farm was a mammoth operation, far, far larger than the Musk Ox Farm we visited earlier. Though we'd hoped to see far more reindeer as befitted the farm's name, the size and scope of the operation were extremely impressive. If you are interested in seeing animals that you likely can't view anywhere else, make sure to stop at the Reindeer Farm, located less than an hour from Anchorage via the jaw-dropping Glenn Highway.

This was a great way to end our almost two-week Alaska road trip, a trip I would strongly recommend anyone include when cruising the stupendous Inside Passage to or from Vancouver.

Next post: Back to posting about our Newfoundland trip after all, beginning with touring Fogo Island in mid-June, 2022!

Posted on January 7th, 2025, from Houston, Texas, where Steven and I arrived today for a few days of sightseeing before cruising the Caribbean for the next two weeks. When we booked the trip months ago, we thought we'd be escaping a harsh winter in Denver. Hah - were we fooled with temps for six days straight in the 60s, and 23 of the last 28 days in the 60s and 70s? How can anyone in their right mind possibly think that climate change doesn't exist! Please take care of yourself and your loved ones.