“Secret Alaska: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure”
By Bailey Berg; Reedy Press, 2025; 192 pages; $27.
Summer has come and gone, and with it most of our tourists. Granted, winter tourism has been rapidly growing in recent decades, but in the end most people will still visit Alaska when the sun is up and the ground is bare. No small number of them show up on their own and find their way about the state, often seeking out local attractions that the big tour operators bypass. And these are the ones for whom “Secret Alaska” can be a handy guide.
Authored by former Alaskan Bailey Berg, the book takes readers to more than 80 places where they can sample local culture rather than simply purchase the made-in-China version found in many gift shops.
Like, for instance, the Hammer Museum in Haines. Just the idea itself of dedicating an entire museum to one of mankind’s oldest tools is, put mildly, niche. But locating it in a place as out of the way as Haines adds to the uniqueness. According to Berg, on any average day, some 2,500 hammers can be seen in the small facility, perhaps too many to get a handle on.
Another listed attraction lies along the Parks Highway. The infamous Igloo, a celebrated eyesore for more than 50 years, is hard to miss even if you’re on a bus. But it’s worth stopping for, just to get that picture all your Outside friends on social media didn’t know they needed to see.
Sharon Cope, and her son, Tim Douglas walk to their car after looking at Igloo City. Igloo City, located on the Parks Highway at the northern edge of the Mat-Su Borough, is an unfinished project of Leon Smith, who envisioned it to be a hotel and resort. The project was never finished. Its current owner, Brad Fisher, is selling it. Photographed Nov. 9, 2021. (Marc Lester / ADN)
On a truly educational note, there are the spirit houses found at gravesites in Eklutna, a short drive from Anchorage. A unique blend of Dena’ina and Russian Orthodox cultures, these small, beautiful structures are always worth jumping off the highway for.
She doesn’t say so, but it’s clear that Berg wants to get her readers out of their vehicles and moving rather than being passive observers. Thus she suggests spending Independence Day in Seward, where running the Mount Marathon race might be of interest. At just 5 kilometers, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Winter travelers might want to grab a Styrofoam seat and enter Anchorage’s famed Outhouse Race in late February at Fur Rondy. And ladies can join the Wilderness Woman Competition in Talkeetna. They needn’t be locals, but knowing how to split wood is helpful.
Also in Talkeetna, there’s the Fairview Inn, where then-President Warren Harding ate one of his final meals during his own Alaska tour in 1923 before heading back south to die. The cause of his demise has never been determined since his widow refused to authorize an autopsy, but the proprietors of the Fairview brag to this day that the crab legs he was served there played a role.
Speaking of unhealthy food, Berg lets us know that ranch dressing has its origins in Alaska, keeping America’s cardiologists busy ever since. Other slices of Alaska cuisine are found here. There’s the ever popular Sailor Boy Pilot Bread, of which 98% is sold in the Last Frontier. A 20-foot-tall chocolate waterfall can be found at Alaska Berry Products in Anchorage. Locally grown oysters are available in Ketchikan. And diving into the perennial Baked Alaska is always a good way to winterize your body.
A few ultra-local places get hat tips. Hungry readers are directed toward Tia’s Gourmet Sausages and Hot Dogs in Anchorage. Fairbanks visitors willing to drive up Ivan’s Alley out in Goldstream Valley will be rewarded by finding Running Reindeer Ranch, where, if they time their visit well, they can enjoy a bit of yoga while the cud-chewing critters wander close by. And after a hard day, travelers can check into one of the state’s older and more rustic overnight facilities, such as the always delightful Talkeetna Roadhouse.
The Talkeetna Roadhouse. Photographed May 11, 2019. (Vicky Ho / ADN)
Other historic locales include one of the first places I set foot on in Alaska. Ketchikan’s Creek Street, a boardwalk that was once the location of a strip of brothels, and where spawning wasn’t limited to salmon. The nearby Saxman Totem Park hosts among its collection a couple of shame poles, an Indigenous tradition in which people who have misbehaved are subjected to ridicule by having their faces carved into wood and hoisted for all to see. So behave yourself if you stop in. And then there’s the Last Train to Nowhere, northeast of Nome, one more gold rush dream slowly decaying into the seasonally frozen soil.
Buses are another form of transportation, and none are more famous than Bus 142 where the wayward Chris McCandless died from starvation — Berg isn’t fooled into claiming wild potato seeds got him. It’s currently under restoration at UAF after being finally and thankfully snatched by helicopter from Stampede Road in 2020 after countless rescues and two deaths suffered by those attempting to reach it. Pilgrims now have to content themselves with the movie replica parked in front of the 49th State Brewing Company in Healy. Berg doesn’t mention it, but for a truly authentic Interior Alaska experience, simply ask a longtime resident about “the bus” — you needn’t specify which one — and brace yourself for an ear load.
A group of students gather to observe Fairbanks Transit Bus 142 at the Engineering, Learning and Innovation Facility on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. (UAF photo by JR Ancheta)
Berg sends her truly adventurous readers far from the road system, dropping them off in such remote locales as Kobuk Valley, Katmai National Park, and Little Diomede Island, although listing local facilities as “free” when reaching them can cost a fortune is a bit of a stretch.
So is likening the Annual Arctic Man competition deep in the Alaska Range along the Richardson Highway to Burning Man. You won’t find many artists there, but gearheads abound. Then there’s the Glacier View Car Launch every Fourth of July near Sutton, when decrepit vehicles are sent hurling off a cliff. A bit of Appalachian-style fun in the Far North.
“Secret Alaska” doesn’t go anywhere that any of us who have lived in the state for a significant amount of time are unaware of. But it will direct newcomers and visitors to plenty of places they might otherwise have missed. It’s also perfect for outhouse reading. And there’s nothing more Alaskan than that.
[Book review: ‘No Place Like Nome’ explores the outpost and its deep historical relevance]
[Termination dust: Its history, evolution in meaning and possible origin]
[Book review: The 1970 all-women Denali climb is given its dramatic due]
[The tale of the crooked marshal: Why did crime, especially vice, flourish in territorial Alaska?]