Recreation

Independence Mine State Historical Park is set in scenic Hatcher Pass high up in the rugged Talkeetna Mountains. About 17 miles from Wasilla, the park contains the abandoned buildings and machinery of a hard rock gold mining operation. In the summer, the park is a popular area for hiking, berry picking, and recreational gold panning. Heavy snowfall in the winter makes the park a popular snowboarding, cross country skiing, and snow-machining destination.

Wasilla Museums

Wasilla Museum and Visitors Center The City of Wasilla derives its name from Chief Wasilla, a respected local Dena'ina Athabascan Indian Chief. There is some debate about the meaning of the Chief's name. One source claims it means "breath of air" in the Dena'ina Athabascan Indian dialect.By 1917 Knik was eclipsed by the new town of Wasilla which sprang up that year after a government land auction at the point where the Alaska Railroad crossed the main supply route (the Carl Wagon Trail) for the mines in the Willow Creek Mining District now the intersection of the George Parks Highway and Main Street.

In Wasilla, major growth resulted from the 1970s and 80s Alaska oil boom and pipeline development and by 1984 Wasilla had again become the commercial heart of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and for a time was the fastest growing city of its size in the United States.

Wasilla Parks and Recreation Visitors and residents alike enjoy a fully operational skateboard park, volleyball courts, bocce ball court, basketball courts, bmx track, tennis court, and outdoor amphitheater at the Iditapark. City parks and children's playgrounds, camping facilities and parking lots, ball fields, flowers, and approximately 10 miles of bike trails are also available for use and maintained by Public Works. With over 240 acres of parks inside the city limits, there is something for everyone. Iditapark, Newcomb Park, and Lake Lucile Park all offer pavilions and fields. Other park pavilions include Carter Park, and Nunley Park.

Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry   The Alaska of today was formed in a series of booms and busts. A new resource was found, the technology to exploit it became available, and the resource was exhausted Gold and other resource exploration resulted in the development and use of railroads, roads, river steamboats, and (later) aircraft to serve the transportation needs. As the inevitable bust followed the boom, the technology of the day was left behind on the tundra and in the forests to rust and rot because it was too expensive and too impractical to remove. MATI was established to give a home to the transportation and industrial remnants and to tell the stories of the people and the machines that opened Alaska to exploration and growth.