We had a great guide who gave us wonderful amounts of info about the musk ox, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
It was great seeing the Muskox and hearing about them. It would have been better if we could have toured the grounds a bit more and seem more of what they do, as you only get taken into the very front.Muskox are pretty awesome though.
We were all vigorously swatting the mosquitoes during the entire 45-minute, $12 adult-admission tour at the U of AK at Fairbanks Large Animal Research Station. A student at the university led the tour, and she lured the animals close to the fence with branches of (apparently tasty) willows. While they munched away, she gave us all an education about musk oxen, reindeer, and caribou. She had assorted antlers and skulls, along with qiviut, to help illustrate portions of her talk. My husband and I found the program to be very interesting and educational. We had to leave early to catch our plane home, but we found the time spent at this program to be very worthwhile. If you arrive a few minutes before the tour starts, you will have a chance to observe the musk oxen grazing and take some pictures (through the fence, of course).The tour leader's voice was not amplified in any way, and I suspect those in the group who were not close to her might have had a hard time hearing her. Also, some of the things she used with her talk, such as the qiviut and some antlers, she passed around; other things, like the skulls, she held up to show us and then placed them back on a table--another reason to try to be in the part of the group that is close to the tour leader. She was very gracious about answering questions from the tour group.
We took our family that was visiting out to the Large Animal Research Station. Got to see several different animals.
Most people only get to see musk ox, caribou, and reindeer in a zoo. Here, you can see the animals in a wholesome setting and visit with the scientists and students conducting research important to the welfare of the animals as well as Alaska agriculture.Don't expect many amenities. This is a working research center.
Our guide Heidi, was very knowledgeable and entergetic. She gave us lots of information about the farm and the reindeer, carabou, and muskox. The muskox came right up to the fence. Wish I could have gotten closer to take a picture without the fence in the way, but that was a safety concern. There were juvenile animals born this spring with the mothers there in the pens. The research station is part of the Univerisity of Alaska at Fairbanks.
When I visited, there were no other animals visible, but great viewing of the amazing Muskox there. Plenty of parking and a long fence line for viewing. Make sure you have a telephoto lens if you want a decent picture.
This was an interesting stop. The guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about the animals. They were well prepared for any rain, with umbrellas available as well as tents, which we put to use. Fewer animals then I expected.
I didn't even know what a musk ox was or that it was a thing until we moved up here. When I found out about LARs we immediately went. The shop has some nice things and they offer a military discount on the tours. The tours are very short as far as walking (I thought we'd be going to the forest edge, which is pretty far). We walked a few hundred feet, if that. The lady leading the tour knew her stuff and was able to entice all of the animals up to the fence for everyone to see. I've heard people that go throughout the summer complain about a lot of mosquitos but we went the very last day it was open in August and had no issues with mosquitos at all.
It was closed when we were there but a nice officer from the University told us to walk along the fence on the right - a small path and we had a great view of the musk ox , she told us we could see more animals if we walk around the perimeter but we had other plans. If you don't want to pay the fee just do what we did for free.