Pioneer Park

Cute little park to take your family in Fairbanks. They have an amazing playground with a splash pad and swings. They have a old paddle boat you can take tours of, an art museum, lots of shopping and some wonderful food vendors. Would definitely go again.

Original buildings rescued from around town were placed in this park along with a railcar and a steamboat. Local vendors sell local crafts, souvenirs and food. There is a museum that accepts donations. The other side of the park has rides suitable for young children. We enjoyed our visit.

This was a fun stop. We didn't go to the salmon bake but we wandered around to see the various vendors and the historic buildings. The Harding Car was interesting. The SS Nenana is now closed to visitors for safety reasons according to the sign when we were there. There are great food options and live music. It is free so you should definitely stop in to check it out.

We had a good time walking around the SS Nenana and the Harding Car. Very cool originals! We also enjoyed walking around and visiting the shops that were open - got a neat moose w/babies print at a shop (her original photography). Looks like they’re upgrading playground equipment for the kids. There’s also a very neat, older carousel. Got to also ride the little train twice around for a few bucks.

It’s amazing! I’ll hand it to whoever must of thought to move all those houses years ago to save them. It great to see how each one is still being used in its own way. Loved it.

We were there at the end of the season so many of the attractions and shops were already closed. We did enjoy the shops that were open and walking around the grounds. We will visit again during the open season.

Great gathering place, with a bit of history. I like the shops and vendors. Our community has great diverse talent with many shops to choose from. The train rides are nice, the carousels for kids too.

I don’t have young children any more, but I would have brought them here. Replica gold mining town, playground, small train, restaurants. We did visit the Pioneer Museum which we found interesting. Also walked a couple of miles along the Chena River path.

Really cool place with lots of free parking and it's free to get into where they have all kinds of history of Alaska and fun things to see and do that can fill you and your kids or family time for a whole day or more.

This seems like it would be better for families with kids, and less fun for just adults. It's a free area with lots of reproduction historical buildings and has restaurants and other exhibits as well. Still cool to check out and has some good food options here too!

Rainy stroll in the park [Fairbanks AK] Most of the time that we were in Alaska rain was off and on. There was slight precipitation when we visited Pioneer Park. I think it's a theme park with its gold rush town and authentic log cabins and mining equipment... or is it a historic village with its museums and a huge sternwheeler SS Nenana that is docked? Is it an amusement park with the carousel and train that runs around the perimeter of the park? YES! It's all of the above and although we toured on wet grounds our visit was not at all disappointing. Each of the shop we visited were authentic pioneer log cabins that were built and occupied in the early 1900's. These were buildings moved from downtown Fairbanks. Some of them have little plaques with a short description of the cabin (original owner and when it was constructed). The shops offered local made jewelry, arts and crafts, handmade items... super cool! Some are food shops including an ice-cream shop. We also stopped by the Wickersham House Museum, Alaska's oldest home. We listened to a docent explain to us a short history of the house... home of Alaska's Pioneer Judge. He was both educational and inspirational. The home is filled with lovely delicate antiques. There are no admission fees in all the museums in the park but donations are accepted. Review #3134

I really like this park. I could see myself hanging out here with the kids a lot of lives here. We got there at 7:50 on a Sunday and it seemed like most places were closed down. Except the ice cream joint. The door was still open and we wanted to get some soft serve. Walk in the kid behind the counter is turning off the machines but tells us it's ok to order. They don't take Apple Pay so I run back to the car to get my wallet, come back at 7:57 and the door is closed :/ That little jerk aside. The park has a lot of things going on. I actually played the three hole disc golf course. Short but not as easy as it looks. I only had my glitch so want able to attack it with a full bag. Disc golf courses should be added whenever there is a chance The really cool part was since the sun doesn't set until after midnight, my kids were playing at 10pm with plenty of sunlight to keep them warm

On June 9, princess cruises delivered me and my family to this fun little historic place for an afternoon of fun. Let me just say I did have fun a lot of fun. The little avenue of rebuilt and restored gold rush era houses and cabins was adorable and had lots of sof interesting history behind them. Also the shops and ice cream shops of the park had lots of cool items to buy and eat. I bought a lovely stained glass forget me not for a girl friend back home. I also enjoyed the mini golf course full of carved wooden sculptures. Would recommend to anyone also vacationing up here

Reminds me of Travel Town in Griffith Park and Knott's Berry Farm combined into one. There's a park with a playground where you can host a party, but they also have the occasional train rides, and airplane museum, mini golf, a carousel, and shops in little houses that sell food. The old houses in Gold Rush Town were moved to this park after a great flood and they have been restored. A nice place to spend a few hours. I just wish the train rides were operating when we visited!

I was disappointed in how few historic buildings seem to be in Fairbanks... apparently they all moved here! It's great to see them reused to host interesting shops and little museums. The Harding train is well presented, and the steamship needs heroic restoration but is still interesting from the outside.

Had a great day, it was all open as it was a block party Saturday (lucky us). The park has a lot of history to enjoy with displays throughout the park. The President Harding's DenaliTrain Car (can go inside) is one of the big ones and the S.S. Nenana is also on display (needs some repair). We enjoyed a Train Ride around the park ($5), which was an experience - Locomotive is over a 100 years old. The Park is huge with a lot of stuff to see & do- definitely a great place to bring kids. I think we had the best visit due to block party as there was free donuts, and music !!! Our only complaint was the Gold Rush Ice-cream- my wife's chocolate was so bad she threw it alway, my niece also disposed of hers- I had the Huckleberry, and despite tasting as if it was thawed and refrozen- like a champ I ate it - LOL Overall a great spot to visit !!!

If your in Fairbanks it's a must see and it was free with lots of parking. It's like a big amusement park I felt bad I was there out of season but the museum was open and so were a lot of the shops and a few restaurants. Great place to get you 10,000 steps in and see a lot of local history

Came here on a Saturday evening for the salmon bake. This park is huge. Only a few ice cream shops were open though. There were lots of rv families camping in the lot and many of the people were enjoying a walk around, or playing in the playground. This being a holiday weekend, you'd think there would me a lot more of the exhibits open, but there wasn't. This place has great potential, and it probably was in the past. Maybe it will be again in the future.

We took the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks (another great experience I'll share later) and spent a day visiting museums and parks. Summer time in Fairbanks was a wonderful experience and the Pioneer Park adventure was nice. Let me start by saying that every person we met that worked here was so nice and informative about the park. The mosquito were not so friendly and the were huge! The park is in need of some repair though. I'm not sure if it was a off day or if the park is just not making enough money to maintain buildings and walkways. The river boat would have been nice to visit but it was closed for repair. I sure hope they are able to fix things up because it would really be a great place to spend an afternoon. I do recommend visiting and supporting the small little shops and restaurants that are open.

Honestly I was so excited to see this place. Unfortunately we went during a winter storm and it was closed. But it looked beautiful and I would have to come back and try the food here.

Pioneer Park is a charming little old-fashioned park to come spend a few hours at casually walking around and being transported back in time. I found Pioneer Park by simply having an extra day here in Fairbanks, Alaska before eventually driving down Highway 3 to Denali National Park. After my flight arrived in Fairbanks late the night before, I had this one day to rest, relax and see what Fairbanks was all about. Pioneer Park is located just on the outskirts of downtown Fairbanks, maybe a few miles away. Upon arriving here, it was free to park and then I just entered and ventured about. To best sum up Pioneer Park it's one of these vintage, classic western themed settings (sort of like an old movie set or amusement park) with tons of antique and old-time looking store fronts. And just to easily describe the surroundings here, I'll quote Wikipedia..."The park commemorates early Alaskan history with multiple museums and historic displays on site". So yes, simply strolling the grounds was an overall pleasant experience. I was here back in the middle of June 2021 and had a perfectly sunny day outside. It just felt good to hang out here and not do much. There weren't many visitors at all, so it was very quiet without feeling bombarded by tourists. There is no fee to enter the park. You can come and go as you please. Though, many of the museums and attractions do charge a small entrance fee. For me, I was only interested in browsing about the park and taking pictures, so I never paid for any of the activities. Summer hours are 12pm - 8pm. Here were some of the interesting highlights I appreciated.... - There was a giant-sized wooden sternwheeler ship boat worthy of exploring called The Riverboat Nenana. - A cool sign pointing in different directions highlighting distances away from Fairbanks for some major cities and countries. It's like one of these fun picture opportunities. For instance, Quebec, Canada was 3003 miles from here. Cairo, Egypt was 5897 miles from Fairbanks. And St. Petersburg, Russia was 3829 miles away. This sign was right up my alley, lol. - The Goldrush Ice Cream Stand - great for a midday snack and some ice cream. They also featured shaved ice flavors as well with names like Blue Alaska, Bubble Gum and Hawaiian Punch. - Pioneer Hall - you can buy Gold Rush souvenirs and keepsakes. Inside had a lot of history about Fairbanks. - Gold Rush Town - 35 restored buildings from the early Fairbanks days. The storefront facades here were memorable. I felt like I was walking through a western cowboy frontier land. - Crooked Creek and Whiskey Island Railroad - this part of the park had plenty of green grass suitable for picnics and lounging around. The Whiskey Island Railroad circumnavigates the park. You can step on the train tracks and again appreciate one of these vintage steamed locomotives. Some other possibly worthwhile areas that I didn't get to but according to the park guide sounded interesting... - Square Dance Hall - Pioneer Air Museum - Native Village - Big Stampede - Palace Theater In total, I'd say I spent about 2 - 3 hours just taking my time and wandering along the grounds of Pioneer Park. I really felt no stresses being here and that's the effect you'll feel from this timeless park that commemorates what was great about the Alaskan Gold Rush period in history. I'm glad I gave myself an extra day to explore about the city of Fairbanks. And I'd definitely recommend taking some time to come to Pioneer Park and appreciate getting a real feel experience for what life used to be like in the early 1900's.

A plethora of pioneer relics, historical buildings including early Alaskan houses. Formerly called "Alaskaland", this nifty historic theme park attraction is a great way to learn a little Alaskan history and take in some of the vessels and dwellings of decades past. A number of the dwellings are mini museums that contain the household items of the owner. A handful of the dwellings are now occupied by vendors, think ice cream or gift shops. Take in a performance or show, meander through the maze of shops, restaurants and galleries. Loaded with whimsy and taxidermy too, but it's all good fun and worth a visit. Allow a couple hours, more if you plan to have a meal. Lots of special events which change daily so check the website for details. There's something for everyone including the kidletts. No entrance fee, free parking. Dog friendly.

Honestly, I was quite disappointed. Pioneer Park does have much history with it, but actually come on a day when everything is open. Most of the biggest attractions like the railroad, salmon bay, and the planes from past years where closed. It's quite interesting seeing things from the past that you wouldn't expect in Alaska, but I wish I got to see more. It is a recommendable place to walk around and explore. There was a lot of unseen history.

Unfortunately we came here after they already closed it down for the season. Wish they had a sign outside saying so. If there was. We didn't see it. Lol. We still got to walk around and see what could've been :0 also known as ghost town. Maybe next time

Nice park area filled with lots of Alaska history. You have the railroad, Harding car train, steam boat, salmon bake, air museum, palace theatre, and gold rush town. It wasn't as crowded today but I'm looking forward to coming here during summer time when there are more activities. Dog and kid friendly.

We rented a RV with our toddlers and drove the inland Alaska circuit for a week. About mid-journey, we came to visit Pioneer Park. There are a zillion parking lots on the perimeter of the park. Bus parking was in the rear. A portion of the front lot is reserved for RV day parking. For RV overnight parking, the fee was about $15 if I remember correctly. Train rides were posted as going on most the day, running til early evening. So we walked all th way to the back of the park to the train station. However, when we went to the train station, the museum staff had differing information that made us turn back and leave, only to see a train pass by as we exited the park. That was frustrating. Imagine telling toddlers that they can't ride, only to have a train boom by while they flail and pout on the ground. ...Anyway, we HAD to come back the next day to ride the train. $1 per kid/adult for a real outdoor train ride is not too shabby. Our dinky indoor mall train is $3 per child. If we were locals, we would come most weekends. Plus, there is a monthly steam engine ride that we missed but would make other kids happy. In front of the train station, there were toddler friendly and unique park equipment (slides, swings). Even a train themed play structure! Aside from the train station, there were lots of other things to do. For example, there is a mini walking tour around the shop/restaurant area where many of the buildings were from the actual Gold Rush - The cabins were relocated here from all around this region. There were informative exhibits around the park on how gold was mined. I read reviews that THE SINGLE thing to do here is to go to the salmon bake. I do love me some salmon. But I also read on Yelp that locals giggle about the touristy production. We skipped it as our toddlers were too young to stay for a 3 hour dinner (5-8PM). Perhaps you'll find it's for you. Maybe it gets too cold for this but I sure would have been tickled if the kids could have pretended to pan swirl gold! How is this not a thing here in Alaska? We toured for a week and didn't see a single pan! A 2009 yelper said there is a -40 freezer where they give you a jacket and let you go in to experience the terror. Appealingly, the review said that you could throw hot water in and watch it instantaneously evaporate. We wandered around and never found this exhibit. Perhaps it was decommissioned years ago? Long story short: Enjoy the motley crew of interesting things here! You'll be entertained for a couple hours to a couple of days!

We are in Fairbanks to start our land portion part of our cruise tour. We took shuttle from Princess Riverfront Lodge to downtown area. We then walked from downtown Fairbanks to Pioneer park 45 mins. because we were looking for something to do and since nothing much in downtown area besides just few shops and restaurants. On our detour, besides the business type buildings, a few strip malls, everything else was very run down, and or abandoned. The neighborhoods all looked a little depressing.... Pioneer park had the same vibe...it felt like a deserted amusement park. Few buildings were open ( small museum type) few stores were open and a few small eating establishments, one taco, one Slouvaki place, plus 2 ice cream huts. The western style strip of stores were all closed, that area would be so great if anything was open. The storefront were adorable. We left the park after a quick walk around. The preserved historical old home/cabins were neat to see/read about. It would be better if they made clear plexiglass front door so people can look inside the tiny homes. To add. We visited it during prime summer travel time at end of June! Not sure if it's the air quality warning issue or lack of working personnel that shut down majority of the stores. Not worth the special trip IMHO

Whimsy and Americana meet at Pioneer Park, a must stop destination if you're visiting Fairbanks. Full of some of Fairbanks oldest and original buildings, which have been converted into charming little shops, Pioneer Park has something for everyone. There is a large parking lot, with lots of room for RV's and such. Easy to find and easy to park. You'll be delighted visiting the uniquely Alaskan gift shops. There are food stops, too, including a gyro shop and an ice cream parlor. Today I stopped at place called "Mama Bears Kombucha," which had a refreshing rosehip fresh kombucha drink. On site is a all you can eat totally Alaskan outdoor restaurant called the "Salmon Bake," where open fires cook salmon, crab, and meats. There is also a boat rental shop near the Chena River, a steam train that goes around the perimeter, a carousel, a children's playground, an airplane museum, an train museum, and lots of beautiful flowers. Walkways are paved, and wide. Bathrooms are I'm guessing ADA compliant. There is even a tiny little church. Most of the stores sell Alaskan gifts, and cater to tourists. I used to come here for the July 4th celebration, where the Army band holds a fun concert, the mayor honors the Military, and all around July 4th is my favorite day to visit. Lots to look at. Fun for kids and adults. RV parking, no homeless bums or crackheads to worry about, an all around terrific way to spend an Alaskan summer day outside. Would return and would definitely recommend!

Nice family friendly destination. Lots of local history. During our visit (March), we were able to walk around; however, all shops were closed. Was nice to see a local youth exhibit was taking place.

NOT really open in the winter. Don't take your family there to freeze like I did. "Restrooms closed for the winter" and no open indoor spaces. Sure, the gate is open and the playhouse may open for an evening show but the Park is essentially shut in January. I was tricked because Google and the park website says open. Be real, and kind, and just say it's closed!

I was really skeptical in coming here but I'm glad I did. This place is really cool!! The cabins which are mostly shops now were all transported from different parts of Fairbanks. There are a few museums that have a variety of different artifacts to see. There's a steam engine train you can ride that goes around the park where a guide explains what each building is and different facts about them ($1 for children, $2 for adults and another price for seniors). There are picnic tables and a little playground where kids can play which makes a great place for families to come to! My favorite shops were the Old Time Photo shop and a shop that was filled with carvings from dall sheep horns, caribou antlers as well as other pieces of artwork. The man who owns the shop carves all the pieces by himself!! The photo shop is a place where you can dress up in clothes similar to those during the Gold Rush and have a mini photo shoot.

I have so many wonderful memories of Pioneer Park from back 25 yrs ago when it was Alaska Land. All the store were full and all the snack shops off to the left as you first walk in. It was pretty all over with flowers and active. Today it was like a ghost town. I know mostly because of Covid but some was because it wasn't cared for like before. Still nice to pop Into. The old wash house goat shop by the theater has great thing in there and the prices are very affordable! Hopefully when Covid over it comes back to life.

I came into Fairbanks to do some research on some local businesses. This park is amazing. It has things for little children to do teenagers to do. There are picnic tables and it is very clean.

Nice location. Plenty of free parking. Lots to do. Parks, museums, historical sites/items. Restrooms are closed in the winter.

One of Fairbanks most kid friendly and popular things to do is Pioneer Park. Not that I am a fan of this place, but it does have is quirks. Many families, groups, and individuals come here to have fun and chill here on a daily basis. Pioneer Park reminds me of a subdued version of a amusement park that turned into a family park without any rides or games. There is a couple of restaurants stands that serve exotic cuisine, so you can get a bite to eat here while enjoying the scene and having fun with your family. I was here at least three times during my stay in Fairbanks Alaska and found it to be quite interesting to see this place. While I was suggested to come here, I did not realize that it was an actual park on steroids. While this part does not function as a carnival or any other amusement park type of event, it does seem like it is a place where you could have something like that on any given weekend. For sure, there were plenty of people when I got here on a nice Thursday afternoon for my friends, whom I was staying with, was busy with work and other things during the day. I also came here on a Saturday and Monday afternoon, just because of Pokémon Go and the fact that it's a nice place to hang out in rather than Starbucks. While I was here, it was a pleasant day and it didn't get too hot for my comfort. Any Alaskan summer is always a good one, unless It gets unseasonably warmer than normal. Still was a nice visit. The overall experience here at Pioneer Park. In Fairbanks, Alaska was pretty good and interesting. I was here on the first day to enjoy the Pioneer Park and to check things out. On the next few visits, I ended up playing Pokémon go and ended up making a few new friends here. It was pretty cool to meet other people who lives in the area. I'm glad that there was no admission fee associated with coming here pier that's right folks, there is no money to be spent here, unless you want food or drink from the concession stands. Since this place is very kid friendly and family oriented, you feel safe here and definitely a favorable ambiance to just chill and be happy because you're in Fairbanks Alaska. The park here is kind of large, like an amusement park, but it how's the natural features like a Lake and just wide-open spaces for anyone to just do their own thing and be happy about it. The only thing that I did not like about this place was that I had a freak out moment, where I forgot where I parked my rental car one time. I kind of panicked and Thankfully someone - a security guard was walking nearby - and told me that there were two separate entrances and two separate parking lots, so I have found that after 20 minutes of suspense and worrying that my rental car had been stolen, but it hadn't been. Speaking of parking, there is plenty of parking here at Pioneer Park, so you won't have an issue here unless you come during peak hours. I would assume peak hours would be anytime during the day, since most people normally don't come here at night. For the most part though, it was a pretty cool place for what it is. Pioneer Park Is Fairbanks's One of the more popular places in town and most likely the only really communal place to hang out with others, With exception to Starbucks and Walmart. Pretty sure they have water fountains although I'm not too sure to be honest. Not sure if they have roaming Wi-Fi installed here, but if you play Pokémon go, there is about 3 to 4 gyms here and plethora of PokéStops to play your hearts content for maybe a good half of the day if you're lucky. For me though, this is the place to where you would find time to kill, when you don't want to be driving all over town or need a place to call your own. Starbucks is always a good place to start, says it has air condition & Wi-Fi, but you can't beat the great outdoors. So best bet is to come to Pioneer Park to escape the ordinary and be one with nature. Even the birds call do you like some of their friends, and it is quite magical to just be in nature, especially when that 9 to 5 job can get the best of you at times. Always good to come here or you need to and you're in the area. TripAdvisor recommends coming here, especially when it is listed as a top 25 places to see and discover when you are planning your next trip to Fairbanks Alaska. I'd recommend you come here too just because it's free and definitely can kill time here during the day, while your friends are at work. That's what I did for a couple visits. 5.0 stars for the overall experience. 5.0 stars for being free to the public. 5.0 stars for free parking. This park is maintained by the good folks of the city of Fairbanks Alaska. I would come here again, if my traveling permitted to do so in the future. Support local! A

This was such a disappointing trip and waste of 2hrs. They have so much history but none of it is kept up and in complete shambles. And 95% of it smells like human urine. So, pioneer park in a nutshell, folks. Also one shop owner (i think it was the quilt shop) was VERY rude to my MIL. To the point she was yelling at her for absolutely no reason. I understand frustration when working with the public, but there's no reason for that behavior at all.

Love this place. I have lived in NYC, San Diego and Nashville and this funny little historic park always grabs a place in my heart. Cute carousel to ride, good ice cream at Gold Rush, good gyros at Souvlaki and sweet train ride around the 44 acre park at a bargain $2.00 per person. The museums and little shoppers within the park are also cute and the salmon bake shouldn't be missed. They're open from Memorial Day thru Labor Day so don't Miss them!

Pioneer Park was somewhere I always went to as a kid. They have great parks and great shops for tourists to stop at. They also provide a lot of historical information and a super fun train ride around the park. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that I find myself not going as much since I've gotten older.

An amazing place to go visit, it was originally called Alaska Land. Fun place to walk around and learn about the history of Fairbanks. Also a great place for people who play Pokémon Go.

What a unique place! Gold rush buildings were moved here for preservation and now house shops and restaurants. They also have old Pullman train care and steamboat, restored carousel and children's playground and park

Old fashioned amusement park. As in, free to get in, pay for each individual attraction. Lots to do. My favorite was the 40 below freezer. They let you borrow a jacket and some boots and you get to stand inside a small freezer that is kept at 40 below zero. Did you know that if you throw a glass of hot water into the air, it will evaporate? I would have guessed ice, but nope... not at 40 below. They have a neat plane museum as well. A definite stop if you are in Fairbanks.

This place makes me sad... there are so many possibilities and little cabins that can be great... but no one up keeps this park...

If you're a tourist in Alaska, and happened to be in Fairbanks, please check this place out. It's only a few minutes away from the FAI airport, so you should visit this place! Visited this theme park around March and it was still snowy, so it was closed down. When we went, there were not a lot of people. We basically had the park to ourselves. There were tons of cabins and I'm guessing it's like little stores and candy shops. It was somewhat dead but it was a good opportunities for pictures and memories haha. I bet during the summer is way better! It's like Disneyland in Fairbanks!!!

Pioneer Park Fairbanks, Alaska First off admission is free, there is no admission into the main park. There is however a small fee to enter the Pioneer Air Museum. Here's a tip, If you just go to this park having no expectations then you may be able to appreciate the exhibits this park offers. Keep reminding yourself you paid nothing to enter this park. With that in mind you will be able to appreciate the artifacts and the information displayed. There were some old cash registers from the gold rush days on display it was kinda cool. There were exhibits that demonstrated how gold mining was done it included a very detailed model and it gave a great visual of the gold mining process. They displayed a few old dog sleds and an old buggy car. I didn't go into the air museum but as I passed it I saw a glimpse of the inside and there were a few air planes on display. Some of the buildings inside the park were designed to look like you were walking back in time, it wasn't Universal Studios quality but again this park is free. There was an old boat you could walk through and inside there were various historical photos on display with explanations. You could walk through an old train and read about its significance. There were a few food booths and gift shops still open. There was a mini golf area and a large playground area for the kids to play as well as a train ride around the whole park. There's not a lot to see in Fairbanks. If you had the time why not give Pioneer Park a look, after all admission is free. It is a bit run down and there were many vacancies in some of the buildings but I went on the last weekend it was open (for the tourist season) so that may have made an impact. I returned to the park the next day because I read there was live music being played at the gazebo on the park grounds all afternoon and I had heard one of the musician named Tim Robb play guitar in Anchorage before and so I returned to the park to enjoy some live music. It was free and the music was great. I give the music 5 stars however I rate the park itself lower because there's a lot of room for improvement. This park could be better. They could have someone using Eskimo yo-yo's. I'm sure kids would enjoy watching that. Fill the empty buildings. Encourage more food vendors. Bring in more Alaska Native exhibits how about an area displaying real people performing skills competed during The Eskimo - Indian Olympics. There was a short video shown but maybe you could have an area demonstrating the physical activities. Tourist come to see Alaskan things yet there was a mini golf set up in the middle of the park it seemed out of place. Anyways I appreciate the exhibits this place did have but I came with expectations and that's where the problem started. So just free your mind from expectations and remind yourself you paid nothing to get in the park and try to appreciate the history this park provides even if you just leave seeing one cool thing or hearing one good musician.

Alright, I was skeptical of this place...but as someone in town touring Fairbanks for the day, I felt I should go. We had a fun little walk around the park; I especially enjoyed the small log cabins that had historic descriptions. My dad gave a rave review of the aeronautic museum, though I didn't pay the $2 to go inside. If you find yourself in Fairbanks with a couple of hours to kill, stop by the park and wander around.

I like this place. I'm new in town and the atmosphere here is always pleasant. It's free to get in which is another plus and there are plenty of places to just lay around. Its right by the Chena River so you can even go out and rent kayaks and canoe while you're here. There are a lot of things to check out. My fav. would be the steam ship in the middle of the park!

There's not much activity happening here, but there is a ton of information. Lots of neat things to see and lots of food to eat at very reasonable prices. The stand just inside the gate has biscuits and gravy as well as funnel cakes. Yes I got both. Yes they were awesome.

3.5 but I'll round up :) Cute as long as you go in knowing it'll be a little cheesy-feeling! But, there is still so much history in this little village-like amusement park. All the cabins are historic and have been transported from different parts of Fairbanks. There's a riverboat stationed with some historic exhibits inside. Cute shops and good ice cream. Would be fun to bring kids to! Not a must-see in my opinion, but worth a stop if you have a little spare time.

Pioneer Park was a nice blend of education and artisans. Historical buildings and museums were interspersed with artists. The art ranged from drawings to jewelry to hand carved horns. There are many things for the young and young at heart, including a train ($1-2) that takes you around the park.

It's a cute cheesy little town with lots of information present. You can spend a good few hours here just reading and walking around. There are plenty of shops to browse and buy things. I haven't eaten at the salmon bake, but saw plenty of people enjoying themselves. A good way to spend time on Fairbanks, AK

When I lived in Fairbanks, I visited Pioneer Park for various reasons periodically. Sometimes it was nice to just walk around but have different things to look at. Sometimes when the sights were open I popped in and out of them. For various reasons, I met up with people with kids. It has some neat playground equipment. I did the Alaska resident special at the Salmon Bake buffet once and it was well worth the discounted cost, but I wouldn't pay full price for it. On a recent trip to Fairbanks, I had hoped to take the toddler I was borrowing to Pioneer Park, but we only managed to squeeze in a quick visit. Nevertheless, that was a blissful visit for said toddler. He had just woken up for a nap so it was a good time to go for a stroller ride while he was in a transitional period. The paved pathways were great for me to zip him around on so that I got some exercise instead of always walking at toddler speed. What made it such a great visit, however, is that he is obsessed with trains, and Pioneer Park has trains galore. First we got to look at the Harding rail care. Then the train went by. With the stroller, I was able to walk fast and take him to many different viewing points, such that we saw the train 6 or 7 times in a 10 minute period and got to say choo-choo and wave and the whole thing. All this said, other than the one dinner, I have never eaten or paid for anything in the park so I can't speak to any of the attractions that cost money or the food options, which have never seemed that appealing or interesting to me. An innovative destination food shop of some sort is what would knock it up to five stars for me.

Great idea. Was probably wonderful when first built. The park has not been kept up. Many--too many to mention--things need to be fixed. Others need to be "freshened" up. Great little playground area within the park. Cute train ride--but tarnished by the poor condition of the park.

I call it "Alaskaland's Pioneer park". I prefer "Alaskaland". Anyhow its a wonderful place to take the kids, I still get that little girl feeling like when I was young and playing there. My family had our reunion there in 2000. As a child through my teens I performed in the yearly ballet recitals at the theater. Lots of good memories and many more to create.

Not really much to do. We walked around and viewed the rustic original cabins for Fairbanks that have been turned into little shops or food vendors. The museums were like antique storage. Pretty boring and not much to see. If you have kids you can bring them to the train and carousel.

2.5 stars. Go there if you have nothing to do for a few hours. If you're a fan of history/The Simpsons/irony, the 45 minute rotating Stampede show is worth the $4. Think Troy McClure as the narrator. The train, plane, and Native museums all have interesting artifacts, but there is a depressing vibe.* *I went on a dark, overcast day, which may explain the gloomy mood.

This is a park that is only open from Memorial Day through fall (September?). There are two playgrounds, one for older kids and one for younger kids, some shops that sell touristy Alaskan trinkets, some food places to stop and get a bite to eat, it's a unique little place. There are a few "attractions" that cost money to enter such as the big steam boat, the aviation museum, the palace theatre's nightly performances and the carousel. There is a restaurant right next door (the salmon bake) if you're looking for more of a sit-down dinner which can be nice as well. All in all it's a nice park, the cabin/shop prices are to make profits off of tourists and the season it's open is short but it's worth checking out on a visit to Fairbanks.

Good park for everyone. I liked sightseeing on train's park that is open air train. I took many pictures to show my friends.