Downtown street in Ketchikan, Alaska. Image credit Darryl Brooks via Shutterstock

8 Quirkiest Alaska Towns To Visit In 2025

Alaska is a magnet for eccentrics. Sequestered far from the Contiguous United States, this former Russian territory lets Americans be far from their Lower 48 brethren, especially with regard to personality. That offbeat, off-the-grid Alaskan identity comes alive during annual small-town events. From an all-female wilderness contest to a slug-filled blueberry festival to a running of non-standard bulls, these spectacles will make Alaska even wilder throughout 2025. Learn where you can find those and other quirky 2025-specific attractions.

Sitka

Downtown streets in Sitka, Alaska.
Downtown streets in Sitka, Alaska. Image credit Jeff Whyte via Shutterstock

Sitka is a sizeable Alaskan settlement with lots of quirky history. Its Sitka National Historical Park preserves the site of the 1804 Battle of Sitka, which is considered the last major armed conflict between the then-occupying Russians and indigenous Alaskans. Beyond battle-era artifacts and totems telling battle stories, the park contains the Russian Bishop's House, "one of the few surviving examples of Russian colonial architecture in North America."

The beautiful marina in Sitka, Alaska.
The marina in Sitka, Alaska.

If visiting in early November, you can have a whale of a time at the Sitka WhaleFest, a three-day cetacean celebration. Find more uncommon festivities at the Uncommon Music Festival, whose 2024 lineup included humpback whales, sperm whales, and orcas via field recordings of their sonorous calls. Stay tuned for 2025's dates and artists.

Talkeetna

A store in the town of Talkeetna, Alaska.
A store in the town of Talkeetna, Alaska. Image credit Claudiovidri via Shutterstock

Talkeetna is an unincorporated community, which means it cannot have an official mayor. Unofficially, its mayor is a cat named Aurora, the latest in a long line of feline officials dating to 1997. You can give Aurora a mayoral head scratch at Nagley's Store before checking out the more appropriate office for a cat mayor: the Dr. Seuss House, AKA Goose Creek Tower, a 185-foot structure that looks downright Seussical. Although you can see this far-out home by car or train, the best possible view (aside from inside) is by plane.

Fish Lake outside of Talkeetna, Alaska.
Fish Lake outside of Talkeetna, Alaska.

As you can imagine, the Seuss House and greater Talkeetna are enmeshed in wilderness, which is celebrated alongside Alaskan femininity during the Wilderness Woman Contest. Held each December, this competition involves single women doing backwoods tasks like water hauling, woodcutting, and shooting. If that event sounds strange, it is nothing compared to the Moose Dropping Festival, which saw Talkeetna annually covered in moose poop until a participant's death ended the fest in 2009.

Haines

Cannery located in bay of Pacific Ocean is a part of famous fishing village Haines in Alaska in background with mountains and glaciers covered with snow during warm autumn sunny day
The cannery located in the famous fishing village of Haines, Alaska.

Instead of honoring whales in Sitka, you can honor different, unique animals in Haines. Set to run from November 7 to 9, 2025 (the same dates as the Sitka WhaleFest), the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival lets hundreds of people view thousands of bald eagles along the Chilkat River. In addition to eagle spotting, the fest has presentations, art shows, photography workshops, and special exhibits.

The Hammer Museum located in Haines, Alaska.
The Hammer Museum located in Haines, Alaska. Image credit RUBEN M RAMOS via Shutterstock

But before attending those events, you can visit the Southeast Alaska State Fair from July 31 to August 3 or tour the Hammer Museum, which is open from May through September and displays roughly 2,000 hammers, including one that stretches 20 feet.

North Pole

The beautiful Santa Claus House, near the North Pole, Alaska.
The beautiful Santa Claus House, near the North Pole, Alaska. Image credit Kit Leong via Shutterstock

Celebrate Christmas year-round in North Pole, Alaska. Travel on roads like St Nicholas Drive and Kris Kringle Drive; shop for toys and treats at Santa Claus House; and even meet Santa, not the magical gift-giver but a politician legally named Santa Claus, who is the mayor pro tem of North Pole. If visiting around Christmastime, attend the North Pole Winterfest and Holiday Bazaar, which fills December with supercharged holiday cheer. Despite its name and Santa-centric attractions, North Pole is actually about 1,700 miles from the geographic North Pole. That does not stop this small city from annually receiving hundreds of thousands of letters addressed to Santa.

Ketchikan

The charming downtown of Ketchikan, Alaska.
The charming downtown of Ketchikan, Alaska. Image credit Charles HHuang via Shutterstock

Catch all the totems you can in Ketchikan, an 8,000ish-person city boasting the world's largest collection of standing totem poles. Most reside at the Totem Heritage Center, Totem Bight State Historical Park, and Saxman Totem Park, the last of which is technically in the town of Saxman.

Ketchikan, Alaska. Creek Street, the historic boardwalk
Creek Street, the historic boardwalk in Ketchikan, Alaska.

You can honor poles of a different sort on Creek Street, a stilt-suspended boardwalk that served as a red-light district. One former residence of a brothel owner, Dolly's House, still stands and is open for tours. Following offbeat sightseeing, get the best taste of Ketchikan quirkiness at the Blueberry Arts Festival, whose 50th edition is set to run from August 1 to 3, 2025. Scheduled activities include the Great Blueberry Ball Roll, Blueberry Pie-Eating Contest, and slimy spectacles like the Slug Weigh In and Slug Race.

Palmer

Downtown Palmer, Alaska, during summer.
Downtown Palmer, Alaska, during summer.

Pamplona, Spain, hosts a running of the bulls, but Palmer, Alaska, hosts a Running with the Bulls. Instead of bull cattle, the Palmer event involves bull muskox. And instead of bulls running among humans, the Palmer bulls are pastured while humans run around them. This happens at Musk Ox Farm, a 75-acre property where those stinky bovines are raised for qiviut, an extremely fine wool. After joining a 1K, 5K, or 10K run on Sunday, August 10, 2025, check out Palmer's companion preserve, Reindeer Farm, where you can compare playing with reindeer to running with muskox.

Nome

The Train to Nowhere sits just outside the town of Nome, Alaska.
The Train to Nowhere sits just outside the town of Nome, Alaska.

Nome has one of the world's quirkiest races, and we are not talking about the Iditarod. Sure, the Iditarod, with its thousandish miles of rugged terrain traversed by sled dogs mirroring a historic serum run, is undeniably unique. But the Great Bathtub Race, with its wheel-mounted bathtubs propelled down Nome’s Front Street, is on another level. Beyond being on wheels, each tub is filled with at least 10 gallons of water and one "bather." Four other teammates push the occupied tub toward the finish line. See if you can be the fastest bather in the north on Labor Day, 2025.

Valdez

The beauty of the nature in Valdez, Alaska.
The beauty of nature in Valdez, Alaska.

As a former Gold Rush town, Valdez glistens with golden attractions. They are especially bright during Valdez Gold Rush Days, which span five summer days of striking activities. Guests can shop at the Valdez Gold Rush Days Store, dance with Can Can Girls, and get thrown in the Hoosegow like rowdy prospectors from years past. In contrast to the Gold Rush and Gold Rush Days, Valdez's other claim to fame is the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Learn about that dark stain on history at the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive, which contains about 15,000 spill-related documents and objects.

Nicest Small Towns In AlaskaWhether you are drawn to the natural beauty of places like Denali National Park or just want to bask in the charming local culture, the 10 nicest small towns in Alaska showcase the very best of the Last Frontier.

Alaska attracts many people with its quirky geography and personality, and maybe you will be among the converts in 2025. You need not stay forever, but you should spend the rest of the year joining the wildest events in small-town Alaska. Get uniquely charmed by Valdez Gold Rush Days in July/August, the Sitka WhaleFest in November, the North Pole Winterfest & Holiday Bazaar in December, and all the 2025-specific oddities in between.

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Shane Fraser August 6 2025 in Places

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