Palmer, Alaska: Last stop for road trip munchies

When getting ready to leave Alaska, our traditional last official stop for picking up supplies is the city of Palmer. Palmer is the last true city between Anchorage and the Canadian border, which makes it the last point on the road out of Alaska where I would be stocking up on anything I might need between leaving Alaska and getting to White Horse in the Yukon Territory.

Palmer is a nice town, when the glacier silt is not blowing through on the wind. Set up along the base of the mountains, on the edge of the Matanuska River, one of the city's most prominent features is the Butte. Rising up from the floor of the valley, the Butte is visible from the Glenn Highway as a large mound that looks like it should have a castle seated atop it.

If you ever make it to Palmer, be sure that you stop by the old Carrs Mall, now I think it is called the Safeway Mall maybe? I don't know. Anyway, it is the last large mall just before you leave the city headed toward Wasilla on the Palmer Wasilla Highway. There is a small central courtyard area inside the mall there that I have not visited in many years, but if memory serves me there is a bronze statue there dedicated to the pioneers. It seems like there was a waterfall behind the statue, I just recall that it was well worth checking out and is one of the things I will be stopping in Palmer to see.

That stop will also give me a chance to do some final shopping for road tripping munchies before I hit the road.


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