Pioneer Park is a 44-acre city park on the banks of the Chena River that functions as an open-air museum of Fairbanks history. Admission to the park grounds is free. A collection of relocated historic cabins and buildings from the gold rush era line its streets, including the SS Nenana, a restored sternwheeler riverboat that once plied the Yukon and Tanana rivers.
The park includes a small museum village, a civic center, a playground, a miniature train, and a salmon bake restaurant that runs through the summer months. The Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts hosts rotating exhibits. It is not a grand attraction, but it is a good way to spend a couple of hours on a summer afternoon, particularly if you have kids. The historic buildings give a tangible sense of what early Fairbanks looked like.