Big Lake Chamber of Commerce

Member Spotlight: Happy Trails Kennels

The historic Iditarod Trail passes about two miles south of Big Lake, so it makes a certain sense that a four-time Iditarod champion trains his dogs here. Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennels occupies a quiet stretch of West Lakes Boulevard, and it may be the local business best known outside Alaska. This installment of our series on Big Lake chamber members covers the kennel and the champion behind it.

The musher behind the kennel

Buser was born in Switzerland and began mushing there at seventeen. Alaska drew him north in 1979, and Big Lake became the permanent base for a life of raising and training sled dogs. The first Iditarod entry came in 1980. His streak is the number people remember. Buser lined up for every Iditarod from 1986 through 2022 without missing one, and he reached Nome first in 1992, 1994, 1997, and 2002. The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame induction arrived somewhere in the middle of all that.

A record like that usually ends in a quiet retirement somewhere warm. Buser built a visitor operation instead, and he remains a regular presence at it. He still climbs aboard arriving tour buses to greet groups himself and comes back out at departure time for photographs.

Summer tours

In summer, the kennel opens for tours at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The lot takes motorcoaches and campers without trouble. Every guide on staff has raced the Iditarod, so the answers come from memory rather than from a binder.

The film: an introduction to the Iditarod’s history and Buser’s four decades of racing

The log amphitheater: a mockup of a race checkpoint, complete with tent and campfire

The demonstration: how mushers harness their dogs and care for them on the trail

The dogs: meet-and-greet time with racing huskies and, in most seasons, puppies

Identification earns a 5% summer discount for Alaska residents, seniors, and U.S. military members. Arrive a few minutes ahead of the hour. Tours leave on schedule.

Plan on more than a quick photo stop. Group visits commonly last a few hours, and coach tours can arrange boxed lunches in advance. A gift shop operates on site, and copies of Buser’s book about his racing career often leave with a signature in them.

Winter on the trails

Winter visits, available roughly mid-November through mid-April, replace the demonstration with the experience itself. Guests ride behind a working team on actual Iditarod training trails, and clear days bring views of Denali and Mount Susitna from the sled. Winter guests choose between two formats. On the standard ride, an experienced musher takes the runners while guests settle into the sled basket. Learn to Mush asks more of a visitor. Participants harness a team themselves and drive their own sled under supervision. The kennel supplies cold weather gear for anyone who arrives underdressed, a category that includes most first-time visitors.

Some visitors want more than an afternoon. The Happy Trails House on the property takes overnight bookings from independent travelers who would rather wake up beside the dog yard than in a Wasilla hotel.

What a famous kennel gives a small town

Tour coaches full of cruise passengers do not appear in a community of a few thousand people by accident. Happy Trails brings them, season after season, and those visitors buy fuel and meals from other local businesses in Big Lake and often book lodging nearby. A single attraction with an international audience raises the visibility of every member business around it, which is the kind of benefit no chamber could purchase outright.

The kennel also keeps Big Lake’s oldest transportation tradition in public view. Dog teams supplied this area before the roads existed, and freight mushers once passed within a few miles of the modern kennel gate. A visitor who watches a team harness up on West Lakes Boulevard sees a working continuation of that history.

Finding the kennel

Directions from the Parks Highway:

Turn onto Big Lake Road at Mile 52 and continue 3.25 miles

Turn right on Beaver Lake Road and drive 1 mile

A left onto West Lakes Boulevard follows

The kennel driveway is on the right, 4.5 miles farther along

Look for the sign at the entrance. Current schedules and booking details appear at buserdog.com.