Kenai Peninsula Points of Interest

Choose this site and you have a good opportunity to spot some "charismatic megafauna." Moose and caribou can often be found grazing along this oilfield service road, which runs adjacent to some prime wildlife habitat.

(pop. 489)

The Salty Dawg Saloon was originally one of the first cabins built here in 1897, just after the town was established. Today, a visit to the historic Salty Dawg Saloon on the spit will enhance your visit and put you in touch with many locals. Much more than a saloon, the Dawg has regular music performances and also serves light food.

Drive a steep dirt road right up into alpine tundra terrain, rising from pristine white spruce forest onto tundra-covered hillsides surrounded by mountain ridges and rocky peaks. Camping is optional.

As the Seward Highway approaches Girdwood, travelers can see the remains of trees whose roots were swamped with salt water and killed during the 1964 Earthquake. Portage was devastated when much of the ground along Turnagain Arm sank five to nine feet. At high tide, the town that once lay at sea level was now under water. The ruins of buildings in the water are testament to that  More...

Finding your lost puppy is probably easier than this. Understand how refuge staff try to bring moose back to an area. It's not as simple as putting up posters.

This little town 10 miles northeast of Soldotna shares its name with the highway that cuts through the Kenai Peninsula. Ironically, one of the best reasons to pull over here is to steer a different kind of vehicle: a canoe.  The Swan Lake Canoe Route starts 12 miles down Swan Lake Rd and offers a 17-mile float into town on the Moose River and over 60 miles of lakes and short  More...

An amazing array of invertebrates (animals without backbones) live within Homer's intertidal zone-between the water's reach at high tide and the water's edge at low tide. All you need is a pair of rubber boots and a tide book to explore their world.

Driving from Anchorage to Whittier to play in Prince William Sound? You’ll go through Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel—the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America, and the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds! 

The one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions, and it usually needs to be  More...

After the disastrous 1988 oil spill in Prince William Sound, the state used some of the oil company’s settlement money to purchase this fleet of ships. They were designed for one reason only: to protect the fragile Alaskan coastal environment from possible future disasters.

This tiny town along the Sterling Highway may be known as “North America’s Most Westerly Highway Point,” but it has another, lesser publicized claim to fame: this is where locals love to come fish.

In the spring, it’s king salmon, followed by Dolly Varden and silver salmon in the summer; in the fall, you can catch steelhead until freeze-up.

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The pass is an ideal location to witness the tremendous power that glaciers have had on the landscape. On the west side of the road at the pullout, travelers can see evidence of the millennial processes of past ice ages. Low, near-horizontal ridges mark the locations of glacial moraines near the tops of the mountains. These ridges, like bathtub rings, indicate changing ice depths as  More...

Sure, Homer's the "Halibut Fishing Capital of Alaska," but even non-anglers will revel in this end-of-the-road Alaska town. An eclectic mix of artists, fishermen, and outdoor lovers make up the lifeblood of Homer, drawn by its slow pace and postcard-ready setting by the clear-water bay. The heart of town is the Homer Spit, a long, narrow finger of land jutting into the bay.

Digging for clams is easy and fun—kinda like fishing, but without all that waiting. Here are the top road-accessible clam havens south of Anchorage:

Anytime, though the best season is from April through September. Taste peaks in early  More...

Having trouble being efficient with all your resources? You could probably take a lesson from the ecosystem found here. 

Technically, Portage is no longer a roadside glacier, as it recedes an average of one foot a day and is now no longer visible from the road, but its big blue icebergs are often found along the shore of the lake, right in front of the parking area. On Byron, ice worms are common, if you get down and look. There are also beautiful ice caves and rivulets to see, but be careful not to walk  More...

Seward has one of the few relatively intact Main Streets in Alaska, and gives you a good idea of what the territory’s early coastal towns looked like. Despite two destructive fires, some of the town’s earliest buildings are still standing. In its early days, it was a rough and rowdy area, a place where one of Seward’s most famous mascots held sway – for a  More...

Let's go caribou-spotting on the wide open spaces at the mouth of the world-famous river system. This spot is one of your best bets for viewing these beautiful, stately beasts.

This is a must stop for photos of beautiful Kenai Lake. The lake was formed from glacier water is a majestic blue and green tone. You'll find several parking areas along the lake and signs that give you a little history about it.

The Swiss Kilcher family came to this country on a boat in the 1940s escaping the horrors of World War II in Europe, blessing Homer with outstanding talents in the performing as well as visual arts. They homesteaded 600 acres at mile 12.5 East End Road, near the head of Kachemak Bay.

When the original town site of Seward was established in 1903, Lowell Creek ran down what is now Jefferson Street. (At 100 feet, Jefferson Street is the widest right-of-way in Seward.) Lowell Creek originates in the ice fields of the rugged Kenai Mountains, producing from one to three severe floods per year. Until the Diversion Tunnel was constructed in 1939, large quantities of  More...

Stick to your workout routine with Seldovia Village Tribe’s Exercise Room. The SVT Exercise Room is located inside the Seldovia Conference Center and enjoys a near-panoramic view of Seldovia Bay.

Visitors driving down to Homer (south west from Anchorage) find a perfect pull out rest stop on the right side of the highway on the hill above town. From this vantage, they get a preview of the pleasures to come. Fishing boats' windows twinkle out in Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay, the Spit stretches half way across Kachemak Bay, and the snowy mountains on far side of the bay, embracing Kachemak Bay State Park, plus of course the the town itself.

Wouldn't it be nice to afford a summer home one day? Well, most species of birds have both a summer and winter home. Note which bird makes this lake its warm weather getaway.

This little town 16 miles north of Kenai makes a nice spot for families to stop for a meal, stock up on supplies at M&M Market, and get advice on local fishing hotspots and camping locations.

At Captain Cook State Recreation Area, 13 miles further north, you can get a great camping site—with great views of the Cook Inlet, Mt. Spurr, Mt. Redoubt, & Mt.  More...

When people visit Homer, they may like to spend a day or two going “across the bay”— taking a boat or air taxi across Kachemak Bay to explore the quaint villages that straddle the line between towns and wilderness.

Here you’ll find 375,000 acres of forest, fjords, mountains and ocean. You can hike along 40 miles of trails, fish for salmon or rainbow  More...

Lawing was once named Roosevelt. “Alaska Nellie” purchased a cabin there in 1923 and later married Billie Lawing of Seattle. Together they ran a lodge and trophy museum that became a featured stop for Alaska Railroad passengers. Nellie loved to tell stories and her guests enjoyed her tales of daring and adventure on the Last Frontier.

You don't have to go into the art galleries (although that's a good idea) to enjoy art in Homer. Many of the businesses, especially on Pioneer Avenue, adorn their buildings with outstanding outdoor art works.

Stop at the Scenic View RV Park for a breathtaking view of four volcanoes. Mt. Iliamna, Mt. Redoubt, Mt. Augustine and Mt. Spurr. These smoldering mountains are part of the pacific “ring of fire” with Mt. Redoubt erupting as recently as March 2009. Look for the interpretive sign to learn more about Alaska volcanoes.  

Out of ideas for what to do? Check out the log books at this cabin to see who has stayed here and what they've done. 

A facet of life in Homer that can be watched on television is the "Deadliest Catch" about commercial crab fishing in Alaska's icy waters. Co-captains Johathan and Andy Hillstrand have produced a new book about their adventures, Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs. Anyone who has fished Alaska’s waters, whether winter or summer and for any species, know that it is a challenging and risky profession.

If you're a bird watcher, you'll love this half-mile trail of Aspen and Spruce forest. Get out your binoculars and see which birds are out there. 

Take a stroll down the boardwalk as it winds along the river. There are several interpretive signs with information about fishing, dall sheep, rafting and boat safety. You'll also find access to Pioneer Village where you can pan for gold at Prospector John's Authentic Gold Panning.

The city of Kenai has plenty of natural wonders going for it: Overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River, it has great views of Cook Inlet as well as miles of sandy beaches, two mountain ranges and four active volcanoes.

Soldotna’s twin city has lots of cultural assets, too. Originally settled in the eighteenth century by Russian fur traders, the Peninsula’s oldest  More...

In an area that’s famous for fishing, here is one spot where you don’t need a tackle box to blend in. As the name implies, this is a clamming town— with thousands of razor clams harvested annually from the sandy beaches.

Best of all, there is a pretty short learning curve for clamming: all you need is a little gear, a few safety pointers and a license, all  More...

A day trip across Kachemak Bay to the charming village of Halibut Cove offers you wildlife-viewing opportunities, an up-close look at a bustling bird sanctuary, and time to explore a tiny island community of artists, craftspeople, and anglers. Go there on the Danny J, a classic wooden fishing boat that ferries both visitors and residents across the bay, twice a day between Memorial  More...

Established in 1964, Seward’s Small Boat Harbor is located on the northern edge of Resurrection Bay, which multiple publications have ranked as one of the top sailing destinations in the United States. From the harbor you'll find easy access to Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, fishing, kayaking, camping, flight-seeing, and an assortment of other activities.

Seward  More...

Heading south, a pullout on right-hand side offers views of Sixmile Creek. This is a popular spot for whitewater rafting tours, with most rapids being class IV. Tours are offered by Nova River Runners.

This creek near Cooper Landing was one of Alaska's earliest gold finds. Peter Doroshin, a mining engineer for the Russian American Company, discovered gold in the area in 1850. Joseph Cooper later discovered gold in 1884, but he did not file a claim. Charles Sickels filed the first claim on Cooper Creek in 1895. Cooper returned in 1896 to stake claims on his namesake creek. The  More...

By midday, fishing boats have returned with their catch. Walk over to the fish cleaning tables to see halibut, salmon, and other quarry from the deep.