Where To Stay on the Kenai Peninsula

This fly-in-only lodge fea­tures two seclud­ed chalets set amid a stun­ning mix­ture of sea, for­est, and a glac­i­er-formed lake. Enjoy guid­ed walks, cus­tom zodi­ac tours on the lake, bon­fires on the beach, and relax­ation at your pri­vate chalet. The rate includes trans­porta­tion to and from the lodge, kayaks, and activ­i­ties. There’s a cen­tral cook­house for prepar­ing meals. 

This 86-room lodge not only has end­less views over a vast val­ley, but it also sits on the banks of the Kenai Riv­er, which teems with fish. With vault­ed ceil­ings made of nat­u­ral­ly fin­ished wood, cozy sit­ting areas with wood-burn­ing stoves and pri­vate porch­es, it’s easy to feel like the whole place is yours. The area is famous for its fish­ing, but you also have easy access to Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, a wild land filled with glac­i­ers, marine  ...more

Expe­ri­ence com­plete immer­sion in the won­ders of wild coastal Alas­ka, and stay in spa­cious, bright yurts (cir­cu­lar, rein­forced tent-like struc­tures) on a pri­vate island in Humpy Cove. Inside, the yurts are warm and com­fy with fire­places, pri­vate bath­rooms and pri­vate decks over­look­ing the cove all con­nect­ed by exten­sive board­walks. They water taxis is includ­ed along with sea kayaks, pad­dle­boards, row­boats, and fish­ing gear. All of this is just a  ...more

Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge offers the best of both worlds: all the seclu­sion and lux­u­ry nor­mal­ly asso­ci­at­ed with fly-in lodges, as well as the afford­abil­i­ty and con­ve­nience of being on the road sys­tem. Built in 1974, Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge is made up of three hand-hewn log cab­ins avail­able to rent for your pri­vate group. The Main Lodge fea­tures a full kitchen, a 16-per­son din­ing room table, a com­fy sit­ting area with a wood-burn­ing fire­place, a loft  ...more

The McBride Fam­i­ly has per­fect­ed their all-inclu­sive world-class Alaskan expe­ri­ence. Their amaz­ing local Alaskan team and pro­fes­sion­al guides will per­son­al­ize and cus­tomize your stay based on your inter­ests, the tides, and the weath­er. Your days can be qui­et and relax­ing or filled with action-packed adven­tures includ­ing sea kayak­ing, hik­ing, casu­al beach fish­ing, tide pool­ing, marine and wildlife view­ing, boat excur­sions, beach camp­fires, bird  ...more

The Lands End Resort sits at the very tip of the Homer Spit, offer­ing incred­i­ble views of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Moun­tain Range. Take a walk along the beach­front, then head to the shops, bars, and restau­rants along the spit. If the views are too beau­ti­ful to leave, enjoy a meal at the hotel’s Chart Room restau­rant. When it’s time for activ­i­ties, a help­ful staff of locals can pro­vide rec­om­men­da­tions and book your excursions.

Stay­ing at the remote Kenai Back­coun­try Lodge with­in the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge offers a real taste of the wilder­ness. The lodge, locat­ed on a five-acre, pri­vate in-hold­ing, began as a riv­er-accessed hunt­ing cab­in back in 1935. Years lat­er, the remod­eled and expand­ed prop­er­ty is still road-free, and guests raft into the lodge. Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­tures pride them­selves on a ​‘leave no trace’ style of eco-tourism. 

Look­ing for an inti­mate and acces­si­ble get­away with an authen­tic Alaskan feel? Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­ture’s Kenai River­side Lodge will fit the bill, with just 16 cab­ins set on the Kenai Riv­er, sur­round­ed by 3,000-foot snow-capped moun­tains. This easy-access river­side lodge has a remote feel, but is still right on the road sys­tem. Meals are served fam­i­ly-style, cre­at­ing a more inti­mate expe­ri­ence, and allow­ing you to min­gle with fel­low guests and  ...more

Locat­ed with­in a 1700 acre native-owned wildlife sanc­tu­ary in the heart of Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, the cen­tral lodge and 16 guest cab­ins of Kenai Fjords Glac­i­er Lodge have full views of Ped­er­sen Glac­i­er and easy access to wildlife-view­ing adven­tures. The ele­gant­ly rus­tic lodge and seclud­ed guest cab­ins pair mod­ern com­fort and envi­ron­men­tal stewardship.

Indeed, the Har­bor 360 Hotel has a pret­ty lit­er­al name: Locat­ed on Seward’s water­front, this 96 room hotel offers stun­ning 360-degree views: You’ll see the Seward Small Boat Har­bor and Res­ur­rec­tion Bay if you book a Har­bor­side room, or the Kenai Moun­tains if you book a Moun­tain­side room.

Brand-new in 2021, this 74-room prop­er­ty with panoram­ic moun­tain views is a six-minute walk from the har­bor of Res­ur­rec­tion Bay mak­ing it easy to catch a day cruise or fish­ing char­ter. You’ll also be just a mile from downtown’s shops and restau­rants and you won’t even need a car for your stay here, thanks to a free shut­tle to and from the rail­road depot and cruise ship dock.

This cozy, fam­i­ly-run hotel fea­tures a range of com­fort­able stu­dios and suites — some of which come with ocean views. Sea­far­er Suites is walk­ing dis­tance to local restau­rants and art gal­leries, and just a few miles away from the Homer Spit.

Drift­wood Inn presents a vari­ety of lodg­ing options, includ­ing hotel rooms, deluxe lodges, a fam­i­ly cot­tage, and an RV park — all of which have great views of Bishop’s Beach and Kachemak Bay. This fam­i­ly-owned and ‑oper­at­ed inn and has free Wi-Fi, cof­feemak­ers in most rooms, and a cozy lob­by with a fire­place. And you’re with­in walk­ing dis­tance of cof­fee shops, bak­eries, book­stores, and restaurants.

Not many hotels can say that every room has a great view, but Ocean Shores was designed that way. Each room fea­tures views of Kachemak Bay and the sur­round­ing moun­tains. Also the ocean front prop­er­ty has a nice path to our seclud­ed beach and tide pools of Kachemak Bay. Or explore the near­by town of Homer.

The logo for the Sol­dot­na B&B Lodge says it all: a guest who’s loung­ing in bed — while also fish­ing. This fam­i­ly-run fish­ing lodge direct­ly on the Kenai Riv­er offers a relax­ing place to soak up the sights and sounds of nature, while also deliv­er­ing a front-row oppor­tu­ni­ty to do some of Alaska’s most famous, excit­ing fish­ing. All stays car­ry a two-night min­i­mum, but most guests stay longer (an aver­age of 5 – 7 days), which is easy to do giv­en the  ...more

This tiny cove, 10 miles from Seward, offers a com­bi­na­tion of unplugged bliss, cool yurt liv­ing, and a kayaker’s par­adise. The two ​“unplugged” yurts each come with a queen-size bed and full size sofa bed, a table and chairs, linens, and a kitch­enette. You get unlim­it­ed use of kayaks dur­ing your stay — and giv­en the amount of sun­light dur­ing sum­mer, that means you can be pad­dling in and out of coves at mid­night if you feel like it!

For­mer­ly the Seward Ranger Sta­tion, in 2017 it was ren­o­vat­ed and turned into a mod­ern hotel with six light-filled bed­rooms. Each room has a queen-size bed, Wi-Fi, kitch­enette, microwave, refrig­er­a­tor, and cof­fee bar. It’s the per­fect base­camp in Seward for out­door enthu­si­asts. They’ll help you book kayak­ing, pad­dle board­ing, fish­ing char­ters and more.

Alaska’s Ridge­wood Wilder­ness Lodge is a pre­mier, full-ser­vice des­ti­na­tion lodge in Hal­ibut Cove adja­cent to the Kachemak Bay State Park. Your hosts under­stand that expe­ri­enc­ing Alaska’s great out­doors is a pri­ma­ry goal for those active in mind and spir­it, so they have designed numer­ous guid­ed adven­tures to choose from, includ­ing hik­ing, glac­i­er kayak­ing & wildlife view­ing. You can also add-on a fish­ing char­ter or bear view­ing tour during  ...more

Enjoy the seren­i­ty of this inti­mate, all-inclu­sive lodge, which sits on a pri­vate beach just a 20-minute water taxi ride from Homer. Fam­i­ly-run and com­plete­ly ren­o­vat­ed in 2022, the Lodge at Otter Cove offers four cozy, rus­tic cab­ins, 3 deli­cious meals a day, and a vari­ety of activ­i­ties to choose from. 

The McBride Fam­i­ly has per­fect­ed their all-inclu­sive world-class Alaskan expe­ri­ence. Their amaz­ing local Alaskan team and pro­fes­sion­al guides will per­son­al­ize and cus­tomize your stay based on your inter­ests, the tides, and the weath­er. Your days can be qui­et and relax­ing or filled with action-packed adven­tures includ­ing sea kayak­ing, hik­ing, casu­al beach fish­ing, tide pool­ing, marine and wildlife view­ing, boat excur­sions, beach camp­fires, bird  ...more

Locat­ed with­in a 1700 acre native-owned wildlife sanc­tu­ary in the heart of Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, the cen­tral lodge and 16 guest cab­ins of Kenai Fjords Glac­i­er Lodge have full views of Ped­er­sen Glac­i­er and easy access to wildlife-view­ing adven­tures. The ele­gant­ly rus­tic lodge and seclud­ed guest cab­ins pair mod­ern com­fort and envi­ron­men­tal stewardship.

Expe­ri­ence com­plete immer­sion in the won­ders of wild coastal Alas­ka, and stay in spa­cious, bright yurts (cir­cu­lar, rein­forced tent-like struc­tures) on a pri­vate island in Humpy Cove. Inside, the yurts are warm and com­fy with fire­places, pri­vate bath­rooms and pri­vate decks over­look­ing the cove all con­nect­ed by exten­sive board­walks. They water taxis is includ­ed along with sea kayaks, pad­dle­boards, row­boats, and fish­ing gear. All of this is just a  ...more

Stay­ing at the remote Kenai Back­coun­try Lodge with­in the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge offers a real taste of the wilder­ness. The lodge, locat­ed on a five-acre, pri­vate in-hold­ing, began as a riv­er-accessed hunt­ing cab­in back in 1935. Years lat­er, the remod­eled and expand­ed prop­er­ty is still road-free, and guests raft into the lodge. Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­tures pride them­selves on a ​‘leave no trace’ style of eco-tourism. 

Alaska’s Ridge­wood Wilder­ness Lodge is a pre­mier, full-ser­vice des­ti­na­tion lodge in Hal­ibut Cove adja­cent to the Kachemak Bay State Park. Your hosts under­stand that expe­ri­enc­ing Alaska’s great out­doors is a pri­ma­ry goal for those active in mind and spir­it, so they have designed numer­ous guid­ed adven­tures to choose from, includ­ing hik­ing, glac­i­er kayak­ing & wildlife view­ing. You can also add-on a fish­ing char­ter or bear view­ing tour during  ...more

Your own idyl­lic log chalet —is sur­round­ed by more than a mil­lion acres of Kachemak Bay State Wilder­ness Park and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Mon­u­ment. Every day offers a first-class adven­ture. There are miles of love­ly hik­ing trails and trout fish­ing sup­plies are pro­vid­ed. You may ask the pilot to return and take you for a day of brown bear view­ing, or oth­er fly-out adven­ture! Immers­ing your­self in some of the best of Alas­ka involves just a  ...more

This fly-in-only lodge fea­tures two seclud­ed chalets set amid a stun­ning mix­ture of sea, for­est, and a glac­i­er-formed lake. Enjoy guid­ed walks, cus­tom zodi­ac tours on the lake, bon­fires on the beach, and relax­ation at your pri­vate chalet. The rate includes trans­porta­tion to and from the lodge, kayaks, and activ­i­ties. There’s a cen­tral cook­house for prepar­ing meals. 

Seren­i­ty and pri­va­cy are para­mount at this inti­mate col­lec­tion of five roman­ti­cal­ly rus­tic vaca­tion rentals. Under­ground cab­ins and a yurt are just some of the unique rooms that make up this Homer prop­er­ty, all perched on a bluff with spec­tac­u­lar views of Kachemak Bay and the moun­tains beyond.

If you can’t decide whether you’d rather have sun­set or sun­rise views on vaca­tion, Between Beach­es Alas­ka per­fect. Perched on a spit near Sel­dovia that offers both East and West water views, this idyl­lic spot also offers the chance to watch whales, otters, seals, shore­birds and eagles while enjoy­ing the tran­quil­i­ty of a unique set­ting. Choose from 6 cabins.

Enjoy stun­ning views of the sur­round­ing for­est and Res­ur­rec­tion Bay from these A‑frame cab­ins and cot­tages. You’ll feel like you’re in remote Alas­ka but you’re just three miles from down­town Seward and all the near­by tours and activities.

Enjoy the seren­i­ty of this inti­mate, all-inclu­sive lodge, which sits on a pri­vate beach just a 20-minute water taxi ride from Homer. Fam­i­ly-run and com­plete­ly ren­o­vat­ed in 2022, the Lodge at Otter Cove offers four cozy, rus­tic cab­ins, 3 deli­cious meals a day, and a vari­ety of activ­i­ties to choose from. 

This fly-in-only lodge fea­tures two seclud­ed chalets set amid a stun­ning mix­ture of sea, for­est, and a glac­i­er-formed lake. Enjoy guid­ed walks, cus­tom zodi­ac tours on the lake, bon­fires on the beach, and relax­ation at your pri­vate chalet. The rate includes trans­porta­tion to and from the lodge, kayaks, and activ­i­ties. There’s a cen­tral cook­house for prepar­ing meals. 

Locat­ed just out­side Seward, the Abode Well Cab­ins are tucked back amidst four acres of trees. Of the 13 avail­able rooms, six are King Cab­ins (which includes a kitch­enette and sleeps up to three) and one is a ​“fam­i­ly cab­in,” which has a full kitchen, sep­a­rate bed­rooms and sleeps up to eight with two queen beds, two twins, plus a queen-size sleep­er sofa. There are also six Queen Stu­dio Rooms avail­able, with sim­i­lar ameni­ties to the King Cabins.  ...more

Expe­ri­ence com­plete immer­sion in the won­ders of wild coastal Alas­ka, and stay in spa­cious, bright yurts (cir­cu­lar, rein­forced tent-like struc­tures) on a pri­vate island in Humpy Cove. Inside, the yurts are warm and com­fy with fire­places, pri­vate bath­rooms and pri­vate decks over­look­ing the cove all con­nect­ed by exten­sive board­walks. They water taxis is includ­ed along with sea kayaks, pad­dle­boards, row­boats, and fish­ing gear. All of this is just a  ...more

The view will like­ly be the first thing you notice at Alaskan Suites. Set about 20 feet from the edge of a bluff, the prop­er­ty fea­tures incred­i­ble views of Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, and the moun­tains beyond. It’s a view you can take in from the five roman­ti­cal­ly rus­tic cab­ins, the com­mon-area hot tub, or the camp­fire pit. Do as most guests do: max­i­mize your time here by stay­ing at least two nights.

This tiny cove, 10 miles from Seward, offers a com­bi­na­tion of unplugged bliss, cool yurt liv­ing, and a kayaker’s par­adise. The two ​“unplugged” yurts each come with a queen-size bed and full size sofa bed, a table and chairs, linens, and a kitch­enette. You get unlim­it­ed use of kayaks dur­ing your stay — and giv­en the amount of sun­light dur­ing sum­mer, that means you can be pad­dling in and out of coves at mid­night if you feel like it!

Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge offers the best of both worlds: all the seclu­sion and lux­u­ry nor­mal­ly asso­ci­at­ed with fly-in lodges, as well as the afford­abil­i­ty and con­ve­nience of being on the road sys­tem. Built in 1974, Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge is made up of three hand-hewn log cab­ins avail­able to rent for your pri­vate group. The Main Lodge fea­tures a full kitchen, a 16-per­son din­ing room table, a com­fy sit­ting area with a wood-burn­ing fire­place, a loft  ...more

Drift­wood Inn presents a vari­ety of lodg­ing options, includ­ing hotel rooms, deluxe lodges, a fam­i­ly cot­tage, and an RV park — all of which have great views of Bishop’s Beach and Kachemak Bay. This fam­i­ly-owned and ‑oper­at­ed inn and has free Wi-Fi, cof­feemak­ers in most rooms, and a cozy lob­by with a fire­place. And you’re with­in walk­ing dis­tance of cof­fee shops, bak­eries, book­stores, and restaurants.

Bald eagles are known to nest in this wood­ed spot near Res­ur­rec­tion Bay — and when you sign up for a tour with Stoney Creek Canopy Adven­tures, you’ll get to soar just like these icon­ic birds. This three-hour tour — the only canopy tour on the Kenai Penin­su­la — com­bines ziplines, rap­pels and sky bridges, with panoram­ic views of Mount Marathon, Res­ur­rec­tion Peaks and all the gor­geous scenery around you. It’s easy, and unde­ni­ably thrilling.

Sol­dot­na Park, in down­town Sol­dot­na, offers all Kenai Riv­er species — but most peo­ple are here for the sock­eye. That means it can get crowd­ed dur­ing peak sock­eye sea­son, but it’s also a good place to learn how to fish for sock­eye. The com­bi­na­tion of easy acces­si­bil­i­ty, hard-packed grav­el and a shal­low grade make the fish­ing enjoyable.

This 0.4‑mile-long trail, which begins with­in earshot of down­town Homer, plays host to a vari­ety of birds and plants. Wheel­chairs may have some trou­ble in the first few feet of soft grav­el, but once they reach the plas­tic board­walk they should find the going much eas­i­er — and maybe worth the trou­ble it took to dri­ve 4 hours from Anchorage.

Ocean Shores offers amaz­ing views from all of its sites — plus, it’s warmer here than on the Homer Spit, since it’s not as windy. Most sites come with a pic­nic table and three shared fire rings over­look­ing the bay. You’ll also find cable TV and Wi-Fi, as well as coin-oper­at­ed show­ers and laundry.

Tra­verse the majesty of Exit Glac­i­er by ice hik­ing or ice climb­ing, or opt for a nature hike in the gor­geous ter­rain around Seward, Alas­ka. Nev­er ice climbed or hiked on a glac­i­er? Not a prob­lem. All trips include instruc­tion to get you started.

The City of Kenai’s vis­i­tor cen­ter goes well beyond a per­son at a counter hand­ing out maps. You’ll find an impres­sive per­ma­nent col­lec­tion of Native Alaskan and local his­to­ry arti­facts, art exhibits, as well as the largest col­lec­tion of mount­ed bald eagles in North Amer­i­ca. The gift shop fea­tures sou­venirs, maps, books, music, and local­ly pro­duced items. And, indeed, friend­ly staffers dis­trib­ute infor­ma­tion on local lodg­ing, tours and…  ...more

Locat­ed with­in a 1700 acre native-owned wildlife sanc­tu­ary in the heart of Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, the cen­tral lodge and 16 guest cab­ins of Kenai Fjords Glac­i­er Lodge have full views of Ped­er­sen Glac­i­er and easy access to wildlife-view­ing adven­tures. The ele­gant­ly rus­tic lodge and seclud­ed guest cab­ins pair mod­ern com­fort and envi­ron­men­tal stewardship.

Go behind the scenes with Idi­tar­od mush­ers and get your own thrilling ride with the dogs at Turn­ing Heads Ken­nel. Choose a sum­mer dog demon­stra­tion and cart ride, or whisk off by heli­copter for glac­i­er dog sled­ding. In win­ter ride snow-cov­ered trails or ask about their mul­ti-day expeditions.

The Seward Sil­ver Salmon Der­by® is one of the old­est and largest fish­ing der­bies in the State. Seward’s Der­by is equal­ly pop­u­lar with locals, oth­er Alas­ka res­i­dents, and vis­it­ing anglers from around the nation and world. Anglers vie for the largest Coho (Sil­ver) Salmon and try to catch tagged fish worth prizes. Anglers turn their fish in dai­ly, which are sold to raise funds for fish enhance­ment efforts. Der­by tick­ets go on sale Fri­day night…  ...more

Get a bird’s‑eye view of one of Alaska’s most dra­mat­ic land­scapes — Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park — on an unfor­get­table scenic flight out of Seward. Expe­ri­ence the extreme­ly rare oppor­tu­ni­ty of a Glac­i­er Land­ing on the Hard­ing Ice­field on this small group, inti­mate adventure. 

Two sets of stairs to riv­er and 625 feet of ele­vat­ed boardwalk.

It’s thrilling to see coastal brown bears in their nat­ur­al habi­tat, espe­cial­ly when you’re not rushed. Fly out of Homer to the Kat­mai coast for five days of amaz­ing bear view­ing with Alas­ka Bear Adven­tures. Stay overnight on the Alas­ka Dawn, a 65-foot expe­di­tion trawler, so you can eas­i­ly get back to the bears each morning.

Prob­a­bly the sec­ond most trav­eled trail in the park, this trail offers a great day hike for those spend­ing time in the lagoon. You can start hik­ing the trail from the ranger sta­tion or the trail­head in Hal­ibut Cove Lagoon. The trail tra­vers­es up numer­ous switch­backs to a place called First Lake. On a hot sum­mer day, a soak in this lake can’t be beat.

You can hike right up to Seward’s Exit Glac­i­er and feel the dense blue ice while lis­ten­ing to it crack­le. Walk the low­er trail to get a good pho­to in front of the glac­i­er face. Or, choose the more chal­leng­ing 7‑mile round-trip Hard­ing Ice­field Trail. There is a short ranger-led walk dai­ly at 11am and 3pm, from Memo­r­i­al Day through Labor Day. 

View local­ly cre­at­ed fine art or the works of artists from around Alas­ka and the Pacif­ic Northwest.

Start with a dra­mat­ic flight­see­ing trip in either a heli­copter or ski plane and then get out onto an ancient riv­er of ice for a thrilling glac­i­er explo­ration either hik­ing or climbing.

Seward Water­front Park extends from the small boat har­bor to the SeaL­ife Cen­ter and con­tains paid tent and RV camp­ing, play­grounds, a skate park, pic­nic­ing areas, beach access, and a trail lined with his­tor­i­cal landmarks.

If you want to camp beside sub­alpine Upper Sum­mit Lake close to trum­peter swans and fish­ing for rain­bows, take the fam­i­ly to this camp­ground deep in the Kenai Moun­tains off Mile 46 of the Seward High­way. The 35 sites are spread along a loop in the alder, wil­low and spruce woods on the hill­side above the lake, with clear-run­ning Ten­der­foot Creek pass­ing through 

Tour­ing Alas­ka by heli­copter gets you to unimag­in­ably wild and remote places. Some of the most amaz­ing have been scout­ed by Alas­ka Ulti­mate Safaris. Explore a glac­i­er sur­round­ed by snow-capped moun­tains, or climb to the steam­ing sum­mit of an island vol­cano. In either case, the views are unpar­al­leled and the expe­ri­ence is surreal.

With 60 sites on paved loops, Willi­waw is suit­able for large motorhomes and offers great access to the Trail of Blue Ice — a non-motor­ized mul­ti-use trail that tra­vers­es the val­ley floor. Also near­by bik­ing, salmon view­ing, hikes, and glac­i­er viewing.

For many Alaskans, trav­el by plane is essen­tial for work, get­ting to med­ical appoint­ments in the big city, or con­nect­ing with fam­i­ly in anoth­er part of the state. For vis­i­tors, plane trav­el helps max­i­mize their lim­it­ed time explor­ing the state, show­cas­es spec­tac­u­lar views of the land, and gives an authen­tic peek into Alaskans’ air-cen­tric lifestyle. Ravn Alaska’s net­work offers flights to major Alas­ka cities such as Anchor­age and Fairbanks,  ...more

This 10-mile cir­cuit of dif­fer­ent loop trails is well-main­tained and makes for fun hik­ing and ski­ing. Look for access from the park­ing lot at the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge Vis­i­tor Cen­ter, where there are bath­rooms and out­door port-a-pot­ties. If you come here to ski, warm up inside the cen­ter, next to the soap­stone mason­ry heater.

Alas­ka Saltwater’s small-group whale watch­ing, wildlife, and glac­i­er tours offer dai­ly excur­sions into the pris­tine Kenai Fjord Nation­al Park. Your cap­tains and crew — expe­ri­enced and well-versed in the area’s nat­ur­al habi­tat — spe­cial­ize in tak­ing out film crews, pro­fes­sion­al pho­tog­ra­phers, seri­ous bird­ers, and guests that want an unfor­get­table experience.

Spend sev­er­al hours or a full day watch­ing bears in the wild on a quin­tes­sen­tial Alaskan adven­ture with a fam­i­ly-run com­pa­ny. Start with a scenic flight out of Homer over Kachemak Bay and into Kat­mai or Lake Clark Nation­al Park. Once you land, your pilot/​guide will take you to an opti­mal spot to watch and pho­to­graph these mag­nif­i­cent crea­tures in their nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment, hunt­ing, play­ing, and relax­ing. Spend any­where from 1.5 to 9 hours on the  ...more

Expe­ri­ence the wilder­ness of the Chugach Nation­al For­est from sev­er­al dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives. Com­bine a heli­copter ride, alpine hike, glacial lake tour, riv­er raft­ing and train ride all in 9 – 10 hours! It’s one big and bold Alas­ka tour de force with Chugach Adventures.

When in Seward, head out on the water with Alas­ka North­ern Out­fit­ters on their com­fort­able 46-foot cata­ma­ran – the Sea Quest — for an epic day of fish­ing for hal­ibut, salmon, ling­cod, and rock­fish. It’s the only char­ter ves­sel in Seward with an upper view­ing deck. This lets you sight­see or have lunch on the upper deck while watch­ing the action below. . Inside you’ll find a large and heat­ed inte­ri­or, indoor seat­ing for every­one, tables, and  ...more

Natron Air’s own­er and only pilot, Tim, can take you flight­see­ing to some of Alaska’s most beau­ti­ful places: the Hard­ing Ice­field and Mt. Redoubt Vol­cano. You can also opt for a bear-view­ing tour that includes a beach land­ing, where you can pho­to­graph bears in their nat­ur­al environment.

Expe­ri­ence the unique thrill of sum­mer dog sled­ding on a glac­i­er! Lift off in a heli­copter and enjoy incred­i­ble views on your way to this amaz­ing adven­ture. Want more time in the air? Add a flight­see­ing excur­sion before or after your dog sled­ding experience!

Hop on board the all-sea­son Miss­ing Lynx and Lost Lynx, the ves­sels bound for what­ev­er Seward Ocean Excur­sion suits your fan­cy. Want to whale watch, see glac­i­ers, go bird watch­ing or just check out hid­den coves? Cap­tains Bixler and Krystin McClure will help your small group plan an out­ing catered to your pref­er­ences. No mat­ter the sea­son, you can always catch some excite­ment in Res­ur­rec­tion Bay!

The logo for the Sol­dot­na B&B Lodge says it all: a guest who’s loung­ing in bed — while also fish­ing. This fam­i­ly-run fish­ing lodge direct­ly on the Kenai Riv­er offers a relax­ing place to soak up the sights and sounds of nature, while also deliv­er­ing a front-row oppor­tu­ni­ty to do some of Alaska’s most famous, excit­ing fish­ing. All stays car­ry a two-night min­i­mum, but most guests stay longer (an aver­age of 5 – 7 days), which is easy to do giv­en the  ...more

Home­steading is a huge part of Alaskan his­to­ry and the Alaskan expe­ri­ence; and to learn about how Sol­dot­na was home­stead­ed in 1947, this is the place to come. The muse­um itself is a his­toric vil­lage; the orig­i­nal log cab­ins were trans­port­ed here. Each has a motion-acti­vat­ed speak­er with nar­ra­tion on the sig­nif­i­cance of the build­ing, as well as sig­nage about the building. 

The orig­i­nal hall­mark trip that got the Alas­ka Rail­road to bring the Glac­i­er Dis­cov­ery to Spencer Glac­i­er in 2002. This is one of the most scenic glac­i­er riv­er trips in Alas­ka and a per­fect float for all ages. Your trip begins with a scenic ride on Alas­ka Railroad’s Glac­i­er Dis­cov­ery train, which runs from Anchor­age, Gird­wood, and oth­er pick-up points along the rail­belt. Enjoy a beau­ti­ful ride down Tur­na­gain Arm and the Plac­er Riv­er Val­ley and  ...more

The Cen­ten­ni­al Camp­ground Loop Trail is a great place for a walk right in town at any time of year. It’s well-traf­ficked, well-marked, wide, and easy for most peo­ple to use. The trail is busiest in sum­mer — espe­cial­ly the part near the camp­ground where anglers access the Kenai Riv­er — and a lit­tle qui­eter dur­ing the oth­er seasons.

This vet­er­an tour oper­a­tor runs a a fleet of fast, mod­ern boats in Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. You’ll vis­it tide­wa­ter glac­i­ers as you watch for puffins, sea otters, Dall’s por­pois­es, sea lions, and more. Some tours are designed to please bird­ers or shut­ter­bugs, while oth­ers are per­fect for families. 

The port city of Seward is a clas­sic stop on any Alas­ka itin­er­ary, thanks to its prox­im­i­ty to Chugach Nation­al For­est and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. But it’s also one of the more diverse places to fly. This tour oper­a­tor offers stun­ning birds-eye views of the area’s alpine mead­ows, glac­i­ers and fjords, as well as the chance to touch down, explore the ter­rain and even meet sled dogs.

Locat­ed just out­side Seward, the Abode Well Cab­ins are tucked back amidst four acres of trees. Of the 13 avail­able rooms, six are King Cab­ins (which includes a kitch­enette and sleeps up to three) and one is a ​“fam­i­ly cab­in,” which has a full kitchen, sep­a­rate bed­rooms and sleeps up to eight with two queen beds, two twins, plus a queen-size sleep­er sofa. There are also six Queen Stu­dio Rooms avail­able, with sim­i­lar ameni­ties to the King Cabins.  ...more

In sum­mer, the trails are open to all kinds of foot-pow­ered recre­ation — walk­ing, run­ning, hik­ing, bik­ing, pho­to­shoots, wildlife watch­ing and berry-pick­ing. There’s even an 18-hole disc golf course. K‑9 feet are wel­come, too. In win­ter, locals hit the trails for cross-coun­try ski­ing and fat-tire bik­ing. There are more than 25 kilo­me­ters of groomed ski trails, per­fect for clas­sic and skate cross-coun­try skiing.

Take a bou­tique, small-group kayak­ing trip with expe­ri­enced guides at Liq­uid Adven­tures and get close to glac­i­ers in kayaks or pad­dle­boards while look­ing for whales and oth­er marine mam­mals. You can even com­bine your adven­ture with a jet­boat, heli­copter, or wildlife cruise. There’s noth­ing quite like it in all of Alaska!

This is a day use site that offers 13 pic­nic sites with tables, a fish view­ing plat­form, water, toi­lets, an infor­ma­tion board, and fire grates.

Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­tures pio­neered float­ing the mel­low, turquoise Kenai Riv­er and has oper­at­ed con­tin­u­ous­ly since 1977. Join them for a serene 2‑hour float, or take on a 7‑hour adven­ture, com­plete with fun Class II+ rapids and a cruise through a glacial lake. AWA’s Kenai Riv­er Scenic Float Trip offers a nice intro­duc­tion to the riv­er, tak­ing you along a stretch of the scenic Upper Kenai closed to motor­ized boats. Watch for wildlife as your  ...more

This is one of the few spots along the road sys­tem where you might catch hal­ibut from the shore. Check out the beach, which sur­rounds the Land’s End Hotel, on the Homer Spit. Here, you’ll find a small park­ing lot, and the water’s only about 100 feet away.

Vis­it Idi­tar­od cham­pi­on Mitch Seavey’s home­stead, home to three gen­er­a­tions of Idi­tar­od mush­ers. Expe­ri­ence an excit­ing two-mile dog sled ride, tour the rac­ing ken­nel, meet the dogs, cud­dle adorable husky pup­pies, and lis­ten to sto­ries from the Idi­tar­od trail. Then climb aboard a cus­tom-designed sled; an Idi­tar­od race fin­ish­er dri­ves you through rain­for­est to a riv­er-cut canyon sur­round­ed by mountains.

The view will like­ly be the first thing you notice at Alaskan Suites. Set about 20 feet from the edge of a bluff, the prop­er­ty fea­tures incred­i­ble views of Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, and the moun­tains beyond. It’s a view you can take in from the five roman­ti­cal­ly rus­tic cab­ins, the com­mon-area hot tub, or the camp­fire pit. Do as most guests do: max­i­mize your time here by stay­ing at least two nights.

Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Kenai Fjords are great places to see wildlife and glac­i­ers. And Major Marine’s ves­sels, which have cozy heat­ed cab­ins and an out­door view­ing area, can take you out to see both. This fam­i­ly-owned tour oper­a­tor has gone above and beyond to give guests an amaz­ing day on the water since 1990. 

Your best bet for this trail is to go out on one low tide, spend the night — in either a for­est ser­vice cab­in or camp­site — and then return the fol­low­ing day or sev­er­al days lat­er on anoth­er low tide. Great for­est-to-beach hik­ing trail.

On the Fourth of July, the pop­u­la­tion of Seward swells from around 2,500 to a report­ed 40,000. Main Street is com­plete­ly blocked off to traf­fic and the streets fill with peo­ple. Many come to run in or watch the Mt. Marathon Race, while oth­ers come to enjoy some of the most beau­ti­ful scenery in the world and take part in the fes­tiv­i­ties. Seward’s annu­al July 4^th cel­e­bra­tion fea­tures a packed hol­i­day sched­ule of spe­cial events, presentations,…  ...more

This trail, hands down, is one of the most pop­u­lar hikes in the Kachemak Bay State Park. It is one of the eas­i­est hikes in the park as the trail is well main­tained, and you can’t beat the view of the glac­i­er at the lake. For the first 1.5 miles, the trail mean­ders through mixed cot­ton­wood and Sit­ka spruce. These cot­ton­woods are some of the largest in the park so take time to appre­ci­ate their enor­mous size. After 1.5 miles, the trail proceeds  ...more

Spencer Glac­i­er ris­es 3,500 feet in a stun­ning, nat­ur­al ramp from a lake of roy­al-blue ice­bergs in the Chugach Nation­al For­est just 60 miles south of Anchor­age. It’s a fam­i­ly-friend­ly recre­ation des­ti­na­tion fea­tur­ing camp­ing, hik­ing, glac­i­er explo­ration, nature walks, pad­dling and sight­see­ing. Maybe best of all: You have to take a train to get there!

The team at Alas­ka Auto Rental offers rental cars for the most unique itin­er­ary: over grav­el high­ways, through win­ter weath­er, on one-way legs, or start­ing out from unusu­al loca­tions. It’s local­ly-owned, with employ­ees who know Alaska’s roads and their chal­lenges. You’ll get help­ful trav­el advice, a can-do atti­tude, and reli­able wheels.

Alaska’s Ridge­wood Wilder­ness Lodge is a pre­mier, full-ser­vice des­ti­na­tion lodge in Hal­ibut Cove adja­cent to the Kachemak Bay State Park. Your hosts under­stand that expe­ri­enc­ing Alaska’s great out­doors is a pri­ma­ry goal for those active in mind and spir­it, so they have designed numer­ous guid­ed adven­tures to choose from, includ­ing hik­ing, glac­i­er kayak­ing & wildlife view­ing. You can also add-on a fish­ing char­ter or bear view­ing tour during  ...more

For many Alaskan trav­el­ers, bears are the ulti­mate high­light. Pair a mag­nif­i­cent sight­ing with a gor­geous heli­copter flight­see­ing ride and you’ll have an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence. On this unique tour from Homer, you’ll take a heli­copter ride out into one of Alaska’s gor­geous nation­al parks to wit­ness these spec­tac­u­lar crea­tures in the wild.

Enjoy remote Alas­ka at its best. Go with this small, fam­i­ly-owned com­pa­ny in Homer for a mag­i­cal kayak­ing expe­ri­ence and a gor­geous hike to an ice­berg-stud­ded glac­i­er lake! 

This 38 mile long USFS trail climbs Res­ur­rec­tion Pass (elev. 2,600) and descends to the north to anoth­er trail­head­trail­head near Hope on Tur­na­gain Arm. There are 8 pub­lic use cab­ins along the trail, mak­ing this an advanced but com­fort­able day cab­in-to-cab­in hike. There are also 19 camp­sites avail­able along the trail.

O’Fish’ial spe­cial­izes in salt­wa­ter hal­ibut and king salmon char­ter fish­ing expe­ri­ences out of Homer, as well as Long Range tro­phy fish hunts. Own­er Chad has spent count­less hours with sea­soned Alaskan fish­er­men who shared time-test­ed advice – and their fish­ing hotspots – with him. He com­bines this knowl­edge with a cus­tomer-ser­vice focus and pas­sion for shar­ing all the excite­ment and adven­ture Alas­ka fish­ing has to offer.

Many peo­ple know of the gru­el­ing Mount Marathon race­course in Seward, some 130 miles south of Anchor­age. How­ev­er, most peo­ple don’t know that there’s also a hik­ing path to the top at Race Point — and it’s far less demand­ing. This 2.25-mile route, which entails hik­ing three dif­fer­ent trails, takes you up the moun­tain and lets you to explore a glacial val­ley along the way.

Dur­ing the sum­mer months it’s a great spot for canoe­ing, kayak­ing, pad­dle board­ing, even pad­dle­board yoga. The cold­er months are just as live­ly as the warmer ones. There’s a skat­ing loop on the lake’s perime­ter, as well as sev­er­al skat­ing areas on the lake. The City offers free pub­lic skates Sat­ur­day after­noons, ice con­di­tions depen­dent, Decem­ber through February.

This park is a can’t miss for dog own­ers and dog lovers! It’s one of the busiest parks in town, with peo­ple and their dogs there prac­ti­cal­ly ²⁴⁄₇. If you’re trav­el­ing with your dog, it’s a great place to give Fido some exer­cise. You’ll also have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to meet the locals, learn what it’s like to live in Sol­dot­na, and get the inside scoop on the best things to see and do from peo­ple who live here.

This beau­ti­ful park set along the turquoise Kenai Riv­er hosts com­mu­ni­ty events, has a board­walk, access to the riv­er, play­ground and more. There’s an ice loop for skat­ing (free ice skates are avail­able dur­ing win­ter fes­ti­vals) and ani­mal cutouts with white twin­kle lights on them. 

Your own idyl­lic log chalet —is sur­round­ed by more than a mil­lion acres of Kachemak Bay State Wilder­ness Park and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Mon­u­ment. Every day offers a first-class adven­ture. There are miles of love­ly hik­ing trails and trout fish­ing sup­plies are pro­vid­ed. You may ask the pilot to return and take you for a day of brown bear view­ing, or oth­er fly-out adven­ture! Immers­ing your­self in some of the best of Alas­ka involves just a  ...more

Sum­mer Wednes­day evenings in Sol­dot­na are times that every­one looks for­ward to. That’s when the famous — and free! — Levitt AMP Sol­dot­na Music Series takes place in the beau­ti­ful Sol­dot­na Creek Park. It hap­pens week­ly from June through August, and on top of catch­ing some great music, it’s a fan­tas­tic chance to meet locals.

This is the place to begin for infor­ma­tion about Sol­dot­na and the sur­round­ing area — every­thing from where to stay and eat to the per­fect activ­i­ties for your inter­ests. You can also pick up statewide vis­i­tor guides and oth­er pub­li­ca­tions, and enjoy their board­walk down to the Kenai River. 

Where will you find Alaska’s best salmon fish­ing? The Kenai Penin­su­la is hard to beat. Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­tures (AWA) has spe­cial­ized in fish­ing the Upper Kenai Riv­er between Kenai and Ski­lak Lakes since 1977. Their pro­fes­sion­al guides are experts in fly-fish­ing, drift fish­ing, and back trolling, so you can fish from the boat, the bank, or both. Expect an excit­ing day of fish­ing for salmon (red, sil­ver, or king depend­ing on the sea­son), as  ...more

Homer’s Pratt Muse­um pre­serves the sto­ries of the Kachemak Bay region and pro­vides a gath­er­ing place for peo­ple to learn and to be inspired by this region and its place in the world. The museum’s exten­sive col­lec­tion offers an excel­lent way to learn more about the land­scape, com­mu­ni­ties and ecosys­tems of the area.

Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge offers the best of both worlds: all the seclu­sion and lux­u­ry nor­mal­ly asso­ci­at­ed with fly-in lodges, as well as the afford­abil­i­ty and con­ve­nience of being on the road sys­tem. Built in 1974, Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge is made up of three hand-hewn log cab­ins avail­able to rent for your pri­vate group. The Main Lodge fea­tures a full kitchen, a 16-per­son din­ing room table, a com­fy sit­ting area with a wood-burn­ing fire­place, a loft  ...more

Feel the thrill of world-class salmon and trout fish­ing on Alaska’s Kenai Penin­su­la with expe­ri­enced, pas­sion­ate guides. You’ll get out on the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers, just hours from Anchor­age, with a team that knows where the fish will be run­ning each day. Spend a day, or make it a mul­ti-day trip with a cus­tom pack­age that includes lodg­ing on the river.

A stretch of exposed bedrock south­east of Anchor­age along Tur­na­gain Arm was gouged and pol­ished by mile-thick glac­i­ers dur­ing the last ice age. The grooves appear as smooth chan­nels carved into the rock itself by almost unimag­in­able forces. Some are sub­tle, like rip­ples, and hard to see. Oth­ers are large enough to lie inside on a sun­ny afternoon.

Not many hotels can say that every room has a great view, but Ocean Shores was designed that way. Each room fea­tures views of Kachemak Bay and the sur­round­ing moun­tains. Also the ocean front prop­er­ty has a nice path to our seclud­ed beach and tide pools of Kachemak Bay. Or explore the near­by town of Homer.

Mem­bers of 1% For The Plan­et, Kayak Adven­tures World­wide strives to ful­fill their mis­sion to inspire an active stew­ard­ship of our nat­ur­al world. Through small group sea kayak tours in Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, they focus on safe­ty, edu­ca­tion, and con­nect­ing guests with the unique and frag­ile ecosys­tems you’ll visit.

This fly-in-only lodge fea­tures two seclud­ed chalets set amid a stun­ning mix­ture of sea, for­est, and a glac­i­er-formed lake. Enjoy guid­ed walks, cus­tom zodi­ac tours on the lake, bon­fires on the beach, and relax­ation at your pri­vate chalet. The rate includes trans­porta­tion to and from the lodge, kayaks, and activ­i­ties. There’s a cen­tral cook­house for prepar­ing meals. 

Get up close to the Alaskan glac­i­ers and wildlife you came to expe­ri­ence by tak­ing a cruise into Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park on a cus­tom-built cata­ma­ran out of Seward. The dif­fer­ence from oth­er cruis­es, is that you’ll then get off the boat and into a kayak, pad­dle around ice­bergs, and watch for wildlife from your own vessel.

Quartz Creek camp­ground is sit­u­at­ed on the banks of sparkling Kenai Lake. This is a great spot to cool off on a hot day. Kenai Lake has a good sandy swim­ming beach and a trail that fol­lows along near­by Quartz Creek. Cast your line for some awe­some fly-fish­ing at the creek or look for the near­by horse sta­ble for a scenic ride. 

If you can’t decide whether you’d rather have sun­set or sun­rise views on vaca­tion, Between Beach­es Alas­ka per­fect. Perched on a spit near Sel­dovia that offers both East and West water views, this idyl­lic spot also offers the chance to watch whales, otters, seals, shore­birds and eagles while enjoy­ing the tran­quil­i­ty of a unique set­ting. Choose from 6 cabins.

Begin­ning 103 miles south of Anchor­age on the Seward High­way, the 3.5‑mile-long Ptarmi­gan Lake Trail makes for a fine fam­i­ly out­ing. The lake itself is a long and nar­row body of water squeezed between ridges and moun­tains that tow­er as high as 6,000 feet. It even offers a small beach upon which to relax and enjoy the view while cool­ing your feet.

This trail is a good day hike for the whole fam­i­ly. It alter­nates between open mead­ows and forests and offers the option of tent camp­ing or stay­ing in Cres­cent Lake Cab­in. There are options for longer hikes and there is a lot of wildlife to be seen such as moose, goats and bears.

This cozy, fam­i­ly-run hotel fea­tures a range of com­fort­able stu­dios and suites — some of which come with ocean views. Sea­far­er Suites is walk­ing dis­tance to local restau­rants and art gal­leries, and just a few miles away from the Homer Spit.

This large, mod­ern library — opened in 1972 and redesigned in 2013 — has tons of books on wide-rang­ing top­ics, along with inter­est­ing pro­grams, free Wi-Fi, and meet­ing spaces. There’s a large sec­tion on all things Alas­ka, of course, so make the library a must-stop if you’re look­ing for infor­ma­tion on great camp­grounds, local fish­ing hot spots, or hik­ing guides to the Kenai — or wher­ev­er you’re head­ed next!

If you have the abil­i­ty to trans­port bicy­cles, this trail makes for a great after­noon trip. The dirt path winds through the Portage Val­ley, pass­ing glacial lakes and end­ing at Portage Lake (this part of the trip is 5 miles each way). Make sure to bring your cam­era: you’ll see hang­ing glac­i­ers and, very like­ly, some wildlife.

Out on the tip of the Kenai Penin­su­la, at (lit­er­al­ly) the end of the road, sits the quirky town of Homer — the eco­tourism cap­i­tal of Alas­ka. Artists, adven­tur­ers, and food­ies all come to expe­ri­ence the town’s cre­ative ener­gy, great restau­rants, and gor­geous wilder­ness. And at the entrance to town, just off the Ster­ling High­way, you’ll find the Homer Cham­ber of Com­merce Vis­i­tor Center.

Fly out of Sol­dot­na with Natron’s own­er and pilot, Tim. You’ll soar over the Cook Inlet towards Mt. Iliamna Vol­cano and land on a beach, right where the bears are. You’ll watch them play­ing and clam­ming and be close enough to take amaz­ing photos.

Set sail for 5 days and 4 nights with the crew of the M/V Sea Star for small ship adven­ture cruis­ing in Prince William Sound, Kenai Penin­su­la or along the Inside Pas­sage. The well-appoint­ed yacht accom­mo­dates just 12 guests, allow­ing for a per­son­al­ized expe­ri­ence where you are the explor­er! Unplug from day-to-day life and soak up the won­ders of Alaska’s amaz­ing coast­line. All meals pre­pared by an on-board chef and fea­tur­ing fresh local  ...more

This mean­der­ing, sin­gle-track path leads to some of the Kenai Mountain’s most remote and frag­ile high coun­try. On a route once trekked by gold rush prospec­tors, this trail ascends from spruce for­est through the jun­gled zone of alders into a realm of sweep­ing tun­dra, with incred­i­ble views and pro­duc­tive berry pick­ing. Plus, the top of the nine-mile jour­ney ends in Res­ur­rec­tion Pass, about mid­way through the 39-mile Res­ur­rec­tion Pass Trail.

This 2.2‑mile loop trail is an off-shoot of the Keen-Eye Trail that departs from the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge Vis­i­tor Cen­ter. It is less crowd­ed than the Keen-Eye Trail (which was built to accom­mo­date large groups), and while it’s not a dif­fi­cult hike, it fea­tures some light hills and var­ied terrain.

The McBride Fam­i­ly has per­fect­ed their all-inclu­sive world-class Alaskan expe­ri­ence. Their amaz­ing local Alaskan team and pro­fes­sion­al guides will per­son­al­ize and cus­tomize your stay based on your inter­ests, the tides, and the weath­er. Your days can be qui­et and relax­ing or filled with action-packed adven­tures includ­ing sea kayak­ing, hik­ing, casu­al beach fish­ing, tide pool­ing, marine and wildlife view­ing, boat excur­sions, beach camp­fires, bird  ...more

At the 200-acre Alas­ka Wildlife Con­ser­va­tion Cen­ter, see Alaskan wildlife up close. The center’s mis­sion is to pro­vide refuge for orphaned, injured, and ill ani­mals — those that can’t sur­vive in the wild. The cen­ter, which opened to the pub­lic in 1993, edu­cates vis­i­tors about Alaska’s wildlife. Coy­otes peer out from behind the brush while a bald eagle swoops in on the salmon remains left by a griz­zly bear. Wood Bison plod through 65 acres of tidal  ...more

Inti­mate cata­ma­ran cruis­es into Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park from Seward for just 22 pas­sen­gers, or up to 30 on pri­vate char­ters. Cruise through Res­ur­rec­tion Bay, keep­ing an eye out for hump­back whales, orca whales (killer whales), puffins, Steller sea lions, Dall’s por­poise, har­bor seals, and a large vari­ety of bird species. Then make your way into the nation­al park, and stop at the face of a tide­wa­ter glac­i­er. You’ll enjoy a deli­cious lunch  ...more

Pop­u­lar with hik­ers and back­pack­ers, this easy-to-fol­low trail con­nects the state’s most intense sock­eye salmon sports fish­ery with stun­ning moun­tain back­coun­try. It offers many of the Kenai Peninsula’s high­lights in one trip. The 21-mile route access­es Russ­ian Riv­er Falls, Low­er and Upper Russ­ian Lakes, Coop­er Lake, 3 fed­er­al­ly man­aged recre­ation­al cab­ins, and numer­ous campsites

Enjoy stun­ning views of the sur­round­ing for­est and Res­ur­rec­tion Bay from these A‑frame cab­ins and cot­tages. You’ll feel like you’re in remote Alas­ka but you’re just three miles from down­town Seward and all the near­by tours and activities.

Go flight­see­ing in a heli­copter out of scenic Seward and enjoy unfor­get­table views of the Kenai Moun­tain Range, Res­ur­rec­tion Bay, and gor­geous glac­i­ers. Choose from a 30-minute, 45-minute, or 1‑hour long tour. And, add a glac­i­er land­ing to any of them! 

Seward’s Hal­ibut Tour­na­ment, in June, offers an ear­ly-sea­son focus on this famous fish, attract­ing anglers from all over Alas­ka and beyond

Enjoy a mag­i­cal morn­ing or evening kayak­ing the calm waters of Spencer Lake, in the awe-inspir­ing pres­ence of a jagged ter­mi­nus glac­i­er. Your time on the water is sand­wiched between two train rides that offer up some of Alaska’s most scenic rail miles. It’s a full day of unfor­get­table expe­ri­ences in our country’s sec­ond largest nation­al for­est – the Chugach.

With Scenic Moun­tain Air and you’ll be fly­ing over one of Alaska’s most beau­ti­ful areas from Moose Pass. Set on the Kenai Penin­su­la, 25 miles north of Seward, this cen­tral loca­tion makes it easy to explore icon­ic nat­ur­al fea­tures — like glac­i­ers, ice fields, and moun­tain lakes. Or, use their exper­tise to fly to remote pub­lic use cab­ins or lakes for fishing.

Set in a hand­some birch for­est over­look­ing Tur­na­gain Arm, this camp­ground in Chugach Nation­al For­est close to the his­toric vil­lage of Hope is a fam­i­ly clas­sic. The 34 sites offer all the usu­al ameni­ties (pic­nic table, camp­fire ring, out­hous­es, water pump) and are laid out with an eye toward pri­va­cy. Just 81 miles from Anchorage.

Bertha Creek Camp­ground is a great choice for a low-key cam­pout in a recre­ation­al gold-pan­ning area on a qui­et loop where the kids won’t get lost. Locat­ed just south of Tur­na­gain Pass in the Kenai Moun­tains about 65 miles south of Anchor­age, the camp­ground is tucked into an open for­est beside the con­flu­ence of Bertha and Gran­ite creeks at the base of steep mountains.

The pop­u­lar, paved Uni­ty Trail begins in Sol­dot­na and winds its way around 9 miles to Kenai. It’s pop­u­lar with locals and trav­el­ers alike for all kinds of activ­i­ties: walk­ing, bik­ing, jog­ging, bird­ing, rollerblad­ing, and more. 

Stay­ing at the remote Kenai Back­coun­try Lodge with­in the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge offers a real taste of the wilder­ness. The lodge, locat­ed on a five-acre, pri­vate in-hold­ing, began as a riv­er-accessed hunt­ing cab­in back in 1935. Years lat­er, the remod­eled and expand­ed prop­er­ty is still road-free, and guests raft into the lodge. Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­tures pride them­selves on a ​‘leave no trace’ style of eco-tourism. 

This trail is also called the Prim­rose trail at the north end. It begins in a beau­ti­ful rain­for­est and even­tu­al­ly takes you up to a mul­ti­ple of beau­ti­ful lakes in high meadows.

For a clos­er, qui­eter, and more peace­ful ver­sion of the Alaskan glac­i­er and wildlife cruise, trav­el by sea kayak. Pad­dle the shore­line of Res­ur­rec­tion Bay, where encoun­ters with sea otters, seabirds, and spawn­ing salmon are com­mon. Choose from a vari­ety of three-hour excur­sions or take a full-day trip.

This trib­u­tary of the Kenai Riv­er flows along­side the Ster­ling High­way, just north of Coop­er Land­ing (from mile­post 40 – 45). There are plen­ty of des­ig­nat­ed pull-offs along the high­way — like Quartz Creek Road, which leads to Kenai Lake, as well as the pop­u­lar access point at the Quartz Creek Bridge.

Fish­ing the Kenai Penin­su­la is pret­ty much the ulti­mate for fish­er­men the world over, and with Alas­ka Riv­er Adven­tures, even begin­ners do well. This area is famous for salmon (Kings, reds and sil­vers), rain­bow trout, and Dol­ly Var­den, which Alas­ka Riv­er Adven­tures can help you find in the amaz­ing green of the Kenai Riv­er and oth­er points along the Penin­su­la. Alas­ka Riv­er Adven­ture guides have been fish­ing these waters for years. They’re patient  ...more

This is one of Home­r’s top hikes. It starts on top of Bay­crest Hill, cross­es Dia­mond Ridge Road, then fol­lows Cross­man Ridge to the Bridge Creek Reser­voir. Through­out, it rolls through forests, mead­ows and over streams. The area is excel­lent for bird­ing and catch­ing a glimpse at the occa­sion­al moose.

If you have some out­door expe­ri­ence and an adven­tur­ous spir­it, con­sid­er this 11-mile tra­verse up the Col­orado Creek val­ley and down the Sum­mit Creek. Begin­ning 2 hours south of Anchor­age, this tra­verse doesn’t involve any rock scram­bling, riv­er cross­ings, or ardu­ous bush­whack­ing. But if you feel com­fort­able hik­ing in wide and track­less coun­try, you may reap the reward of hav­ing an entire val­ley to yourself.

Six Mile Creek is one of the most famous — and most chal­leng­ing — white­wa­ter runs in the entire state of Alas­ka. Your heart will be pound­ing and your mus­cles burn­ing as you pad­dle through rapids called ​“Big Rock Drop,” ​“Suck­hole,” and ​“Let’s Make a Deal.”

The area around Seward abounds in glac­i­ers, mak­ing it the per­fect place to go heli-flight­see­ing. Fly above town and Res­ur­rec­tion Bay, opt for a glac­i­er land­ing, or longer flights over Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. They can even drop you off on top of Seward’s famous Mt. Marathon to enjoy the amaz­ing views.

Crys­tal-clear Willi­waw Creek and its bank-side trail sys­tem in Portage Val­ley at the head of Tur­na­gain Arm offers excep­tion­al­ly good con­di­tions for watch­ing spawn­ing in action. Coho, sock­eye and chum salmon con­verge on the creek as it winds through the brushy flats begin­ning in mid-August, with some late-arriv­ing fish still present after first frost in the fall.

Accord­ing to folk­lore, the tra­di­tion of the Mt. Marathon Race began when two sour­doughs argued about the pos­si­bil­i­ty of climb­ing and descend­ing the moun­tain in less than an hour. ​“Impos­si­ble” one said. To set­tle the argu­ment, and the result­ing wager, a race was held, with the los­er to fur­nish drinks for the crowd. At the same time, enter­pris­ing mer­chants put up a suit of clothes and oth­er attrac­tions for the win­ner and pro­posed the race take…  ...more

This 38 mile long USFS trail starts in Hope and climbs Res­ur­rec­tion Pass (elev. 2,600) towards the south before descend­ing to the oppo­site trail­head near Coop­er Land­ing. There are 8 pub­lic use cab­ins along the trail, mak­ing this an advanced but com­fort­able day cab­in-to-cab­in hike. There are also 19 camp­sites avail­able for tent camping.

This wide, mul­ti-use trail is pop­u­lar with locals and a fun hike for every­one. The ADA-com­pli­ant trail winds through bore­al for­est, and it’s the only head­quar­ters trail open to dogs and bicy­cles. You can even get your pup cer­ti­fied as a B.A.R.K. Ranger, meant to strength­en the rela­tion­ship with your dog on fed­er­al pub­lic lands.

One of the top trails on the Homer side of Kachemak Bay, Dia­mond Creek is a 2‑mile trail that takes you through for­est, alders, and tall grass mead­ows before descend­ing to the beach, where you’ll find small Alaskan sealife.

The Coastal Clas­sic train runs between Anchor­age and the town of Seward — a four-hour trip that’s the most beau­ti­ful along the entire Alas­ka Rail­road. You’ll see Tur­na­gain Arm as the train departs Anchor­age, then a panora­ma of moun­tains, glac­i­ers, lakes, and streams. You may even see wildlife like Dall sheep, Bel­u­ga whales, moose, bear, and more! Day Trip from Anchor­age: Seward, Gird­wood Mul­ti-Day Trip from Anchor­age: Overnight Seward, or  ...more

Quick: what’s the longest com­bined rail and high­way tun­nel in North Amer­i­ca? It’s the Ander­son Memo­r­i­al Tun­nel, and you’ll dri­ve through it on the scenic and his­toric dri­ve to Whit­ti­er. The Kenai Moun­tains-Tur­na­gain Arm Nation­al Her­itage Area is a place whose val­leys and moun­tains, com­mu­ni­ties and peo­ple tell the larg­er sto­ry of a wild place and a rugged fron­tier. This audio guide gives you the inside scoop on its fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry. You’ll…  ...more

Explore a qui­et coast­line just a few miles from Homer, where you’ll kayak through the pro­tect­ed waters of Tut­ka Bay in search of amaz­ing views, wildlife and adven­ture! Your guide leads the way on a half-day or full-day tour, glid­ing past dense woods, rugged shore­line and hid­den coves. Add on fish­ing for the fresh­est in Alaskan salmon or rockfish!

Seren­i­ty and pri­va­cy are para­mount at this inti­mate col­lec­tion of five roman­ti­cal­ly rus­tic vaca­tion rentals. Under­ground cab­ins and a yurt are just some of the unique rooms that make up this Homer prop­er­ty, all perched on a bluff with spec­tac­u­lar views of Kachemak Bay and the moun­tains beyond.

Where can you find the biggest salmon, on aver­age, in the entire world? In the Kenai Riv­er. And The Riv­er Crew, based in Sol­dot­na, can take you to some secret spots on the famous riv­er to fish for salmon and trout — whether you’re an expe­ri­enced angler or not.

For­mer­ly the Seward Ranger Sta­tion, in 2017 it was ren­o­vat­ed and turned into a mod­ern hotel with six light-filled bed­rooms. Each room has a queen-size bed, Wi-Fi, kitch­enette, microwave, refrig­er­a­tor, and cof­fee bar. It’s the per­fect base­camp in Seward for out­door enthu­si­asts. They’ll help you book kayak­ing, pad­dle board­ing, fish­ing char­ters and more.

Profish-n-sea Char­ters, out of Seward, offers salmon and hal­ibut fish­ing with friend­ly, expe­ri­enced Alaskan guides. Trips last a full day; you’ll motor 2 to 2.5 hours from Seward to the Gulf of Alas­ka, Mon­tague Island, and oth­er out­er-coast hotspots. Profish-n-Sea knows the three keys to catch­ing fish: boats, knowl­edge, and gear. That’s why the boats are always clean, the gear sharp, and the crew friend­ly, help­ful, and fun.

The 23-mile John­son Pass Trail offers hik­ers, back­pack­ers and bik­ers a well-marked route through a lush pass in the Kenai Moun­tains — fea­tur­ing grad­ual climbs, two lakes with fish, spec­tac­u­lar peaks and some way cool gorges.

Explore Alaska’s Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park ful­ly with a three-day/t­wo-night cus­tom adven­ture per­fect for fam­i­lies or cou­ples. Alas­ka Fjord Char­ters guides you to the best mix of kayak­ing, glac­i­er view­ing, whale watch­ing, and fish­ing, all in one leisure­ly tour. 

Enjoy the seren­i­ty of this inti­mate, all-inclu­sive lodge, which sits on a pri­vate beach just a 20-minute water taxi ride from Homer. Fam­i­ly-run and com­plete­ly ren­o­vat­ed in 2022, the Lodge at Otter Cove offers four cozy, rus­tic cab­ins, 3 deli­cious meals a day, and a vari­ety of activ­i­ties to choose from. 

In the best way pos­si­ble. you’re out­num­bered by bears dur­ing your stay at this pri­vate fly-in wilder­ness camp. Fly by char­tered plane from Homer to Alas­ka Bear Camp on a 4‑night, 5‑day all-inclu­sive pack­age. This deluxe back­coun­try camp accom­mo­dates just 14 guests in some of the best bear habi­tat in the world. In con­trast to day trips cater­ing to dozens of vis­i­tors at a time, Bear Camp offers a rare and exclu­sive wilder­ness immersion.

Whether you’re in the mar­ket for fish­ing lures, rain gear or snacks for the day, this store on the Har­borview Board­walk is your one-stop shop­ping spot.

The Lands End Resort sits at the very tip of the Homer Spit, offer­ing incred­i­ble views of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Moun­tain Range. Take a walk along the beach­front, then head to the shops, bars, and restau­rants along the spit. If the views are too beau­ti­ful to leave, enjoy a meal at the hotel’s Chart Room restau­rant. When it’s time for activ­i­ties, a help­ful staff of locals can pro­vide rec­om­men­da­tions and book your excursions.

Bik­ing, fish view­ing, a nat­ur­al his­to­ry cen­ter and a flat hike to a glac­i­er are with­in easy reach of this qui­et, inti­mate camp­ground in Portage Val­ley at the head of Tur­na­gain Arm in the Chugach Nation­al For­est. The 12 sites in the grav­eled, wood­ed Black Bear are yards from the Trail of Blue Ice — a non-motor­ized mul­ti-use trail that tra­vers­es the val­ley floor.

This wildlife sweet spot is worth a vis­it. The Russ­ian Lakes Trail begins off the access road to the Russ­ian Riv­er Camp­ground in Coop­er Land­ing, at mile­post 52 of the Ster­ling High­way. Get off-the-beat­en path, hike two miles to the falls and enjoy the imme­di­ate reward of spec­tac­u­lar salmon viewing. 

Indeed, the Har­bor 360 Hotel has a pret­ty lit­er­al name: Locat­ed on Seward’s water­front, this 96 room hotel offers stun­ning 360-degree views: You’ll see the Seward Small Boat Har­bor and Res­ur­rec­tion Bay if you book a Har­bor­side room, or the Kenai Moun­tains if you book a Moun­tain­side room.

Expe­ri­ence com­plete immer­sion in the won­ders of wild coastal Alas­ka, and stay in spa­cious, bright yurts (cir­cu­lar, rein­forced tent-like struc­tures) on a pri­vate island in Humpy Cove. Inside, the yurts are warm and com­fy with fire­places, pri­vate bath­rooms and pri­vate decks over­look­ing the cove all con­nect­ed by exten­sive board­walks. They water taxis is includ­ed along with sea kayaks, pad­dle­boards, row­boats, and fish­ing gear. All of this is just a  ...more

Homer is the hal­ibut cap­i­tal of Alas­ka, and this long­time char­ter com­pa­ny offers a blue-chip way to get to the fish. They have high-qual­i­ty boats, expe­ri­enced cap­tains, and enthu­si­as­tic crews — as well as an inside line on find­ing hal­ibut, rock fish and sil­ver salmon. But they also offer a vari­ety of oth­er ways to enjoy the waters off Kachemak Bay, from wildlife cruis­ing to pad­dling a kayak or hik­ing in Kachemak Bay State Park. 

Look­ing for an inti­mate and acces­si­ble get­away with an authen­tic Alaskan feel? Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­ture’s Kenai River­side Lodge will fit the bill, with just 16 cab­ins set on the Kenai Riv­er, sur­round­ed by 3,000-foot snow-capped moun­tains. This easy-access river­side lodge has a remote feel, but is still right on the road sys­tem. Meals are served fam­i­ly-style, cre­at­ing a more inti­mate expe­ri­ence, and allow­ing you to min­gle with fel­low guests and  ...more

Spend the after­noon, or a few days explor­ing the waters of Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Prince William Sound aboard the M/V Car­o­line, a beau­ti­ful cus­tom-built yacht set for adven­ture! It’s the per­fect set­ting for a fam­i­ly or small group vaca­tion. Fill your days loung­ing on the fly­bridge, fish­ing, kayak­ing, strolling beach­es and cruis­ing to your next fan­tas­tic destination.

The wild­flow­ers are abun­dant and ver­dant under­growth can be check high some­times. Most of the trail lies below tree­line, so there are estab­lished camp clear­ings along the way that are nes­tled into the trees. One of the best camp­sites is 10 miles in from the north­ern trail­head, set among trees on a spruce-cov­ered knoll look­ing over the trail and Bench Lake.

Take a spec­tac­u­lar pri­vate guid­ed hik­ing tour in Seward — where the moun­tains meet the ocean — to explore glac­i­ers and alpine ridges. When you go with Seward Wilder­ness Col­lec­tive, you get a great tour plus a dia­logue with their knowl­edge­able guides about the impacts of cli­mate change, with liv­ing exam­ples right in front of your eyes.

Well-main­tained and suit­able for sum­mer hik­ing and bik­ing, the 10-mile Devil’s Pass Trail fea­tures a steep route up a spec­tac­u­lar V‑shaped val­ley that inter­sects with the Res­ur­rec­tion Pass Trail and a rental cab­in in the alpine realm. The coun­try is rugged, with great access to cross-coun­try tun­dra explo­ration and berry picking.

This 86-room lodge not only has end­less views over a vast val­ley, but it also sits on the banks of the Kenai Riv­er, which teems with fish. With vault­ed ceil­ings made of nat­u­ral­ly fin­ished wood, cozy sit­ting areas with wood-burn­ing stoves and pri­vate porch­es, it’s easy to feel like the whole place is yours. The area is famous for its fish­ing, but you also have easy access to Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, a wild land filled with glac­i­ers, marine  ...more

Alas­ka Riv­er Adven­tures Kenai Riv­er raft­ing trips are some of its most pop­u­lar and acces­si­ble excur­sions – and are a great val­ue too. Full day trips show­case 19 miles of Alas­ka wild from Kenai Lake to Ski­lak Lake, giv­ing plen­ty of time for spot­ting wildlife, his­toric spots and gor­geous views from all angles. When you have just a few hours, a scenic and serene 14-mile float of the Upper Kenai Riv­er pro­vides a vari­ety of sights, from historic  ...more

Just an hour’s dri­ve from Anchor­age, the MV Ptarmi­gan let you get with­in 300 feet of the tow­er­ing ice wall called Portage Glac­i­er. You can also book a nar­rat­ed motor­coach tour to take you to Portage Glacier. 

Char­ter their pri­vate, live-aboard, 60’ yacht. Wake up each day in the mid­dle of untouched wilder­ness and go sea kayak­ing, hike through bore­al forests, fish for tro­phy hal­ibut and salmon, or spend a qui­et day on the water pho­tograph­ing wildlife

Each head of house­hold is allowed to keep 25 sock­eye salmon per year, and every addi­tion­al mem­ber of the fam­i­ly is enti­tled to 10 fish.

The Chart Room Restau­rant has been a fix­ture at the end of the famous Homer Spit since 1958. Today, this full-ser­vice eatery and lounge fea­tures deli­cious cui­sine made with local ingre­di­ents, and all with an Alaskan twist. But the food isn’t the only star here: You’ll also find a unique nau­ti­cal décor and a jaw-drop­ping view. Big pic­ture win­dows reveal a stun­ning land­scape out over the shim­mer­ing waters of Kachemak Bay and the snow-capped  ...more

Need a din­ner rec­om­men­da­tion? Want to know the best place to see whales? Or how about kid-friend­ly activ­i­ties in Seward? There’s no bet­ter place to have your ques­tions answered and to learn about Seward than the Seward Cham­ber of Com­merce and Vis­i­tors Center.

The Homer Spit is a long, nar­row fin­ger of land jut­ting 4.5 miles into Kachemak Bay. Dot­ted with busi­ness­es, the area caters to vis­i­tors and pro­vides numer­ous recre­ation oppor­tu­ni­ties, from fish­ing and beach­comb­ing to shop­ping and boating.

More a gat­ed road than a trail, this hike large­ly remains a local secret among the res­i­dents of Coop­er Land­ing, the fish­ing mec­ca locat­ed some 105 miles south of Anchor­age on Ster­ling High­way. Many in this town con­sid­er it their per­son­al get­away, which makes it quite a pop­u­lar secret. A fore­man for Chugach Elec­tric (the com­pa­ny that man­ages the dam on Coop­er Lake) said he often expe­ri­enced con­ges­tion while dri­ving to the dam, due to the heavy  ...more

This world-class, 115,000-square-foot facil­i­ty was built with funds from the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and serves to remind vis­i­tors — in a high­ly inter­ac­tive way — of the impor­tance of under­stand­ing and main­tain­ing Alaska’s marine ecosys­tem. See life swim­ming right before your eyes: wit­ness a Steller sea lion glid­ing past under­wa­ter view­ing win­dows, puffins div­ing in nat­ur­al habi­tat, and har­bor seals rest­ing on rocky beach­es. Take self-guid­ed or  ...more

No oth­er min­ing trail on the Kenai Penin­su­la climbs as high or takes in more exten­sive views as the 6‑mile-long Crown Mine Trail. Begin­ning some 2 hours south of Anchor­age on the appro­pri­ate­ly named Mine Road just south of Trail Lake, this trail climbs to 3,900 feet above sea lev­el to a unique spot — a glacial cirque lit­tered with min­ing paraphernalia.

Watch bears dig­ging for clams, wan­der­ing the sedge grass, or nurs­ing their young – all in a short flight from Homer to Kat­mai or Lake Clark Nation­al Park. Smokey Bay’s bear tours last about five hours total — includ­ing flights and about three hours on the ground. On any giv­en day there will always be a morn­ing out­ing (leav­ing at 8 a.m. at the lat­est) and pos­si­bly one that leaves around 2 p.m.

From the base of the Homer Spit, take this 4‑mile paved trail to the Nick Dudi­ak Fish­ing Lagoon. The trail is in excel­lent con­di­tion and is flat as a pan­cake for most of its length. The first mile of trail is along a broad estu­ary that is great for bird­ing. Once you pass the one-mile mark you’ll be rid­ing past fish­ing boats that are out of the water being worked on as well as a few shops.

This fam­i­ly-friend­ly, 2.5‑mile trail climbs 3,600 feet to a sum­mit halfway between the sea and the heavens

This tiny cove, 10 miles from Seward, offers a com­bi­na­tion of unplugged bliss, cool yurt liv­ing, and a kayaker’s par­adise. The two ​“unplugged” yurts each come with a queen-size bed and full size sofa bed, a table and chairs, linens, and a kitch­enette. You get unlim­it­ed use of kayaks dur­ing your stay — and giv­en the amount of sun­light dur­ing sum­mer, that means you can be pad­dling in and out of coves at mid­night if you feel like it!

Brand-new in 2021, this 74-room prop­er­ty with panoram­ic moun­tain views is a six-minute walk from the har­bor of Res­ur­rec­tion Bay mak­ing it easy to catch a day cruise or fish­ing char­ter. You’ll also be just a mile from downtown’s shops and restau­rants and you won’t even need a car for your stay here, thanks to a free shut­tle to and from the rail­road depot and cruise ship dock.

16 sites in a wood­ed set­ting. Trail to Ptarmi­gan lake departs from the campground.

Whether you’d like to go on a per­son­al­ized boat tour of the Homer area or take a water taxi to the Alaskan back­coun­try, Homer is an ide­al place to launch from, and Cold­wa­ter has the boats and exper­tise to get you there. Explore places like Kachemak Bay State Park, the small town of Sel­dovia, and pic­turesque Hal­ibut Cove.

Behind the town of Seward is a moun­tain whose first peak ris­es 3022 feet. For­mer­ly Low­ell Moun­tain, it is now called Mt Marathon.

Locals know this Homer insti­tu­tion as the place that has every­thing — from sport­ing goods to oil for your car, art sup­plies to pre­scrip­tion med­ica­tions. While it has a stag­ger­ing amount of vari­ety, it main­tains a charm­ing mom-and-pop vibe.

It’s thrilling to see coastal brown bears in their nat­ur­al habi­tat, espe­cial­ly when you’re not rushed. Fly out of Homer to the Kat­mai coast for five days of amaz­ing bear view­ing with Alas­ka Bear Adven­tures. Stay overnight on the Alas­ka Dawn, a 65-foot expe­di­tion trawler, so you can eas­i­ly get back to the bears each morning.

In the best way pos­si­ble. you’re out­num­bered by bears dur­ing your stay at this pri­vate fly-in wilder­ness camp. Fly by char­tered plane from Homer to Alas­ka Bear Camp on a 4‑night, 5‑day all-inclu­sive pack­age. This deluxe back­coun­try camp accom­mo­dates just 14 guests in some of the best bear habi­tat in the world. In con­trast to day trips cater­ing to dozens of vis­i­tors at a time, Bear Camp offers a rare and exclu­sive wilder­ness immersion.

This 86-room lodge not only has end­less views over a vast val­ley, but it also sits on the banks of the Kenai Riv­er, which teems with fish. With vault­ed ceil­ings made of nat­u­ral­ly fin­ished wood, cozy sit­ting areas with wood-burn­ing stoves and pri­vate porch­es, it’s easy to feel like the whole place is yours. The area is famous for its fish­ing, but you also have easy access to Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, a wild land filled with glac­i­ers, marine  ...more

Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge offers the best of both worlds: all the seclu­sion and lux­u­ry nor­mal­ly asso­ci­at­ed with fly-in lodges, as well as the afford­abil­i­ty and con­ve­nience of being on the road sys­tem. Built in 1974, Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge is made up of three hand-hewn log cab­ins avail­able to rent for your pri­vate group. The Main Lodge fea­tures a full kitchen, a 16-per­son din­ing room table, a com­fy sit­ting area with a wood-burn­ing fire­place, a loft  ...more

Look­ing for an inti­mate and acces­si­ble get­away with an authen­tic Alaskan feel? Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­ture’s Kenai River­side Lodge will fit the bill, with just 16 cab­ins set on the Kenai Riv­er, sur­round­ed by 3,000-foot snow-capped moun­tains. This easy-access river­side lodge has a remote feel, but is still right on the road sys­tem. Meals are served fam­i­ly-style, cre­at­ing a more inti­mate expe­ri­ence, and allow­ing you to min­gle with fel­low guests and  ...more

The logo for the Sol­dot­na B&B Lodge says it all: a guest who’s loung­ing in bed — while also fish­ing. This fam­i­ly-run fish­ing lodge direct­ly on the Kenai Riv­er offers a relax­ing place to soak up the sights and sounds of nature, while also deliv­er­ing a front-row oppor­tu­ni­ty to do some of Alaska’s most famous, excit­ing fish­ing. All stays car­ry a two-night min­i­mum, but most guests stay longer (an aver­age of 5 – 7 days), which is easy to do giv­en the  ...more

Locat­ed just out­side Seward, the Abode Well Cab­ins are tucked back amidst four acres of trees. Of the 13 avail­able rooms, six are King Cab­ins (which includes a kitch­enette and sleeps up to three) and one is a ​“fam­i­ly cab­in,” which has a full kitchen, sep­a­rate bed­rooms and sleeps up to eight with two queen beds, two twins, plus a queen-size sleep­er sofa. There are also six Queen Stu­dio Rooms avail­able, with sim­i­lar ameni­ties to the King Cabins.  ...more

16 sites in a wood­ed set­ting. Trail to Ptarmi­gan lake departs from the campground.

If you want to camp beside sub­alpine Upper Sum­mit Lake close to trum­peter swans and fish­ing for rain­bows, take the fam­i­ly to this camp­ground deep in the Kenai Moun­tains off Mile 46 of the Seward High­way. The 35 sites are spread along a loop in the alder, wil­low and spruce woods on the hill­side above the lake, with clear-run­ning Ten­der­foot Creek pass­ing through 

Quartz Creek camp­ground is sit­u­at­ed on the banks of sparkling Kenai Lake. This is a great spot to cool off on a hot day. Kenai Lake has a good sandy swim­ming beach and a trail that fol­lows along near­by Quartz Creek. Cast your line for some awe­some fly-fish­ing at the creek or look for the near­by horse sta­ble for a scenic ride. 

Set in a hand­some birch for­est over­look­ing Tur­na­gain Arm, this camp­ground in Chugach Nation­al For­est close to the his­toric vil­lage of Hope is a fam­i­ly clas­sic. The 34 sites offer all the usu­al ameni­ties (pic­nic table, camp­fire ring, out­hous­es, water pump) and are laid out with an eye toward pri­va­cy. Just 81 miles from Anchorage.

Ocean Shores offers amaz­ing views from all of its sites — plus, it’s warmer here than on the Homer Spit, since it’s not as windy. Most sites come with a pic­nic table and three shared fire rings over­look­ing the bay. You’ll also find cable TV and Wi-Fi, as well as coin-oper­at­ed show­ers and laundry.

Bik­ing, fish view­ing, a nat­ur­al his­to­ry cen­ter and a flat hike to a glac­i­er are with­in easy reach of this qui­et, inti­mate camp­ground in Portage Val­ley at the head of Tur­na­gain Arm in the Chugach Nation­al For­est. The 12 sites in the grav­eled, wood­ed Black Bear are yards from the Trail of Blue Ice — a non-motor­ized mul­ti-use trail that tra­vers­es the val­ley floor.

Two sets of stairs to riv­er and 625 feet of ele­vat­ed boardwalk.

Seward Water­front Park extends from the small boat har­bor to the SeaL­ife Cen­ter and con­tains paid tent and RV camp­ing, play­grounds, a skate park, pic­nic­ing areas, beach access, and a trail lined with his­tor­i­cal landmarks.

Bertha Creek Camp­ground is a great choice for a low-key cam­pout in a recre­ation­al gold-pan­ning area on a qui­et loop where the kids won’t get lost. Locat­ed just south of Tur­na­gain Pass in the Kenai Moun­tains about 65 miles south of Anchor­age, the camp­ground is tucked into an open for­est beside the con­flu­ence of Bertha and Gran­ite creeks at the base of steep mountains.

With 60 sites on paved loops, Willi­waw is suit­able for large motorhomes and offers great access to the Trail of Blue Ice — a non-motor­ized mul­ti-use trail that tra­vers­es the val­ley floor. Also near­by bik­ing, salmon view­ing, hikes, and glac­i­er viewing.