Kenai Peninsula Audio Guide

Locat­ed on the shores of Upper Trail Lake, the town is sur­round­ed by the Chugach Nation­al For­est and is also home to the start of the Idi­tar­od trail, which was blazed through here in 1910. Since it seems to be just a dot on the road, though, it would be easy to miss — but it makes a great home base for vis­it­ing Seward or the Russ­ian Riv­er fish­ing area.

Some would say Coop­er Land­ing is the heart of the Kenai Penin­su­la, both lit­er­al­ly and fig­u­ra­tive­ly: Locat­ed in the mid­dle of the penin­su­la, the small town also sits at the inter­sec­tion of the Kenai and Russ­ian Rivers, which makes it an espe­cial­ly fer­tile fish­ing spot. World class Rain­bow fish­ing is read­i­ly avail­able and the salmon that make it all the way to Kenai Lake are still full of fight.Also, espe­cial­ly giv­en its small size, it packs in…  ...more

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 portages, great for every­thing from day trips to week-long…  ...more

As the sis­ter city of Kenai, the town of Sol­dot­na is in many ways the heart of the Kenai Penin­su­la. As proof of its fish­ing mec­ca sta­tus, the 97-lb world record salmon was caught here; you’ll find more ele­vat­ed fish­ing plat­forms here than any­where else, which helps pro­tect the waters for fish and anglers to come. One hun­dred forty miles from Anchor­age, Sol­dot­na offers pret­ty much any activ­i­ty that fits with the Kenai’s ​“play­ground” vibe,…  ...more

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 city has plen­ty of his­toric charm, such as tak­ing a self-guid­ed walk­ing tour…  ...more

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. Iliamna. Off the coast in the Cook Inlet, you’ll also see oil platforms,…  ...more

The town of Kasilof (pro­nounced kuh-SEE-loff) has a lot of the great activ­i­ties that oth­er Kenai Penin­su­la towns do — fish­ing, camp­ing and wildlife view­ing. But this tiny town 15 miles south of Sol­dot­na, on the Ster­ling High­way, is also a vibrant dog sled­ding com­mu­ni­ty — while here you can vis­it the ken­nel of Dean Osmar, an Idi­tar­od cham­pi­on, and take a ride behind cham­pi­on dogs. The best fish­ing is at the Kasilof Riv­er and John­son Lake — both…  ...more

the recre­ation area pro­vides pic­nic sites, shel­ters, camp­sites, water and toi­lets. There are excel­lent views of Cook Inlet, the Aleut­ian Moun­tain Range and its three tallest peaks: Mount Iliamna, Mount Redoubt and Mount Spur. There are 125 camp­sites, and the RV size lim­it is 35′. Note: The Depart­ment of Fish & Game has closed clam­ming at Clam Gulch for the last sev­er­al years. Please check the cur­rent sta­tus before harvesting.   ...more

Come to this fish­ing town and you’ll prob­a­bly leave with, among oth­er things, a cool pic­ture of the Russ­ian Ortho­dox Church. Built in 1900, the church is a reflec­tion of the Russ­ian fur-trad­ing vil­lage this town used to be — and there is still a Russ­ian com­mu­ni­ty here, though Ninilchik doesn’t strive to be a themed tourist town. Indeed, the quaint Russ­ian sights are not the only great pho­to ops here. Across the Cook Inlet you can see four…  ...more

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. Non-anglers here will enjoy beach­comb­ing, brows­ing the art stu­dios and gift shops, watch­ing a…  ...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. Peo­ple from the Low­er 48 come here because they’ve heard it’s…  ...more

Once upon a time, this lit­tle town across Kachemak Bay was big­ger than Homer, with a fish can­ner­ies, busi­ness­es and an exten­sive board­walk. It was even known as the Board­walk Town until the 1964 earth­quake wiped out the board­walk and near­ly wiped out the town. Even so, Sel­dovia is still the biggest of the small com­mu­ni­ties ​“across the bay” from Homer. That said, laid-back Sel­dovia has a decid­ed­ly tiny-town feel: There are no traf­fic signs, no…  ...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 trout, or just keep your eyes peeled for wildlife: moose, black bears, moun­tain goats, coyotes…  ...more