INFO -Kenai Penninsula - off the beaten path
Alaska’s Playground
Whatever you came to Alaska to see, from Bears and Moose to Glaciers and Volcanoes to snow capped mountains and wild untamed rivers the Kenai Penninsula has just about everything.
First let me say if you really want the best of the best- go with a guide. Whether it’s bear viewing or fishing, hiking or whatever, going with an expert will help you get the most out of your time and experience. However, there are some among you that are looking for ways to experience Alaska without having to pay a guide for every activity you want to do while in Alaska. The Kenai Peninsula is called Alaska’s playground and the reason is - almost everything people want to experience in Alaska is here on the peninsula. Here are a few excursions that you can do with little or no cost and experience many of the things people come to Alaska to do.
Glaciers -
Portage Glacier is accessible to anyone willing to take the hike. On your way south from Anchorage, just past Girdwood you will see signs for “Portage” and the “Whittier Tunnel” its about 25mins off the sterling highway to the parking lot. The hike gets a little longer every year but its fairly easy hike. The visitors center located on the shore of Portage lake is very interesting and also free. Portage glacier and Chugach Forest visitors center
Exit Glacier - If Seward is in your itenerary, this is another easy one to visit. The hike to the face of the glacier from the parking lot is a few miles but no one says you have to lay a hand on the glacier. Lots of Mountain Goats in the area so bring binoculars.
Grenwich Glacier - When you make that turn onto Baycrest and begin your decent down the hill into the Cosmic Hamlet by the Sea you will notice a gigantic glacier across the bay from Homer. This is the Grenwich Glacier. To get close to it is a short water taxi ride from the Homer Harbor and about 45min hike from Glacier spit on the saddle trail. You need to take a water taxi call Makos, Coldwater or Quickwater.
Kenai Fjords - This is the jewel of the Kenai Penninsula. Talk about awe inspiring. The Kenai Fjords are stunningly beautiful and pretty much only accessibly from the town of Seward by boat. The best service to use to see the Fjords is Kenai Fjords Tours in my opinion. Seward can be cool in small doses, but the real highlight of going to Seward is to get on one of the big catamarans and head to the many Fjords accessible within a few miles of town. This tour is the best wildlife/whale watching tour in the state and if you can work it into your itinerary most people are very glad they did.
Bears -
The Russian River - The confluence is a popular fishing destination and the sight of those postcards that say “Combat fishing Alaska” but not far up river from the confluence is a board walk that follows the river up stream for about 2 miles. DO NOT PARK AT THE CONFLUENCE. You want to park at the Russian River Campground (thats before the Russian river ferry if heading south, if you pass the ferry crossing you have gone too far.) The “boardwalk” is really a raised platform of light penetrating building materials, an effort to protect the salmon habitat from bank erosion caused by the foot traffic of hundreds of yearly fishermen. Obviously it has done its job because the Red Run on the Russian is enormous pretty much every year and they are 100% wild fish. If you want to see bears without paying $600/person for a flight to Katmai or Lake Clark, my advice would be to follow these guidelines.
- travel in a group
- plan your visit to the river for early mornings or late evenings (that can be 4am and 10pm in Alaska depending on the time of year)
- consider doing the Russian River falls hike if you are comfortable hiking in brown bear country otherwise just walk down to the Russian River boardwalk from the Pink Salmon parking lot.
- Bring bear spray just in case. Bears on the Russian see lots and lots of people so they know you arent food, but you are not with a guide so better safe than sorry. Unless you are very proficient with a high caliber handgun like a police officer or navy seal, bear spray is a much better line of defense. Also another bear deterrent I personally have used and learned from a bear guide in Kodiak is a large Umbrella. Opening and closing the umbrella at a bear getting too close spooks them.
- Ask if the reds are up the river yet when you talk to anglers. If they say yes, and its not the middle of the day, and you have the time to be patient, you can reliably see Brown Bears. (See photos below.
Skilak Loop Rd. - This is a dirt road south of Cooper Landing and north of Sterling that goes 18miles from the north entrance to the south. Both ends connect to the Sterling Highway and it does not take long on this road before you feel like “Wow, we are in the wilds”. The condition of the road varies from month to month and year to year, if its has been rainy you will want to travel the road with a 4x4.
Main hotspot is Hidden Lake and Hidden Creek. (though I personally have seen Bears all over the road from the North to the South entrance) Hidden Lake is closest to the North Entrance. Its about a 4mile drive from the north entrance to hidden lake campground. Just past the pull off for the campground is a big culvert that goes under the road. This is Hidden Creek.
Park your vehicle either at the Hidden Lake campground or just before the culvert and look down stream. If you are here during the early morning or late evening good chance you will see Alaskan Brown Bears feeding on Sockeye (red salmon)
Fox River Flats - If you have ever watched the infamous Alaska the Last Frontier “reality show” you will have seen this place. It is located at the head of Kachemak Bay, almost 45mins out of the city of Homer to the east. The road down to sea level is a steep gravel switchback road that empties out onto the Fox River flats, Take the road past the small Russian Orthodox Community and over the cattle guard into the Fox River state critical habitat area. DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL YOU THIS ISNT PUBLIC LAND. It is, and you have a right to go see it. You will really do better with 4 wheel drive on this excursion especially once you are in the refuge but once you are in, just park your vehicle off to the side looking at the cliffs to the North and watch. There are bears all over the place back in here. Best evening I have had down there I saw 17.
Bears in the Russian River
These bears were photographed in the late afternoon about an hour before dusk.
3. Quintessential Alaskan Places
Seldovia - this town used to be the largest town in southcentral Alaska before the highway was put in. Seldovia in Russian means Herring. The town was entirely on stilts back before the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964. A series of large tsunamis basically washed the town away and after that Homer became the largest settlement on Kachemak Bay. Seldovia embodies many of the qualities of the small Alaskan town that you see on TV. Cut off from the rest of the state except by boat or plane, everyone in town knows everyone else. There is one grocery store, post office and 3 bars. Typical Alaska. The town is set on the shores of Seldovia Bay, a shallow bay off of Kachemak’s southern shore. For a remote Alaskan town, Seldovia is actually pretty easy to visit. There are daily ferries from the Homer Harbor to Seldovia and they are fast and affordable. When you get to Seldovia, one of the coolest spots to check out in my opinion is the Otterbahn trail. Its a hiking trail through the temperate rainforest to a series of sea cliffs near the mouth of Seldovia Bay. Good possibility to see ducks, moose and black bears.
Earthquake Park - This place is in Anchorage and really gives you an idea of how massive the famous 1964 Good Friday Earthquake was. Large areas or land around south central Alaska either heaved up or fell down several feet changing the landscape permanently in a short time.
Halibut Cove - A small community across the bay from Homer, home to celebrity vacation houses, a lodge for billionaires, a fancy restaurant and what you may imagine a city would look like somewhere after sealevels rose hundreds of feet and everyone needed boats to do anything. This community is very cool, the scenery is beautiful and you just may get a glimpse of some celebrity hanging out on the beach. (I once saw Michael Douglas over there hanging out with his family) The Saltry restaurant is fantastic, and the only way to eat there is to ride the famous Danny J across from Homer. You could also hire a water taxi to make the run across to Halibut Cove and check out some of the local artists work. Pretty awesome stuff. If you happen to stay over in Halibut Cove BRING A LIGHT TACKLE FISHING ROD!!!! Something that you can use to cast a small spoon or spinner and catch Dolly Varden. Super fun for kids especially when you get into them. Ask locals which beach to fish from.
Islands and Oceans visitors center. - This place is neat. Its located right in Homer and gives the public a great idea of what the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife refuge is all about. There exhibits are all very cool and informative, and the science on display is accessible to everyone from kids to Phd students.
The Pratt Museum - This place is another Homer favorite. The museum has deep history on Kachemak Bay area from prehistory until today with things for visitors of all ages. I remember going when I was a kid and thinking it was cool, and I have been back and I still thought it was cool. So much of my history spiel on a charter comes from visiting this place.
Here are just a few of the lesser known, lesser explored places on the Kenai Penninsula, there certainly are more and I will tell you about them when I have time but this is a good list to get any Alaskan first timer started.
