Driving the Kenai Peninsula

Alaska's attractions are often separated by great distances, which discouraged us from making this trip the year before. This gave us time to find where our attractions were combined in one place. We found fishing, fjords, glaciers, wildlife, flying, boating, museums, culture, tons of sites for seeing and good roads for motorhoming on the Kenai Peninsula. A day's drive from anywhere, this became our favorite part of the trip.
As we left Anchorage on the Seward Highway, we watched the city fade 'into the woods' and we watched an enormous mud flat on the right which was 'Turnagain Arm' at low tide.



Captain James Cook picked very descriptive names, when he wasn't naming things after the royal family. When his lieutenant (William Bligh of 'Bounty' fame) returned to report it wasn't the Northwest Passage, he let Bligh name it 'turnagain arm' after what they were forced to do. Tourists, however, find it fascinating when the tide comes in all at once as a tidal bore and beautiful the rest of the time.


We knew the Kenai isn't that big so we started looking for our first night's Kenai campground around 5:00pm, we were looking on the right and suddenly spotted a sign on the left for 'Granite Creek' Campground so thought we better check it out or we'd be in Seward the first night.

We went down a dirt road behind another motorhome and, when it turned into the first campsite, we tried to grab the next one. Someone behind us was too quick and we started to worry.

As we went around the bend we found the perfect site, complete with a turquoise glacier stream and snow capped mountain view.


We parked and walked up to the fee collection box, expecting the worst for Granite Creek motorhome campers, but the charge was only $5.00 for the night! Amazing!

Next day, we started driving down to Seward. On the way, we went to see Exit Glacier, billed as the only glacier you could actually touch.
... if you can get to it. Exit Glacier was melting so fast, every path was blocked by melting streams. It became a race to see who could get there without wading.



In the end, we settled for pictures.... and dry shoes.

Just click on 'First Trip to Seward' to see our 'Seward' page with RV camping in the picturesque seaport and the boat trip to the Kenai Fjords and Fox Island.

We would leave Seward and backtrack up to the Sterling Highway, in the rain, and go over to the flat side of the Kenai and down to Homer.

The bears know this and, crossing a bridge, Gabi saw something moving on the opposite shore. We pulled over to a parking area on the left side of the road where we thought we could see this 'thing'. Some people emerged from the dense foliage along the river and pointed us to an overgrown path we could use. The mysterious shape turned out to be a good-sized young grizzly boer eating salmon.

Plan to stop a lot along the way. There is much to see and while it is difficult to pull over in a motor home and find parking it is definitely worth the effort - every single time! Cars are much easier for this purpose but you can't use them for a hotel room! We stopped frequently, even in the rain, to see the Kenai sights and activities. There were lots of elaborate walkways, viewing platforms and informational displays on fishing for your comfort and curiosity. We learned there are five kinds of Alaskan salmon and from the early Kings to the late Silvers they make the Kenai one of the best fishing areas on earth.

Just click on 'First Trip to Homer' to see our 'Homer' page with RV camping on the glacial 'Spit', halibut, museums, and flightseeing around Kachemak Bay. We were sad to leave Homer, but we had to start getting back to Anchorage... and the trip home. After taking a long last look at Kachemak Bay and a couple of lonely eagles on the beach, we checked out of Heritage RV Campground and headed off the spit and up the Sterling Highway out of town.



We wanted to spend one night before we hit the bright lights of Soldotna, so we were ready when we saw the sign for Ninilchik Campground. It was a scary getting the motorhome down to the beach, but turned out to be a good choice. We saw dories on the Rogue River two years earlier and were surprised to see them used on the Kenai River and out on Cook Sound, too. Alaskans are real comfortable with heavy equipment and they have no trouble loading and unloading boats that seemed too big for trailers.

We were reading about the 'famous' Clam Gulch, but Ninilchik seemed to be a pretty good clamming spot, too. Here is where we saw and heard mysterious splashing out beyond the surf. Couldn't see anything but assumed they were salmon.

Joe had taken to collecting beach rocks. They are broken down by glaciers and worn smooth by wave action. You can see they come from many different places by the varied colors and patterns.


We would pick the 4th of July to blow into Kenai and the 4th of July Parade. The entire population was making it's way down the main street. After finding every no way around, we parked the motorhome and wandered out on foot until traffic cleared.
We found several of these beautiful old Russian Churches between Ninilchik and Kenai. They are still in use and many of their members are descendents of the Russian builders.



Soldotna is on the Kenai River but the city of Kenai is on the river and the ocean so we decided to camp there. Salmon is a big thing in both towns as you can tell....



Kenai is an oil town and doesn't depend on tourists that much. Campgrounds are not easy to find and a park host gave us his personal discovery which turned out to be a not-yet-opened campground where the river runs into the sea. Next to the water treatment plant, it wasn't glamorous but it was all ours. At the beach, we could watch the fishing boats filing down the river into Cook Inlet. The campground connected to a city park with a path leading up to a sheltered lookout.


Next morning on the day before we left, we wanted to drive to Girdwood to see the Alyeska Ski Resort and, maybe, let JJ go paragliding. We drove out of Kenai city and through Soldotna and out the Sterling Highway to meet the Seward Highway at Girdwood. After almost running out of fuel, we reached Girdwood and, after gassing up and more coffee, we drove up through Girdwood to what looked like Switzerland... the stunning Alyeska Ski Resort. Nestled in a small glacial valley, it is connected by a tram from the grand hotel at the base to dazzling ski center at the top. Looking down on the fairy tale setting below, we found a perfect ending to a great Alaskan vacation. Girdwood Airport is where the Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin crossed the finish line first to win the Amazing Race and one million dollars. Maybe you will be able to discover this now famous spot where TK said, "Nice guys can definately finish first."


We wanted a nice forested campground for our last night in Alaska and a lady in Girdwood mentioned Bird Creek, on Turnagain Arm. She also said bears had been a problem there lately. Well, the campground proved to be just what we wanted... and no bears! The dense stands of red alders at Bird Creek Campground gave new meaning to 'lost in the forest'. Even with the Alaska Railroad's 'Coastal Classic' running right by us, the sound barely reached us through the muffler of trees.

Next morning we left the Kenai Peninsula with enough pictures in our minds and cameras to last a lifetime.

The Kenai is an amazing concentration of 'all that is Alaska' and is really an easy place to visit. Time really flies and we had to make hard choices of how to spend the time we had available. Some things we did not do but you might be interested in are:

Sightseeing in and around Whittier