5 Places to Visit in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula is located just South of Anchorage and is a great introduction to Alaska if its your first time! Its so easy to navigate if you are a solo traveler like me!So heres my guide to the Kenai region of everything you should do and know !
Arrive in Anchorage
Knik Arm
Knik Arm
The first thing you are going to want to so when you arrive in Anchorage is rest and get caffeinated. Anchorage is the closest city to the Kenai Peninsula and a great place to use as a pit stop to stock up on all your supplies while you are there! I spent half the time camping on my trip so a quick trip to REI and Safeway had me to ready and prepared.
FUEL UP
The Kaladi Brothers Coffee - hailed as 'Alaska's Favorite Coffee Roasters'. You can find one in every major city in the Kenai Peninsula and I found it as the perfect haven on my roadtrip to get a toasty warm chai latte and catch up with my news with their free wifi.
EAT
Middle Way Cafe ! A cafe and bakery that offers a wide selection of organic brunch foods and don't forget to grab some of their baked good to go!
Goldpanning in Girdwood
Girdwood is a small town about an hour south of Anchorage and should be your first stop on your way down the Kenai Peninsula. It is home to Alyeska Ski Resort and Crow Creek Mine and has a wealth of unique outdoors experiences to partake in!
SEE
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Crow Creek Mine
Established about 122 years ago, Crow Creek Mine was a bustling hot spot during the Goldrush! It was one of the largest gold mines in the Kenai region. When you visit the mine today, you have to try to unique gold panning experience, pails and shovels and all! In addition, you have to take a tour of the old farm which still has all the original buildings set up for display. And on Mondays, Crow Creek Mine puts on a Salmon Bake and Live music (runs in the summer when sunshine is abundant!)
Alyeska Resort Aerial Tram
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The Aerial Tram takes you up a staggering 2,300 ft in 4 minutes (Make sure you pop your ears!) but don't let the $30 price tag dissuade you, the view alone is worth it. While thousands of skiers are using the slopes of Alyeska in the winter, the Summer is a different story. The grassy slopes at the top make you feel like you are in the Sound of Music opening scene where Julie Andrews is running and dancing in the 'hills' of the Austrian Alps. There is also a dining car at the top!
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Winner Creek Trail and the Hand Tram! If you love a little adventure and the outdoors but more importantly you are curious to see really cool and unique things then take this hike! It can be long if you're not a hiker but it remains flat most of the time. About 3.5 miles in, you arrive to a Hand Tram built to cross the glacier gorge that provided access to the mines in the area. It requires the assistence of your friends or people in line with you to manually pull the ropes so the car can get to the other side. It has drawn many locals and tourists because it feels like an interactive amusement attraction! Not to mention, you're getting a great work out in with amazing alpine sights.
EAT
Girdwood Brewing Company was a very much needed stop! After a long hike, sitting down with some great beer/kombucha and food and enjoying the very social and communal aspect of the brewery was a great way to end the day in Girdwood. As I mentioned before, if you still have to continue on the road down the Kenai Peninsula, they have kombucha on tap! On weekends, a food truck parks on the brewery premise so you can snack up!
See the Sights in Seward
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Seward is amazing and I wish I could have stayed longer. If you are short on time there though, you absolutely need to take a boat tour withKenai Fjords Tour! I did the Northwestern Fjords tour with my sister and her boyfriend and we were blown away by the sights and the all the animals! I caution you if you are prone to sea sickness! The Fjords tour is a 9 hour long boat ride that takes you through Resurrection Bay out to the open water and back into where a high density of Glaciers are -cue the map! Needless to say it is quite a journey in which you will see tons of tidewater glaciers, ice calving, and lots of sea animals! Orcas, puffins, and otters, OH MY!
EAT
Seward Brewing Company- Okay by now you're probably thinking I go to a lot of breweries hahahaha but this one is a gem. The brewery is downstairs with a huge assortment of burgers, fish, salads, what have you. The upstairs is an awesome pizza joint. The pizza was so good we ended up ordering a second one after we finished our first!Smoke Shack- A quaint rail-car cafe with grinds perfect for keeping you fueled for your active day!
FUEL UP
TheResurrect Art Coffee House is a multi level art gallery and coffee shop with delicious bagels!
Camping in Cooper Landing
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There are so many places to camp in the Kenai Peninsula but you should go to Cooper Landing. The campground I stayed at was theUpper Skilak Lake Campground located off the beaten path in the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area. Its right next to a large lake that sort of looks like a whale! (look it up!) During my time there, there was a mama black bear and her 3 cubs eating all the berries around the area and if you get over the initial scariness of sharing the same habitat as a bear, it is insanely cool to have seen them crossing the road! If you want a more curated outdoors trip, I recommend a tour with theAlaska Wildland Adventures! It is a complete guided package in which food and lodging are provided. Their packages include daily itineraries jam packed with hiking, fishing, rafting, and kayaking; the whole back country experience without the hassle of having to plan it all!
Shopping in Soldotna
You will find a lot of thrift stores in Soldota and its neighboring town of Kenai (the Kenai Peninsula's namesake!) You can find great gems! if you're into that kind of thing :) The amount of genuine leather jackets in these stores are never ending and at a fraction of the cost that you will find in any LA boutique! here's a list of all the great second hand shops in the ares!
Bishop's Attic- 229 Wilson Ln, Soldotna, AK 99669
The Salvation Army- 35125 Kenai Spur Hwy, Soldotna, AK 99669
Rick's Second Hand - 36475 Kenai Spur Hwy, Soldotna, AK 99669
Bargain Basement- 11472 Kenai Spur Hwy #1, Kenai, AK 99611
Curtain Call Consignment Boutique - Frontage Rd & S Willow St, Kenai, AK 99611
Hiking in Homer
Homer is such a quaint sea-side town on the southern part of the Kenai Peninsula. The town is not short on activities whether you want to walk along the strand, hang out at the museums, go for a long hike, kayaking, halibut fishing, you name it!
SIGHTS
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Salty Dog Saloon
North Country Charters
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Pratt Museum
A Natural History museum of the whole Kenai Peninsula which offers a cool historical and cultural history of the eskimo and western settlers
Alaska Islands & Oceans Visitor Center
I loved this center because of the amazing interactive exhibits. Its all about the landscape and wildlife of both the Kenai Peninsula and Greater Alaska through history. They include some of the worst parts of history, such as the over hunting of otters for their fur and the amazing stories of conservation that has brought back the otter population.
Homer Spit
A long narrow land spit in which you will find lots of sights, restaurants, and the hub of all the outdoor tours. I recommend visiting the famous Seafarer's Memorial, chartering a boat to Kechemak State Park, shopping around at the local goods stores, and having the best damn fish n' chips you are going to get!
DO
Otters!
Hiking in Kechemak Bay State Park! You need a boat to take you from the spit the the state park; I used Mako's Water Taxi and was ferried to the starting point of the Glacier Spit hike. The hike is a decent 3-5 miles depending on what paths you take. I chose to go directly to Grewingk Glacier because I had never seen one before! (Spoiler alert, the glacier is at least 10 degrees colder than everywhere else so bring a jacket!) Theres also a trail detour that takes you to another hand tram! As a solo hiker, the only thing I was initially worried about was bears but I was consistently reassured that as long as I kept making lot of 'human' noise, the bears tend to leave you alone (they are scared of humans as well). Cue the Harry Potter Audio books!
EAT
Fat Olives
The #1 recommended Italian joint in town! Great pizza! great pasta! Located in Old Town.
Two Sisters Bakery
I love this bakery. It is super popular with both locals and tourists. There is always a line but it moves quickly. Great coffee with a bakery/brunch menu for whatever you are in the mood for!
Boardwalk Fish n' Chips
You have to have Halibut while in Alaska, unless you caught it yourself (which you can as there are tons of Halibut/Salmon fishing Charters you can do in Homer) you will not get anything fresher than here. Get the Fish N' Chips and a glass of wine if you fancy and enjoy the sights of the bay!
STAY
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Seaside Farms. You can book them through Airbnb or their website. It was truly a unique experience. This homestead is a huge farm with several themed cabins spread out on the property. Alternatively you can camp on the grassy knoll overlooking Kechamek Bay. Beware! Outhouses are very common in the Kenai Peninsula. My boat guide was joking how Alaska is one of the few places that when searching accommodations, you need to specify a running water toilet. However if you are up for the super rustic experience, its not that bad doing your business and looking into nature while you do ;)
FUEL UP
Coal Town Coffee - grab a cuppa to warm up while waiting for your boat to arrive or just to take a break from all the shops on the spit!