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Russian Church at Old Town Kenai, Alaska
Uptown Motel
Small Cabins
Log Cabin Inn from the Highway
Take trip and boat ride around Kenai Fjordes National Park. The picture at the beginning of this page was taken while on the Emerald Sea boat tour of the area. Taking that wonderful boat ride on the Emerald Sea. They fed wild bald eagle huge fish, and the eagles swept down from the cliffs to catch and eat the fish.
Driving from Anchorage down to the Kenai Peninsula you have to go over Turnagain Pass. It's not that tricky of a drive but it doesn't take much of an elevation gain to get to very cold and very snowy conditions in Alaska. We may have very little snow on the ground here but the Pass will still have 90 inches or more. This is a very popular area for snowmachining and other winter sports. There's always the risk of avalanches and they directly tell you that in this area. Sometimes of course, the drive can be a bit hazardous with ice or snow. When there's no risk of snow up here, there is still the chance of heavy rain or it being extremely foggy. The speed limit doesn't really slow down near the pass but there are places to turn out if you don't want someone riding your as$ (there are also passing lanes). Trucks might slow you down, limit your visibility or throw some cinders up into your car here. The State of Alaska DOT is very good about snow removal on the road in this area (unlike the city of Anchorage) but there are some large bumps and potholes. If you don't want to participate in the winter sports, it's still fun to get out of the car at the scenic turnout right beyond the "Turnagain Pass" sign and watch others. The pass is really pretty and the amount of snow from fall until late spring silences the activity around you so it's quite peaceful as well. Good place for pictures--on a clear day, the dark blue sky looks fantastic against the blinding white snow. View the pictures for the many conditions of the pass
This guy has a Red Salmon in his net. I've never see so many people smiling all at the same time while fishing! We got to see the perfect timing of the fishing coming in with the tide so everyone was catching fish!
If you don't bring a net, you have to stand on the muddy beach and watch other people dip net for red salmon. The picture that I have included is a friend of mine fishing in the Kenai River. You can see commercial fishing boats anchored in the river. This most often means they are waiting in the more sheltered area for the next "opening" begins.
Marathon Road isn't really mentioned in a lot of guides for this area but it's worth a drive. We came across it when we were looking for information on spotting caribou in this region. There is a herd here...of course, we didn't see then in the spring but we were early. We'll head back this summer when they're easier to spot as they bring their young out a little closer to the road. The road runs by the one side of the airport with open marshland on the other side. Eventually the whole thing opens up, you'll pass a radio tower and then later, a turn off to a gated road. It's a bit confusing following it because there are some other turn offs and no marker for the road. I know there are gas fields in the area and some is private property, but they should be well identified. Even if you don't see any caribou, the flat terrain here allows you to see out pretty far. From what I've read, the best time to see caribou with their giant antlers is August or September either here or down at the Kenai Flats. Allow people to pass on this road--they come flying down it and you don't want rocks hitting your vehicle. Even if you decide to walk this road (it's pretty long, though), try to stay clear of these people who obvious have someplace very important to be immediately;-)
For some reason, I can't find more than one picture of this road--not sure where I put them but this will have to do. It at least shows how flat the area is.
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