Learn More about the Kenai Peninsula
Parks & Hiking |
Wildlife |
Museums and Libraries |
Maps |
Fishing Regulations |
Marine Mammals |
Scientific Studies |
Radio Stations |
Cities on the Kenai |
Birds |
General Information |
Further Readings |
Kenai Peninsula Parks and Hiking Trails
Kachemak Bay State Park is Alaska's first state park, and only wilderness park. It contains roughly 400,000 acres of mountains, glaciers, forests and ocean. The bay's twisted rock formations are evidence of the movement of the earth's crust. Visitors frequently observe sea otters, seals, porpoise and whales. Intertidal zones offer natural settings for marine studies. Land mammals include moose, black bear, mountain goats, coyotes and wolves.
There are not many trails in the Kenai Fjords National Park as most of the land is covered in glaciers and a huge ice field. The park also encompasses the surrounding fjords that the glaciers carved into the Pacific Ocean. Subsequently, the best way to view this area is with an all day boat tour out of Seward. Your can explore the fjords in a kayak with a qualified guide. The scenery is incredible and you may get the chance to view whales, puffins, sea lions, otters and other marine life.
The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge covers the western section of the Kenai Peninsula. It is mainly flat taiga with numerous lakes, and as such, its primary recreation is suited more toward water activities, especially fishing. Most of the hikes are short trails that end at a lake. The water in Kenai Lake, Skilak Lake and the Kenai River is gorgeous.
The Kenai River Special Management Area consists of more than 105 linear miles of rivers and lakes. The Kenai River boasts major runs of four Pacific salmon species — king, red, silver and pink — in addition to trophy-sized rainbow trout and Dolly Varden. Kenai River kings, or Chinook salmon, are among the largest North Pacific salmon, often weighing from 50 to over 85 pounds.
Museums and Libraries
The Alaska SeaLife Center is Alaska's only public aquarium and ocean wildlife rescue center is celebrating ten years on the shores of Resurrection Bay. Visitors to this “window on the sea" have close encounters with puffins, octopus, sea lions and other sealife while peeking over the shoulders of ocean scientists studying Alaska's rich seas and diverse sealife.
The Donald H. Gilman Resource Library houses a collection of technical and scientific materials related to management and conservation of natural resources. Topics include watershed and wetland ecology, floodplain management, geology, hydrology, water quality, coastal management, fisheries, stream bank restoration and more. The library also has books and materials about the natural and cultural history of the Kenai Peninsula.
The Kenai Fine Arts Center is the home for The Peninsula Art Guild, an organization of visual artists and supporters of the visual arts on the Kenai Peninsula. The Kenai Fine Arts Center provides a gallery forum for the presentation of some of the most exciting artwork being produced on the Peninsula today — including painting, drawing, clay, sculpture, fiber arts.
The Pratt Museum is the only natural history museum in the 25,600-square-mile area of the Kenai Peninsula. The Pratt Museum is dedicated to the process of education by exploring the natural environment and human experience relative to the Kachemak Bay region of Alaska and its place in the world.
Kenai Peninsula Maps
Kenai River Special Management Area
Geological and Geophysical Surveys
Kenai Peninsula Wildlife
The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge provides a listing of land mammals found on the Peninsula.
Brown bears can be found throughout the Kenai Peninsula except in the coastal portions in the Kenai Fjords National Park. Densities of bears are considered highest in the lowland forests and intermountain valleys where anadromous streams provide salmon for feeding.
The central Kenai Peninsula is one of the few places where you can see caribou in your back yard, in your neighborhood, or from the road.
Alaska's Kenai Moose Research Center is a world leader in moose science.
Marine Mammals
Chiswell Island, approximately 35 miles south of Seward, Alaska, is home to a small rookery of these endangered sea lions. Steller sea lions often return to the same rookery - a place where they give birth and mate annually - making long-term studies feasible with remote video observation.
Birds
A map of bald eagle viewing locations and other information is available from the Visual Media Design & Alaska Outdoor Journal.
Fishing Regulations
State fishing regulations and detailed maps of the fishing areas.
Borough and City Government
Radio Stations
Homer |
Kasilof |
Kenai |
Soldotna |
KBBI (890 AM) |
KMJG (88.9 FM) |
KDLL (91.9 FM) |
KKIS-FM (96.5 FM) |
KGTL (620 AM) |
KWJG (91.5 FM) |
KSLD (1140 AM) |
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KPEN-FM (101.7 FM) |
KSRM (920 AM) |
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KWVV-FM (103.5 FM) |
KWHQ-FM (100.1 FM) |
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KXBA (93.3 FM) |
Further Readings on the Kenai Peninsula
Kenai Fjords: A Stern and Rock-Bound Coast: Historic Resource Study is a 1998 publication by the National Park Service provides a history of the Kenai Fjords from before the Russian days.
Wikipedia offers general information on the Kenai River along with many links for additional information.
Scientific Studies
Stock Assessment of Rainbow Trout in the Upper Kenai River, Alaska, in 2001.
Baylor University: The Functional Significance of Low-Order Streams and Associated Riparian Wetlands in Supporting Fish and Invertebrate Populations in the Kenai Lowlands, Alaska.
Studies in the Wilderness Areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge: Fire, Bark Beetles, Human Development, and Climate Change.
Kenai Fjords Oral History and Archaeology Project.
Ecological Studies of the Kenai Peninsula Brown Bear.
A Guide to the Late Quaternary History of Norther and Western Kenai Peninsula, Alaska was published by State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys in 2007.