KENAI CITY IS IN THE HEART OF THE KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
From our campground at Soldotna it was a short drive into Kenai City. Kenai is centrally located on the Kenai Peninsula and about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The Kenai River which runs through Kenai City is a world-famous sportfishing destination that is especially known for it’s king salmon and river recreation opportunities. Because of this, Kenai City has grown to be the largest shopping hub in the area with grocery stores, hardware supplies and any sort of fishing gear/tours/guides/outfitters than you can imagine.
Fishing on the Kenai River
One stop you won’t want to miss is the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Centre on the corner of Main Street and Kenai Spur Hwy. It’s not only a Visitor’s centre, but also a small museum with a lot of informative material, films, displays of the local history. Very well done and FREE!
Kenai Visitor Centre exhibit
Kenai city also has an interesting walking tour you can take. Get a map from the Visitors’ centre then continue down Main Street to the end of the road where you can find parking along the roads or in a few designated parking areas. Park and have a look at some of the interesting buildings dating from the late 1800’s. There is a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church (much Russian heritage buildings in the area!), trappers cabins, commercial buildings and Fort Kenay. Beautiful area and some nice photo ops!
Russian Orthodox Church
Old Russian Church
Old Trapper’s Cabin
While in the historic district I strongly suggest a coffee and pastry – or lunch – at Veronica’s Café just across from the Russian Orthodox Church – heavenly!!!
Veronica’s Cafe in Kenai
From there, we continue along the Kenai Spur Highway with the road turning north along the coast. You’ll pass through Nikiski which is a spot that offers recreational opportunities both indoors and out with their North Peninsula Rec. Centre cantaining a community centre, skating rink, gym, indoor pool and waterslide and a hot tub!
About 25 miles north of Kenai is the end of the road and Captain Cook State Recreation Area.
It’s named after Captain James Cook, the famous English mariner who in 1778 explored what is now known as Cook Inlet. Now you’ll find a peaceful setting of forests, lakes, streams and saltwater beaches.
There is a campground at the end of the park with areas for RV’s but no hook-ups or facilities.
We were interested only in hitting the ‘beach’ and having a picnic lunch looking out over the water and The Ring of Fire. This is an arc stretching from New Zealand, along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and south along the coast of North & South America. This chain is composed of over 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes.
Mt. Spurr
Mt. Redoubt in Cook Inlet
Across Cook Inlet you can witness ‘four sleeping giants’. Mt. Redoubt is the most prominent in stature, however Mt. Spurr, Mt. Iliamna & St. Augustine are all visible. Mt. Redoubt last erupted in 2009. Dangerous to think about but VERY beautiful to look at!
The beach is a rocky undeveloped beach … not a nice sandy beach that you might be hoping for (I did!). It’s very tempting to walk out on the mud flats that are exposed … it goes out really far and seems so peaceful … but be aware that the tides are huge and can come in really fast – 4x faster than you can run.
Bruce Collecting Agates at Captain Cook, AK
A popular pastime is hunting for agates on the beach … they’re everywhere … within minutes we’d found dozens and had to make the hard decision of just how many we want to carry in our RV … every bit of weight matters … but they’re so pretty!
After lunch a nice ride back to Soldotna to look over our rocks and reflect on the beauty of Captain Cook Rec. Area.
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