Best of the Kenai Peninsula

Hope [1]: Now almost a ghost town, this once-booming mining town is the place that time forgot. Several fine hikes head out from here.

Alaska SeaLife Center [2]: Touch tanks, puffins swimming underwater, and fascinating exhibits are great, but seals and sea lions steal the show at this popular Seward marine science center.

Exit Glacier [3]: Easily accessible from Seward, this glacier is part of Kenai Fjords National Park [4] and has camping, hiking trails (including one onto the massive Harding Ice Field), and glacier tours.

Resurrection Bay Tours [5]: Several Seward companies offer wildlife and glacier tours by boat. Half-day excursions tour the bay; all-day versions (take your Dramamine) make it into Kenai Fjords.

Combat Fishing [6]: The Kenai and Russian Rivers are major destinations for Anchorageites and tourists in search of their bag limit of red salmon. It’s an elbow-to-elbow frenzy at the midsummer peak.

The Homer Spit [7]: Jutting four miles into Kachemak Bay, this narrow sandy peninsula provides a great base for halibut charters, sea kayaking, bird-watching, cycling, dining, and shopping.

Islands and Ocean Center [8]: Modern and slick, this free center houses exhibits on the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Don’t miss the award-winning film about the refuge and its wildlife.

Pratt Museum [9]: One of the finest small museums in Alaska, the Pratt always has something interesting, including a touch tank with tide-pool animals in the back room.

Kachemak Bay and Gull Island [10]: Gull Island with its thousands of nesting seabirds is a favorite destination for day tours. Also popular are trips to the off-the-road-system villages of Halibut Cove and Seldovia.