Kenai Fjords National Park

26Jun16

If you want to see the Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska I would suggest you take a three-hour tour.

On my trip to Alaska almost two decades ago, I did just that – a boat trip where I had expected to see whales, dolphins and all kinds of sea life. Instead all I can remember was a bunch of birds.

Still, I wouldn’t miss Kenai Fjords National Park for anything. It’s a beautiful place, both on land and sea.

For most journeys into Kenai Fjords, you board your charter boat at Seward. Seward is a frequent stop for all of the major cruise lines and is also home of an excellent aquarium funded from the settlement of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

Kenai Fjords is divided into three main areas – Exit Glacier, the coastal fjords and the Harding Icefield. During my fore mentioned boat tour, I saw the coastal fjords, particularly Resurrection Bay where I had a marvelous time even without seeing any sea life.

I didn’t get to the Harding Icefield or to Exit Glacier. I did however spend a lot of time on shore and stayed in a nice resort, which afforded me the opportunity to do a couple of short hikes. Those hikes may not have technically been in the national park, but it gave me a good sense of what Kenaji Fjords is really like.

The Exit Glacier area is the only part of the park accessible by road where you can get to trails, walk close to an active glacier or take a ranger-guided walk. By contrast the Harding Icefield features an 8.2-mile round trip trail that is said to be a spectacular day hike. The trail takes you from the valley floor through forests and meadows before ultimately climbing well above the tree line to the top of the icefield. It takes around eight hours to complete the hike so you can see why I didn’t try this.

No matter how you do Kenaji Fjords National Park, it will be a memorable experience.

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