Kenai Fjords National Park


Kenai Fjords
Photo by: kimberlykv, Creative Commons

Alaska has numerous destinations, one of which is the Kenai Fjords National Park. Established as a United States National Park in 1980, it is home to an ice field where at least 38 glaciers can be seen. Numerous fjords are carved by the ice as it moves from the ice field which gave the name to this national park.

Visitors can get to the park either by road or from a small harbor in Seward. The park’s visitor’s center can be found at the boat harbor in Seward and tours are arranged by the Cruise operators there. Seward can be reached from Anchorage by train, air or road. Driving to Seward will take about 3 hours, the train is about 5 hours and it will only take 35 minutes via aircraft. Seward is also one of the destinations of Cruise Ships.

The cruise operators in Seward offer boat tours that are often guided by the National Park Rangers. Tidewater glaciers and fjords are main attractions but so are the various land and marine wildlife in the area. Kenai Fjords National Park is a home to a wide assortment of marine wildlife such as puffins, porpoises, sea lions and orca whales. Mountain goats and the American black bear can be spotted as well.

Summer is not the only good time to visit the national park. There are interesting activities in winter as well. The Polar Bear Plunge is the main event of this weekend festival that is held in January. Skiing, dog sledding and snowmobile rides are other events as well.

The scenery of the Kenai Fjords also boasts of waterfalls, tidewater glaciers and the rocky coastlines of the islands. A variety of marine wildlife can be found on the islands including kittiwakes, cormorants, sea otters whales and puffins. A wide variety of seabirds and gulls can be found as well.

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