Experience the best of Kenai

Kenai stands on a bluff above Cook Inlet on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula, where the Kenai River reaches the sea. The Dena'ina Athabascan people lived here long before Russian fur traders built a fort in 1791, and the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church, a wooden Russian Orthodox church with onion domes dating from the 1890s, still stands in the old town. A cultural centre tells the story of the Dena'ina and of the Russian and American eras.

The Kenai River is famous for its king and sockeye salmon runs, and in July residents wade into the river mouth with long-handled dip nets. On clear days the snow-capped volcanoes Redoubt and Iliamna rise above the far side of the inlet, and beluga whales sometimes feed off the beach. Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, a wilderness of forest, lakes, moose and bears, lies inland, and Soldotna is a short drive up the river.

Salmon and halibut come straight from the inlet to the table, grilled, smoked or stirred into chowder. Daylight lasts almost all night in midsummer, and winter days are short, cold and often snow-covered.