Kenai Peninsula Borough is a borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,799, up from 55,400 in 2010. The borough seat is Soldotna, the largest city is Kenai, and the most populated community is the census-designated place of Kalifornsky.
Cooper Landing is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States, about 100 miles (160 km) south of Anchorage, at the outlet of Kenai Lake into the Kenai River. The town was first settled in the 19th century by gold and mineral prospectors, and has become a popular summer tourist destination thanks to its scenic location and proximity to the salmon fishery of the Kenai River and Russian River. As of the 2010 census, the population in Cooper Landing was 289, down from 369 in 2000.
Soldotna is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,342, up from 4,163 in 2010. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina, who historically inhabited the area. They called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen.
The Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about 800 km (497 mi) to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea.
Tustumena Lake is a lake on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula in southcentral Alaska, within Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and near the town of Kasilof. Access is only via the Kasilof River, as there are no roads that lead directly to the lake.
The Chugach National Forest is a 6,908,540-acre (27,958 km2) United States National Forest in south central Alaska. Covering portions of Prince William Sound, the Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River Delta, it was formed in 1907 from part of a larger forest reserve. The Chugach includes extensive shorelines, glaciers, forests and rivers, much of which is untouched by roads or trails. It hosts numerous bird, mammal and marine species, including extensive shorebird habitat and a bald eagle population larger than the contiguous 48 states combined. Human industry in the forest includes extensive tourism and some mining and oil and gas operations.
Andrew Berg was an immigrant to the District of Alaska who was a prominent fisher, hunter, and trapper. He became the first licensed big game guide in Alaska.
The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is a 1.92-million-acre (7,770 km2) wildlife habitat preserve located on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. It is adjacent to Kenai Fjords National Park. This refuge was created in 1941 as the Kenai National Moose Range, but in 1980 it was changed to its present status by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The refuge is administered from offices in Soldotna.
The Caribou Hills Fire was a 2007 wildfire that burned near Ninilchik, Alaska, and expanded extremely rapidly, making it at one point the top firefighting priority in the United States. It soon moved toward the town and at its peak threatened approximately 300 structures.
Holy Assumption Orthodox Church, also known as Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is a Russian Orthodox parish church in Kenai, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. Completed in 1896, it is the oldest-standing Russian Orthodox church in Alaska and was a major center for the assimilation of the local Native population. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places shortly after.
Skilak Lake is a large lake on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The lake is part of the Kenai River system but also contains glacial runoff, being fed by meltwater from Skilak Glacier. The water is exceptionally clear with a mostly rocky bottom, relatively free of aquatic vegetation. It is within the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and can be accessed by Skilak Lake Loop Road via the Sterling Highway. Maximum depth is 528 feet (161 m), it is 15 miles (24 km) long and up to 4 miles (6.4 km) wide in places. Early Russian explorers mistakenly believed Skilak and Tustumena Lake to be a single body of water. It is a popular destination for Alaskans due to it being only about a half-hour drive from Soldotna, and approximately two hours from Anchorage. There are two campgrounds at the lake, one is a developed campground with a host, the other un-hosted and with only basic facilities. There are many well-developed and maintained trails along the lake and its access road, as well as campgrounds and public-access cabins.
The Shanta Creek Wildfire was a lightning caused forest fire that started on June 29, 2009 in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. More than 13,000 acres were burned and over 400 personnel were involved in the firefighting effort.
The Cooper Landing Post Office, formerly known as Jack Lean's Store, is a historic building located in the town of Cooper Landing, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska. Cooper Landing was established after prospector Joseph Cooper discovered gold in the 1880s where the Kenai River meets Kenai Lake. The chalet-style building was built c. 1910-20 as a simple log cabin, and was enlarged in the 1920s and 1930s, probably not acquiring its distinctive facade until the 1930s. Its facade is adorned with hunting trophies such as caribou and moose antlers. The building has been relocated a short distance to the west, along with the historical Ridderford School, and is now part of the Cooper Landing Historical Museum.
The Cook Inlet taiga is a taiga and boreal forests ecoregion in Alaska.
Alaska Nellie's Homestead, located at Mile 23 of the Seward Highway in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, is the former homestead of Nellie Neal Lawing. Neal Lawing had migrated to Alaska in 1915 and ran a number of roadhouses for the Alaska Railroad before settling at the Roosevelt roadhouse on Kenai Lake in 1923, where she built her homestead. She planned to marry Kenneth Holden after settling, but he died in an industrial accident before their marriage; his cousin Billie Lawing then proposed to her, and the two married. A post office opened in the area in 1924; Nellie was the first postmistress, and the post office was named Lawing in her honor.
The Victor Holm Homestead is a historic late 19th-century homestead property in Kasilof, Alaska. The 1.4-acre (0.57 ha) property is located on Cohoe Road, on the west bank of the Kasilof River. The property was settled in about 1890 by Victor Holm, who built a rough log cabin on the property then, and later a more refined log structure in 1915. He also built a wellhouse, outhouse, and food storage cache that have survived. His original cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Victor Holm Cabin in 1977; this cabin was moved away from an eroding bluff in 2011 by the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust. The property is now owned by the Kachemak Regional Historic Association.
The Harry A. Johnson Trapline Cabin is a log cabin in a remote location on the Kenai Peninsula of south-central Alaska. It is located on the banks of an unnamed creek in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Hope. It is about 14 by 11 feet, with a steeply pitched roof 11 feet 6 inches (3.51 m) in height. The cabin was built in 1926 by Harry A. Johnson, a semi-recluse who came to Alaska in 1904 to work on the railroads, and lived a life of subsistence and occasional work. Johnson built the cabin in part as a place where he could engage in nature photography, particularly of wildlife.
The Lauritsen Cabin is a historic miner's cabin in the Chugach Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska. It is located a short way east of mile 48 of the Seward Highway, at the confluence of Mill and Canyon Creeks. It is built of hand-hewn logs fitted tightly with dovetail notches, and features a ridge pole hewn in a curve to provide for a hip-shaped roof. The building measures about 27 by 13 feet. The cabin was built in 1896, and may have been among the first cabins built in the gold rush that swept the area in the late 19th century.
Hidden Lake is a lake on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, formed by an ancient channel of the Kenai River. It is located entirely inside the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The lake is deepest at its southeast end, with depths up to 148 feet (45 m). The back country section of the lake in the northwest has several islands and depths in the range of 10–70 feet (3.0–21.3 m). Being in the foothills of the Kenai Mountains, much of the shoreline is very steep, and wooded with birch and spruce trees. The only outflow from the lake is Hidden Creek, a short, shallow creek that flows into the Kenai River just North of Skilak Lake.
