Activites
Hike or Mountain Bike
There are tons of terrific hiking and singletrack tracks on the Kenai! From a half-hour wander to multi-day epics, there's something for everyone. Ask Ben & Sarah for recommendations! To get the planning gears turning, some of Ben & Sarah's favorite longer adventures (all-day bike or multi-day hike, with car shuttle) are Lost Lake, Resurrection Pass, and Johnson Pass. Shorter trips include Carter Lake, Crescent Lake, Grayling/Meridian Lake, and plenty of others.
Catch some salmon!
We love catching salmon! We'll (hopefully) feed you some that we catch just downstream on the Kenai River. You can catch your own, too! The Kenai River - which drains Kenai Lake, where our campground is - hosts world-class salmon runs. Our wedding is between the sockeye salmon run, which usually winds down in early August, and the silver salmon run, which starts ramping up in mid/late August for a September peak. August is prime time for one of our favorite rod-and-reel spots at Bird Creek, just outside of Anchorage. Silver and pink salmon are just about everywhere, and, as long as you don't mind getting your footwear (and maybe clothes) muddy, you're in for a great time. Ship Creek in Anchorage proper also has good silver salmon fishing. There's plenty of salmon fishing guides right around Trail River Campground who'll know exactly where and when to go. Or you can get a one-day fishing license online and borrow some gear from us for a very low cost DIY option.
Rock Climb?
If climbing is your thing, there's a handful of crags both roadside and scenic. Our absolute favorite climbing spot is the secluded Kiliak Wall in Eagle River, but Ben's been known to battle traffic noise and overhead mountain goats on roadside crags along Turnagain Arm. Sunshine Ridge is a "classic", and Northwest Passage and Goat's Head Soup are fun spots. For a novel setting (climbing in view of a glacier!), Byron Glacier can be hard to find but has some cool glacier-polished rock. If it's cold & rainy, the Alaska Rock Gym is a happening spot and where we've spent countless evenings in shoulder season.
Packraft
If you have river experience, there's a ton of paddling trips for folks of all abilities. The Kenai has everything from train-assisted Class I floats to epic Class IV canyons. (Ben's first whitewater experience was when Sarah took him down Kenai Canyon (Class III) in sea kayaks during the peak of the sockeye salmon run. This meant that they had to dodge fly fishermen and even one brown bear fishing mid-river. Surprisingly, they both stayed upright. Even more surprisingly, this was the start of many more whitewater trips for Ben.) If you prefer a guided trip, Chugach Outdoor Center guides big rafts down Sixmile Canyon, one of the best runs our state has to offer.