As ice melts, sea level rises, and the land no longer weighted down by masses of ice rises as well. Nothing here is static; even "solid" land is a work in progress.
Some changes are slow and steady, some happen practically before our eyes. Deep below Earth's surface crustal plates collide head-on: the denser Pacific Plate slips under the North American Plate. This subduction drags the Kenai Mountains into the sea and causes frequent earthquakes. In the Great Alaska Earthquake, the shoreline plummeted six feet, dramatically reshaping the coast in a matter of minutes. The National Park Service protects this dynamic ecosystem for you to enjoy today and for others to appreciate tomorrow.
You might be surprised to find so much greenery in this otherwise icy place. Until about years ago, much of what is now green was covered by ice. Between the icefield and the fjords, the stages of plant succession are ongoing. Mosses, lichens, lupine, and fireweed are the first to colonize glacial till. Black cottonwoods, Sitka alders, and several species of willows mark the middle stage of this progression. Eventually pioneer species give way to conifers like Sitka spruce and mountain hemlock.
These giants of the temperate rainforest create a canopy for shade-loving ferns, shrubs, and mosses. Each stage of plant succession creates habitat for different animals. Mountain goats pick their way on precipitous slopes. Moose browse hedges of willow and alder. You can see results of their foraging along trails. Forest dwellers include wolverines, marmots, beavers, snowshoe hares, and many others.
The Harding Icefield covers over half of ,acre Kenai Fjords National Park and conceals a mountain range under a thousand-foot blanket of ice. A relic from the last ice age, the icefield shows us what much of North America looked like in our planet's not-so-distant past. Glaciers are still at work in Kenai Fjords today. Year-round storms can drop over feet of snow on higher elevations.
Snowflakes compact into dense glacial ice, feeding 38 glaciers that flow from the icefield. These slow-moving rivers of ice slice through the bedrock, exposing bowl-shaped cirques and broad, U-shaped valleys as they retreat. Keep a safe distance though! The mix of ice and gravel at the glacier's edge can be treacherous.
Ice caves and overhangs can collapse without warning. Deep, glacier-scoured valleys fill with sea water to create the fjords.
Massive icebergs crash from tidewater glaciers into the sea, adding fresh water and nutrients to the cold ocean. This mixture, further energized by long Alaskan summer days, creates one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth.
Kenai Fjords provides habitat for at least species of birds. The black oystercatcher spends most of its time feeding in the rich intertidal zone. Tufted and horned puffins nest in rock crevices along the coast. Bald eagles patrol the waters in search of salmon and other fish.
The park was established in part to protect marine mammals. The waters around Kenai Fjords provide habitat for several threatened or endangered species including humpback, sei, and gray whales and the Steller sea lion. Though you can't tell by looking, there are three different kinds of orcas in these waters: residents, transients, and offshore.
Their diets range from fish to other marine mammals, including whales and sharks. The oldest documented inhabitants of the Kenai Fjords area were the Sugpiaq, commonly known as the Alutiiq. Coastal hunters and gatherers, the Alutiiq subsisted on marine and land mammals, fish, birds, and a variety of edible plants. They lived in permanent villages and used outlying hunting and fishing camps seasonally.
Everything you might need to know as you start planning your trip to the park. Boat tours depart Seward's small boat harbor daily during the summer months, making it easy to travel deeper into the park. Exit Glacier, the only part of the park accessible by road, offers short trails, viewpoints, and a nature center.
Join a park ranger for a short walk, interpretive talk, or a day hike and learn more about your park. Completing the strenuous Harding Icefield Trail represents quite an accomplishment. The 8. Kayaking in Kenai Fjords can be an exciting way to explore the fjords, see glaciers, and view wildlife.
No matter your age, we've got a program for you, including our new Explorer App. At the end of the 8. That includes the Harding Ice Field Trail, a popular 4-mile hike that follows Exit Glacier up to a viewing point where hikers can gaze at one of the last remnants of the ice age. Also along the road is Exit Glacier Campground, the only formal campground in the park, and the southern trailhead for the Resurrection River Trail that heads 16 miles north into Chugach National Forest.
The only other development in the park are three public-use cabins along the fjords and a lodge. In , Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge opened on Native-owned land in Aialik Bay within the park and is accessible by boat during the summer months. There are no fees for entrance to Kenai Fjords National Park or camping. There is a nightly fee for the park's three public-use cabins which should be reserved in advance from the Alaska Public Lands Information Center ; Seward is miles south of Anchorage and can be reached via the Seward Highway or the Alaska Railroad during the summer months.
In Seward both tour boats and charter air services provide transport deeper in the Kenai Fjords National Park. For a list of commercial boat tours, outfitters and air taxi operators contact the Kenai Fjords National Park Headquarters in Seward or the Seward Chamber of Commerce Add To My Alaska Trip. If you would like to compare where services are located, you can Add to My Alaska to compile a list and see all the points on the same map. Escape to the transformative natural beauty of Alaska.
Get the inside scoop with our official State of Alaska Vacation Guide. This website uses cookies to analyze traffic and customize content on this site. In more recent times, hunters, fishermen, fox farmers, miners, and more have made use of the fjords.
Within Kenai Fjords National Park, a representative piece of the north Gulf Coast of Alaska, stories of people and places abound; from the Sugpiaq, whose camps dotted the coastline, to the mining camps that once operated in the Nuka Bay area.
Remnants of former times are abundant. They are worthy of protection as much as any natural feature, as they are invaluable links to the past.
We work to document the people in the park, past and present, and help preserve places with special history. The park maintains an extensive museum collection , of more then , objects, representing the history of this area. As part of our mission to preserve and protect the natural and cultural history of this special place, archeologists survey and analyze the remains of sites throughout the park, as well as, sites from historic Seward.
Learn more about the history of the park by exploring these articles, books, recordings, and more about the history of this special area.
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