This small sea port located on Resurrection Bay on the southeast side of the Kenai Peninsula has a population of about 2,600. Large enough for some cruise ships, the town also has a good sized small boat harbor. Fishing and tourism are two of the main industries.
Cruise ship in Seward’s harbor
Seward is known as “the gateway to the Kenai Fjords National Park”. You can also access Chugach National Forest and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The Kenai Fjords tidal glaciers and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge are best viewed by boat tours through one of the tour companies operating from the small boat harbor. The two larger companies are Kenai Fjords Tours, who we booked with, and Major Marine tours. Both offer a variety of tour options. You can read about our Kenai Fjords Boat Tour. Kenai Fjords National Park can also be accessed by land to visit Exit Glacier and the Harding Icefield.
View of Resurrection Bay on a misty day
Hiking, camping, and boating is also available in Chugach National Forest north of Seward. We hiked the Grayling and Meridian Lakes Trails for a combined hike of about 4.5 miles. This hike took is through boreal forest to the two lakes, with views along the way of the Kenai Mountains. We also visited Kenai Lake which had very high water from all of the recent rains.
Grayling Lake
Meridian Lake
View of Kenai Mountains from the Grayling Hike
View in the Chugach National Forest
Kenai Lake near Primrose Trailhead in Chugach National Forest
Kenai Mountains
Some other areas we checked out in the region which are worth the trip: Nash Road, the Bear Lake Road Fish Weir (see salmon running in season), and Lowell Point State Recreation area. There is a 9 mile round-trip hike from Lowell Point that goes to Caines Head State Recreation area, where you can explore a World War II relic Fort Gilvany, but it must be carefully coordinated with the tides, as it goes along the shore and is only accessible at low tide. There is a water taxi option. We did not have time to fit this in.
View of Seward & Mt. Marathon from Nash Road
Salmon heading upstream to spawn at the Bear Lake Road Fish Weir
Salmon at Fish Weir
Waterfall on the way to Lowell Point
The Alaska SeaLife Center is one of the top places to visit in Seward, Alaska. It is a non-profit cold water marine research facility that opened in 1998 with capital funding including the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Settlement. It is Alaska’s premier public aquarium and marine wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. In addition to the fish, octopus, and shellfish you would expect at an aquarium, they have seals, sea lions, and sea otters.
Seal at the Alaska SeaLife Center
Sea otter
They also have an excellent sea bird exhibit with murres, tufted and horned puffins, eiders, and other birds. The bird exhibit includes rocks for rookeries and a deep tank for diving which can be viewed from the lower level of the facility. They have an excellent display on Salmon at different stages of development, a please touch tank with lots of starfish, sea urchins and anemones. They have presentations on pollution and conservation as well.
King eider
Common murres
Tufted puffin
Horned puffins
And in an effort to provide enrichment, stimulation and activity for their birds, they have the puffins make artwork, which was on display.
Puffin art
Every July 4, about 600 or so hearty souls come to race up Mt. Marathon, a straight up climb of 3,022 feet. The record holder has completed it in about 40 minutes!
Mount Marathon trail viewed from Resurrection Bay goes up over 3,000 feet!
Seward was named the “City of Murals” by then Governor Sarah Palin. You can tour them using the map from the visitor guide available at the visitor center. There are 23 mural locations on the map. Here are a couple of them:
Humpback whale mural near Alaska Sea Life Center
Mural near Tru-Value
After the giant earthquake and tsunami of April 1964, the town did not rebuild along the waterfront, but instead has made it into RV camping, as RV’s can be moved. Most sights don’t have any hook-ups. Only one section offers hook-ups of electric and water, but no sewer. We opted to stay at Stoney Creek RV Park, about 7 miles north of town, as we needed to wash some laundry, which requires a sewer hook-up.
City of Seward RV campgrounds line the bay
Seward has a large Tru-Value Store which had the usual items, but also has a large amount of fishing tackle. We wrote a separate review of Food in Seward.
