Homer, Alaska

Known as the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World”, Homer, Alaska sits at the bottom western corner of the Kenai Peninsula. A small seaside town, Homer’s population numbers about 5,150. The Sterling Highway south from Soldotna provides the only road access. When driving to Homer, cresting the final hill you are rewarded with panoramic views of the town, the Spit, Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet and the Kenai Mountains. On clear days, the volcano Mt. Iliamna (elev. 10,016 ft.) and the Aleutian volcanic crown are visible to the west on the far side of Cook Inlet.

Aerial view of Homer Spit

We really enjoyed our visit to Homer and all it has to offer including a full complement of services, stores and restaurants. There is a very nice Safeway store for groceries as well as a Farmer’s Market twice a week that offered vegetable, local seafood and craft items. There is a small airport and a small boat harbor is located on the Spit. Activities in the area include fishing, hiking, kayaking, and wildlife viewing. Karla went on a half day bear viewing tour with Alaska Bear Adventures to Hallo Bay in nearby Katmai National Park. Across the bay is the first Alaska State Park, the Kachemak Bay State Park. In addition to halibut, anglers come here to fish for king and silver salmon in the bay.

Homer’s small boat harbor

Another harbor view

The Homer Spit is four miles in length. A spit is a finger of land that juts into a body of water, in this case Kachemak Bay & Cook Inlet. We started our visit with three nights on the Spit camping beachfront at the Heritage RV Park, which provided stunning views and immediate access to the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon, known locally as the “Fishing Hole”. Alaska Department of Fish and Game have stocked the lagoon with king and silver salmon smolt. When these smolt grow up and return for spawning, they return to the Fishing Hole for lucky anglers to catch. Along the Spit you can access restaurants, harbor charter fishing and bear viewing tour companies. There is a scenic paved multi-use path that runs the length of the Spit which is excellent for evening strolls or bike rides. Every evening we saw large numbers of sea otters playing in the bay.

Sea otters viewed from our RV campsite on the Spit

View from the bike/ multi-use trail

The Spit bike trail has Kachemak Bay on the left and Cook Inlet on the right

The trail goes through the harbor area

Kenai Mountains from the multi-use trail

We spent our final four nights at the Baycrest RV Park, located at the top of the hill overlooking Cook Inlet. Baycrest also affords excellent views and is slightly less expensive and quieter.

View from Baycrest RV Park

Islands and Oceans Visitor Center is a great stop

We toured the Islands & Oceans Visitor Center for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and walked it’s Beluga Slough Trail, where we watched a moose. The visitor center had excellent displays and a film about the sea life in the Maritime Wildlife Refuge. This is a great stop and is free.

Moose from the Beluga Slough Trail

We took a day trip north on the Sterling Highway to Anchor Point, Ninilchik, and drove through the North Fork Road area. We were able to walk on their beaches and view the Aleutian volcanic crown. We visited Ninilchik’s Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church built in 1900. The North Fork Road provided panoramic views of the peninsula from a high central point.

Anchor Point’s view of the Aleutian volcanic crown

Seagulls at Anchor Point

Mount Iliamna is a volcano

Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church built in 1900

Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik

Kenai Peninsula, Cook Inlet and Aleutian volcanic crown including Mt. Iliamna from North Fork Road

We also spent time watching large tractors hauling out boats from the water at both Anchor Point State Recreation Area and Ninilchik’s Deep Creek State Recreation Area. The crews have it down to a science. Incoming boats radio ahead and the crew pulls the incoming boat’s trailer from a row of trailers, which had their boats put into the water earlier in the day. The tractor, a large CAT, then backs the trailer into the water. The boat glides onto the trailer and then the trailer is pulled out of the water and onto the beach. The wide tractor tires had no traction problems on the sandy beaches.

CAT tractors used to haul boats in/out of Cook Inlet at Anchor Point

Row of empty trailers waiting for boats to return

Tractor hauls empty trailer to the Inlet

Backing trailer into Cook Inlet at Deep Creek State Rec Area

Boat glides onto its trailer

Lighthouse in Ninilchik at Deep Creek

We spent some time hiking the Homer area: Homestead Trail, Beluga Slough Trail, Eveline State Recreation Site Trails, and the Calvin and Coyle Nature Trail. We also hiked and biked on the Homer Spit multi-use path. Many trails are located across the bay in Kachemak Bay State Park, but a water taxi and good timing are required.

Homestead Trail

For an auto tour of Homer, you can drive West Hill Road, Skyline Drive, Ohlson Mountain Road, East Hill Road and East End Road to its terminus overlooking the head of the bay. Along this route you will have fabulous views of Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, Homer Spit, Beluga Lake, the Aleutian volcanic crown, and the Kenai Mountains and their glaciers across the bay.