Kasilof RV Park - The Great Alaska Through Our Eyes

The scenery in Alaska for all the seasons is magnificent. On your way up to Alaska in the early spring enjoy the sights of the Tazalina Glacier flowing out of the Chugach Mountains. This is typical of the many beautiful mountain scenes on the way north.

As you pass though Anchorage and head south to the Kenai Peninsula, you will drive along the Turnagain Arm, which is a salt water extension of the Cook Inlet. It got it's name during the exploration of the Inlet by Captain Cook. He sailed up the Arm hoping it was the entrance to the northwest passage across North America. He was again disappointed and had to turn around. Thus it's name,'Turnagain Arm'.

As you reach the end of the Arm, you can glimse the snow covered rise of the Kenai mountains off in the distance. You will climb up into these mountains and across Turnagain Pass (elevation 988 feet) to reach the recreation area of the Kenai Peninsula. This highway (1) is a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road, one of 15 highways nationally named for it's outstanding scenic, cultural, historic and recreational qualities.

Traveling along Highway 1 which leads west to the Cook Inlet, you will pass the town of Soldotna and head south to Homer. On the way you will pass the small town of Kasilof and cross the Kasilof river. Just beyond is the Johnson lake road that will take you to a restful stop at the Kasilof RV Park. We hope you stop for awhile and find that we are central to the Kenai Peninsula and all the adventures of the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, great fishing, beautiful scenery and friendly people.

Along the way you may stop at Ninilchik Village to see the old Orthodox Russian Church. Here you are on the eastern side of the Cook Inlet and can view the Alaska range of mountains on the western side. Across the Inlet rises Redoubt Mountain (11,000 feet).

It is an active volcano having erupted in the late 1980s. Further on down the Inlet, Mount Iliamna can be seen. It is also a volcano and rises over 11,000 feet above the sea level of Cook Inlet.

These are but two of the many volcanos and high mountains in the Alaska Mountain range including Denali (Mt. McKinley at just over 20,000 feet). The Alaska Mountain Range continues from Denali mountain north of Anchorage all the way down the Aleutian Island chain.

On to Homer and 'Roads End', the end of the most westerly continous road in North America. Across the Katchemak Bay are the Kenai Mountains and the huge Harding Ice Field which empties it's glaciers into the bay and into the Kenai Fjords National Park on the Seward side. A landmark that can't be missed in Homer is the Salty Dawg Saloon, a watering hole for the many commercial fishermen that have fished the Cook Inlet and the tourists who each summer stop by for a drink or coke. The lighthouse was original lighthouse on the Homer Spit.

In May and early June, the salmon fishing begins with the first run of King Salmon. King fishing from the bank or drift boats on the Kasilof river and guide fishing on the Kenai. In mid-June, the first run of Sockeye (Red) salmon enter both the Kasilof and Kenai rivers. The early Reds swim quickly up the Kenai to the confluence of the Russian River. Their arrival sets up the annual 'Combat Fishing' fun at the Russian River.

Commercial fishing for salmon includes the setnetters. These hardy fishermen set their nets along the shores of Cook Inlet to catch the Sockeye salmon making their way up the Inlet to the rivers to spawn.

As September approaches, the fall colors change the scenery again. Often the skies clear and Denali (Mt. McKinley) becomes another wonder. This time of year is beautiful with clear skies, a nip of coming winter in the air and the birch trees turning golden. The geese, cranes and swans start their southern migration and are often spotted on the local lakes. The mountain peaks get their first dusting of snow up high and this terminal snow line begins to lower as the days get shorter. As it gets colder, the glaciers stop melting and the rivers reduce in size.

North of Denali is the town of Fairbanks and just north of Fairbanks, the Alaska Pipeline crosses the country on it way to the port of Valdez to deliver North Slope oil to the lower 48 states.