Page 188 - Vacation Country Travel Guide

Two showcase salmon streams converge at Cooper
Landing. Readily accessible by road, these rivers
provide anglers with some of Alaska’s finest yet very
affordable sport fishing opportunities. The US Forest
Service’s Russian River Campground, connects bank-
fishing anglers with the most productive sockeye
salmon fishery to be found. There are opportunities
to float the river with several tour operators as well
as hiking trails that wind through groves of aspens,
spruce, and birch, passing by lakes and rivers
rewarding visitors with spectacular summit views.
The Cooper Landing Visitor Center is unmanned
but has plenty of guides and information about the
communities on the Kenai Peninsula. The center is
open mid May-mid October. In May, Cooper Landing
hosts a regatta on the Kenai River. Traveling seven
river miles, teams compete in categories of drift boats,
which is a racing contest and rafts, which is a river
clean up competition.
Cooper Landing offers a variety of accommodations,
including lodges, bed and breakfasts, apartments,
and Airbnb cabins. An array of businesses support
the area, including Wildman’s which provides tasty,
fresh food, including packing a lunch, also showers,
laundromat and convenience store. A shuttle service
is also available. Drop your boat in the water and
Wildman’s will shuttle your vehicle and trailer to your
destination, where it will be waiting for you. Gwin’s
Lodge and Roadhouse has cabins, a restaurant, tackle
and souvenir shop and a full-service bar. At the end
of a long day on the river, enjoy a cold beer while
regaling your buddies with stories about “the one that
got away”.
Enjoy the best of Alaska when you visit Cooper
Landing and find out why they call it “the gem of the
Kenai Peninsula”.
Aerial view of the Russian River
Sterling
Location: Sterling Highway 1, between
mileposts 80 through 88, 10 miles east of
Soldotna. Population: 4700.
The Moose River is centrally located in Sterling,
a great birding area for migratory swans, sandhill
cranes and one of the exits of the Swan Lake canoe
trail system. Sterling offers river access points to the
Kenai River at Bing’s Landing State Recreation Park,
Izzak Walton State Recreation Park and Morgan’s
Landing State Recreation Park.
One of Sterling’s best-kept local secrets is the vast
Swan Lake canoe trail system and campgrounds. You
can just paddle on the lakes or portage and loop all the
way through to the Moose River on a multi-day trip.
Also located nearby is the Kenai National Wildlife
Refuge. Several businesses specialize in canoe trips
(single or multi day trips) and rentals for this beautiful
area.
There are many local businesses scattered all
through this area including a hostel, lodges, resorts,
cabin rentals, B&Bs, RV parks, fishing guides, flying
services, dog sled tours, cafes, gas stations, liquor
store, tackle shop, bar, fur factory, diamond willow
and antler carving shops.
Just 10 miles east of Sterling, Jim’s Landing on
the Skilak Lake loop road is a favorite spot to launch
rafts for the Kenai River Canyon Run terminating in
Skilak Lake. Be sure to have a motor on that raft or
a power boat pick-up waiting for you because Skilak
Lake upper boat launch is six water miles away
and in bad weather the waves look more like ocean
swells than lake swells. There is a Lower Skilak boat
launch and campground too, along with Hidden Lake
Campground.

JCT. OF STERLING HWY 1
& KENAI SPUR ROAD

186