There’s a stretch of the Sterling Highway, about two and a half hours south of Anchorage, where the Kenai River turns a shade of blue-green that doesn’t look real. Glacial silt does that. It catches the light and turns the whole river the color of a swimming pool somebody forgot to tell nature about. That’s Cooper Landing.
The town isn’t much on paper. It runs about eight miles along the highway at the west end of Kenai Lake, where the Kenai River begins, and only a few hundred people live there year-round. A prospector named Joseph Cooper found gold here in the late 1800s, and the place stayed an outpost until the road from Anchorage reached it in 1951. Today the gold is salmon. All four of the Kenai’s salmon species and some very large rainbow trout pull anglers here every summer, and the town fills up from June through August.
I’ll say this up front: Cooper Landing is a summer town. Most lodges, restaurants and outfitters run from mid-May to mid-September, and plenty of them close their doors once the leaves turn. If you’re reading this in October, you’re planning for next year, and that’s the smart move. The good rooms and the best fishing guides book early. Plan now.
Getting there from Dallas is simple. Fly into Anchorage, rent a car, and drive south on the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm, one of the best drives in the country. Leave time to pull over, because you will want to. From Cooper Landing, Seward is about an hour south and Homer is under three hours west, which makes the town an easy base for the whole Kenai Peninsula.
Cooper Landing has lodging for every budget, from a $23 campsite to a raft-in wilderness lodge that costs more than most people’s monthly mortgage.
On the budget end, the Russian River Campground in Chugach National Forest is the classic choice. It has 83 sites with paved spurs, water, flush toilets and fire pits, but no hookups. Single sites are $23 a night and doubles are $33, plus a booking fee through Recreation.gov. Reservations open 180 days ahead, and the three-day stay limit during the peak salmon season tells you how in-demand these spots are. Bears know about the salmon too, so everything with a smell goes in a hard-sided vehicle or a bear locker.
For something more remote, the Forest Service rents rustic public-use cabins scattered throughout the surrounding Chugach National Forest. Some, like Barber Cabin on Lower Russian Lake, can be reached by trail, and others require a floatplane. Expect a wood stove, a vault toilet and maybe a rowboat, at roughly $75 a night. If you’ve never slept in a cabin with no road leading to it, put it on your list.
In the middle, Gwin’s Lodge is the town’s living history. It opened in 1952 as a pioneer-built log roadhouse at Mile 52 near where the Kenai and Russian rivers meet, and it’s one of the oldest continuously operating lodges in Alaska. Its rustic cabins sleep four to six people and run about $190 to $350 a night, depending on season and group size. The restaurant, bar, tackle shop and liquor store are all right there, so you can walk from your cabin to a burger to the river without getting in the car.
For a step up, the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge sits on a ridge above the river with 86 bungalow-style rooms, each with a wood-burning stove and a private porch. There are hot tubs, walking trails, an espresso bar and a big deck over the water. Summer rates generally run from the low $200s to around $400 a night, and the lodge has offered season-opening rates as low as $199 for mid-May stays. It’s the most comfortable bed in town, and it books up with cruise passengers on land tours, so reserve early.
Then there’s the splurge tier. Kenai Riverside Lodge sells multi-day, all-inclusive fishing and adventure packages. Kenai Backcountry Lodge is on a private five-acre inholding in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and the only way in is by raft. It started as a river-access hunting cabin in 1935. Packages at both places run well into four figures, but meals, guides and the experience are built in, and for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, that math can work.
No one comes to Cooper Landing for the food scene, but you’ll eat better than you’d expect. Here are seven places worth knowing, from a food truck to a lodge dining room with a view.
Gwin’s Lodge is the one everyone ends up at. It’s a roadhouse with a full bar, picnic-table seating, a patio, and burgers big enough to need two hands. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner during the season, and the log walls have heard more fishing stories than any building in the state. Here’s a little Dallas connection: a Gwin’s help-wanted post from this summer mentions that someone on the team came up from Dallas in 2012. Texans have a way of finding the good roadhouses.
Rod & Reel, the restaurant at the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge, is the dressiest meal in town, which in Cooper Landing still means fleece is fine. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a seafood-forward American menu, a full bar, a fireplace and a patio. Get a table outside on a clear evening and order the Alaska fish, and it’s a meal you’ll remember.
Kingfisher Roadhouse sits on the shore of Kenai Lake and serves Alaskan seafood, appetizers, salads, pasta and homemade desserts, with live music on some nights. The back of the restaurant looks right out over the lake. Hours change with the season, so call ahead at 907-595-2861.
Sunrise Inn Cafe & Bar, at Mile 45, is the dependable all-day stop for a family breakfast, a bowl of soup at lunch, or a cold beer after a day on the water. It’s casual and friendly, and it’s open early, which matters in a fishing town.
Two Brothers Roadhouse is a seasonal local favorite for pizza, barbecue and nachos, with beer and wine. The portions are big and the feel is laid back. It typically runs from early May to late September.
Blue Yeti is a blue food truck in the Alpine Motel parking lot that makes hot sandwiches to order. Grab lunch here before a hike, and you’ll save both time and money.
Wildman’s, at Mile 47.5, is part general store, part snack counter, and the place to pick up ice cream, quick food and supplies. Every small Alaska town has one, and you’ll stop at it more often than you’d think.
For a drink, Cooper Landing Brewing Company is a small brewery on the Sterling Highway that books live music most summer Saturdays. Order a pint, sit outside, and enjoy the fact that it’s still light out at 10 p.m.
This is the part where Cooper Landing shines. You could stay a week and not run out of things to do.
Fish the Kenai and the Russian. The Russian River’s sockeye run brings the famous shoulder-to-shoulder “combat fishing” scene where the two rivers meet. Even if you never cast a line, it’s worth seeing. The privately run Russian River Ferry carries anglers across the Kenai for about $12 a person, plus campground day-use parking, so bring cash. If you want to actually catch fish, hire a guide. Outfitters like Alaska River Adventures run guided trips on the Upper Kenai for rainbow trout and salmon starting around $205 per person.
Float the river. A guided scenic float is the best introduction to the Kenai, and it’s easy for kids and first-timers. Alaska Wildland Adventures runs a two-hour float through a non-motorized stretch of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge for $72 per adult, with rain gear and rubber boots included. Watch for moose, eagles, Dall sheep and bears. Alaska River Adventures offers a 14-mile half-day float for $75 and a full-day Kenai River Canyon trip for $185 that goes deep into the refuge, away from the road.
Hike to Russian River Falls. It’s an easy trail through the forest to a viewing platform where sockeye leap up the falls in July and August. Brown bears fish there too, so carry bear spray, make noise, and give them plenty of room. I’d put this hike at the top of the list for anyone who isn’t fishing.
Take on Resurrection Pass Trail. The trailhead is less than a mile from Gwin’s, and the full trail runs about 39 miles north over the mountains to the old gold-mining town of Hope. Backpackers make a multi-day trip of it, with Forest Service cabins along the way. Day hikers can go a few miles in and turn back.
Bike Crescent Lake. Mountain bikes are available to rent in town, and the Crescent Lake and Resurrection Pass trails are two of the most popular rides on the peninsula.
Bike Crescent Lake. Mountain bikes are available to rent in town, and the Crescent Lake and Resurrection Pass trails are two of the most popular rides on the peninsula.
Visit the K’Beq’ Footprints Heritage Site. It’s run by the Kenaitze Indian Tribe near the Russian River, and you’ll learn how the Dena’ina people have lived and fished in this valley for thousands of years. The fish you’re watching have fed people here long before any of us showed up with a rod.
Stop at the Cooper Landing Museum. The historical society’s museum sits below the mountains along the river and covers the town’s gold-rush past. It’s small and a good rainy-day stop.
Paddle Kenai Lake. The color of the lake is the main event, and a calm morning on the water is one of the best things you can do here.
Take a day trip to Seward. It’s an hour south, and you can tour Kenai Fjords National Park by boat to see tidewater glaciers, whales and puffins, or walk up to Exit Glacier. Then head back to Cooper Landing for dinner.
Watch for wildlife from the car. Moose cross the river and the highway all summer, and mothers with calves are common. Slow down, and if one is near the road, stay in the car.
Alaska isn’t cheap, and summer is the expensive season. Here’s a rough idea of what to budget for a summer trip for two, not counting airfare and the rental car, which are usually the biggest expenses. Book both as early as you can.
A budget trip is very doable. Camp at the Russian River for $23 to $33 a night, buy groceries, eat at the food truck and the roadhouse, and spend your money on one guided float at about $75 a person. Two people can get through four nights for a few hundred dollars plus fishing licenses and fuel.
A mid-range trip is about right for most people. Book a Gwin’s cabin for $190 to $350 a night, eat most meals out, and add a float trip and a half-day guided fishing trip. For two people over four nights, figure roughly $2,000 to $3,000 on the ground.
A splurge trip means the Kenai Princess or an all-inclusive lodge package, a full-day canyon float at $185 to $199 a person, a full day of guided fishing, and a boat tour out of Seward. On that plan, $5,000 or more for the week is easy to spend, and nobody who’s done it seems to regret it.
One last piece of advice. Pack layers and rain gear even in July, keep some cash for the ferry and parking kiosks, and buy your fishing license online before you go. Then plan to stay up later than you mean to. The sun barely sets in June, and the river is never more beautiful than it is at 11 p.m.
