Seward

Seward

The deep, ice-free waters of Resurrection Bay have made the port of Seward an important location for centuries.

First, for the Russian fur traders who explored the area in 1792, later for arriving gold rush prospectors for whom Seward was Mile 0 of the famous Iditarod Trail, and today for the fishers, cruise ship operators, kayakers, and marine researchers who use Seward as a base.

Seward still serves a gateway for visitors to Alaska, and for many it is also the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park.

Within this park, the easy Exit Glacier trail and the more strenuous Harding Ice Field trail both provide glimpses of the glacial forces responsible for Seward’s furrowed coastline.

For a closer look at the Resurrection Bay’s wildlife, visit the Alaska SeaLife Center. This non-profit organization maintains both a public aquarium and a cold-water research station in their Seward facility. The center’s research activities includes holistic ecosystem studies, dedicated study of otters, seals, birds, and salmon, and rehabilitation and release for injured marine mammals.

Seward is also the site of the annual Mount Marathon race.

Runners descend on the town for the grueling footrace up its 3,022-foot peak each July 4, while tens of thousands of spectators come to cheer them on and enjoy other holiday festivities.

If your interest in marine life is specifically focused on salmon, visit the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association’s fish weir at Bear Lake. This counting station monitors the number of coho and sockeye that travel through Bear Creek between the salt water of Resurrection Bay and the fresh water of Bear Lake. Caution is needed when visiting the weir, since the name “Bear Creek” was not chosen for poetic effect.

Where there are salmon, there are also bears. Click here for more information on bear safety.

More in Life

John Messick’s “Compass Lines” is displayed at the Kenai Peninsula College Bookstore in Soldotna, Alaska on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Messick reflects on path forward in ‘Compass Lines’

“Compass Lines,” a new book by John Messick, a local writer and… Continue reading

Keanu Reeves portrays John Wick in "John Wick: Chapter 4." (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
On the Screen: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ goes out on top

In the showstopping, approximately 40-minute long, third-act action sequence of “John Wick:… Continue reading

Will Morrow (courtesy)
Springing ahead

I’m not ready to spring ahead

Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 8

Dempsey spent more than a decade attempting to persuade a judge to recommend him for executive clemency

Promotional image via the Performing Arts Society
Saturday concert puts jazz, attitude on stage

Lohmeyer is a former local music teacher

The author holds a copy of Greta Thunberg’s, “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,” inside the Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Off the Shelf: Thunberg speeches pack a punch

“No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference” is a compilation of 16 essays given by the climate activist

White chocolate cranberry cake is served with fresh cranberries. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Hard-to-ruin cranberry cake

This white chocolate cranberry cake is easy to make and hard to ruin — perfect for my students aged 3, 6, 7 and 7.

After Pres. Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison, William Dempsey (inmate #3572) was delivered from Alaska to the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island, Wash. These were his intake photos. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 7

The opening line of Dempsey’s first letter to Bunnell — dated March 19, 1926 — got right to the point

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
Life in the Pedestrian Lane: It’s March

March is the trickster month, probably why we see so much raven activity these days

Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in “The Last of Us.” (Photo courtesy HBO)
On the Screen: ‘The Last of Us’ perfectly adapts a masterpiece

HBO unquestionably knew they had a hit on their hands

Chocolate cake is topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A cake topped with love (and white chocolate cream cheese)

He loved the frosting so much he said he never wants anything else on his cake

In 1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson appointed Charles Bunnell to be the judge of the Federal District Court for the Third and Fourth divisions of the Alaska Territory. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 6

Prosecution lawyers were fortunate to have a fallback plan: witnesses to the crime.