Kenai in July

[Diggerdon]

What type of wildlife should we see in July at Kenai? We will be at the Kenai Princess lodge. When does the salmon quit running? We want to see bears and salmon running and my wife would like to see puffins. We will be doing a southbound cruise after Keani.

[Budget Queen]

For clairfication, you are referring to the Kenai Fjords out of Seward and NOT the city of Kenai, which is on the Cook Inlet. At the lodge salmon should be running, on the Kenai and Russian River, I'm assuming you will have a car??

 

IF you want to see salmon feeding by bears, you would best be advised to get yourself to Homer for at least 2 full days, and get a fly in tour. You will have an extremely slim chance of seeing this otherwise.

 

You need to consider only Kenai Fjords boat trips of 6 hours or longer. They are VARIED wildlife trips, and always see, sea lions, sea otters, eagles, sea birds with puffins. Here is a photo sample from one trip I went on. http://community.webshots.com/user/budgetqueen

Overall, the Cooper Landing Princess is a poor location if your priority is Kenai Fjords. You are 40 miles away.

[greatam]

What type of wildlife should we see in July at Kenai? We will be at the Kenai Princess lodge. When does the salmon quit running? We want to see bears and salmon running and my wife would like to see puffins. We will be doing a southbound cruise after Keani.

 

Please be aware that there is NOTHING at the Kenai Princess except gorgeous scenery and expensive meals. It is at least an hour drive to Seward, a half hour drive to Alaska Wildlife Center, Portage Glacier and Alyeska.

 

As BQ posted, the chances of seeing salmon runs and bears around the Kenai Princess are pretty slim. DH fishes the Kenai/Russian River area every year. He has seen bear 3 times in 8 years and they were purely chance sightings.

 

This is the approx fish schedule-Kings-early June to early July, reds from mid June to mid July. And the reds generally school and spawn in large amounts in smaller streams. The Kenai and the Russian (which joins the Kenai SOUTH of Cooper Landing) are large, fairly wide rivers. You won't see what I think you want to see on those rivers-ie large amounts of salmon just by looking down into the water-unless you go to the fish weir. And you need a car or take an expensive fishing trip to get there. This is what to expect-shoulder to should combat fishing. Bears generally stay away. http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/anchor.htm

 

If you are there in July and your wife wants to see salmon/bears, either fly from Anchorage or as BQ posted, go to Homer and fly to Brooks Falls. The cliche pictures of bears catching salmon in the falls are in Brooks during July. Enjoy!!!

 

If you are doing a cruise tour, you are pretty much out of luck. This is one time you really need your own transportation.