Kenai Fjords National Park
At the edge of the Kenai Peninsula lies a land where the ice age lingers. Nearly 40 glaciers flow from the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords' crowning feature. Wildlife thrives in icy waters and lush forests along the fjords once carved by the vast expanse of ice. Today, shrinking glaciers bear witness to the effects of our changing climate.
Alerts
- ClosureHazardous Conditions at Terminus Of Aialik Glacier
Entering an ice fall hazard zone is prohibited in Kenai Fjords National Park. The terminus of Aialik Glacier is a high-risk area, where unstable ice can fall in blocks or columns. This can generate localized tsunami waves that wash over newly deglaciated and nearby beaches. Rapidly collapsing ice and breakage can cause severe injury or death.
- ClosureNPS ↗Canyon from Toe of Exit Glacier to the Outwash Plain
The canyon from the toe of Exit Glacier to where Exit Creek opens into the Outwash Plain is susceptible to sudden outburst flood events. These events produce sudden surges of water, ice and rock. For your safety please stick to designated park trails.
- CautionNPS ↗Use Caution in and around Pedersen Lagoon
On August 7, 2024, a landslide triggered tsunami washed over portions of Pedersen Lagoon near Aialik Bay (59.8842N, -149.7309W). We recommend caution for those visiting the area in and around Pedersen Lagoon. Click more for additional information.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Open Year-Round | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and November the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Campgrounds
| Exit Glacier Campground | 12 sites | |
| Closed May 22 to Jul 21 · 12 first-come | ||
Every campground here has its own page on Campsite Atlas, with site counts, hookups, rig limits and booking windows. How park camping works
Visitor centers
- Exit Glacier Nature Center ↗Passport stamp
The Exit Glacier Nature Center is the trailhead for all that the Exit Glacier area has to offer, including the Harding Icefield trail. The building includes exhibits about the Exit Glacier area, an Alaska Geographic bookstore, and park rangers to help answer questions about the area.
- Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
The main park visitor center is located in the Seward small boat harbor. The visitor center provides opportunities to view the park film, an Alaska Geographic bookstore, and park rangers to help answer questions about the area.
Explore
Things to do
- Snowmobile in Kenai Fjords National Park
Explore Kenai Fjords National Park by snowmobile. Once the road to Exit Glacier is snow-covered and closed to cars, it is accessible by snowmobile,
Opens on the Park Service site - Get a Passport Stamp at Kenai Fjords National Park
Get your Kenai Fjords National Park cancellation stamps and more.
Opens on the Park Service site - Kayak in Kenai Fjords
Explore Kenai Fjords by kayak. Paddling in Kenai Fjords can be a once in a lifetime experience. By dipping your paddle into these waters, you're participating in the long history of human powered travel along the Kenai Peninsula coast.
Opens on the Park Service site - Explore Kenai Fjords by Boat3-9 Hours
Boat tours depart Seward's small boat harbor daily during the summer months, making it easy to travel deeper into the park.
Opens on the Park Service site - Experience Kenai Fjords National Park in winter
Once the road to Exit Glacier is snow-covered and closed to cars, it is accessible by fat bikes and cross-country skis,
Opens on the Park Service site - Explore the Exit Glacier area in a couple of hours
Would you like to visit the Exit Glacier area, but only have a couple of hours? These are some suggestions for what you might do with that time.
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 12Hide
- Explore Kenai Fjords by air
Overflights also provide dramatic views of the park's glaciers, fjords, and wildlife. You may catch a glimpse of a mountain goat traversing a rocky ledge or peer down at a brown bear fishing in a salmon-choked stream.
Opens on the Park Service site - Become a Fjord Junior Ranger90 Minutes
A junior ranger walk focused on fjords. Join a ranger to learn about these amazing ecosystems
Opens on the Park Service site - Fish in the Seward Area
The area surrounding Kenai Fjords has outstanding opportunities for both fresh and salt water fishing
Opens on the Park Service site - Become a Glacier Junior Ranger
Earn a Glacier Junior Ranger patch by checking out a Discovery Backpack or an Art for Parks backpack and completing some activities.
Opens on the Park Service site - Stay in a Public Use Cabin1-3 Days
Consider staying in one of the park's three public use cabins. These cabins provide a great opportunity to stay overnight in Kenai Fjords.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the Harding Icefield Trail6-8 Hours
The 8.2-mile round trip Harding Icefield Trail is a spectacular day hike. Travel from the valley floor, through forests, meadows and the alpine, finishing with a breath-taking view of the Harding Icefield.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Webcams
Camera images load live from the National Park Service and partner agencies
News
- Exit Glacier Area To Open for Summer Season on May 14, 2026 ↗2026-05-14
Kenai Fjords National Park is pleased to announce that the gate to the Exit Glacier area will be open for the summer season on May 14, 2026.
- Kenai Fjords National Park Closes Exit Glacier Area to Snowmachine Use ↗2026-04-20
Kenai Fjords National Park has closed the Exit Glacier developed area to snowmachine use due to recent warm temperatures and snowmelt.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Guidebooks for Kenai Fjords National Park and Alaska
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Seen this monthHarbor Seal 2× · Fin Whale 1× · American Black Bear 1×Research-grade observations within 25 km, last 30 days, via iNaturalist
Full checklist: 161 birds, 37 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsBald eagle · Boreal owl · Golden eagle · Great gray owl · Great horned owl · Merlin · Northern harrier · Northern hawk-owl · Northern saw-whet owl · Osprey · Peale's peregrine falcon · Peregrine falcon · Rough-legged hawk · Sharp-shinned hawk · Short-eared owl · snowy owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican wigeon · Barrow's goldeneye · Blue-winged teal · Bufflehead · Canada goose · Common goldeneye · Common merganser · Double-crested cormorant · Emperor goose · Eurasian wigeon · Great blue heron · Greater Scaup · Greater white-fronted goose · Green-winged teal · Harlequin duck · Hooded merganser · Lesser scaup · Northern pintail · Pelagic cormorant · Red-breasted merganser · Red-faced cormorant · Ring-necked duck · Sandhill crane · Trumpeter swan · Tundra swan · long-tailed duck
Shorebirds & seabirdsAleutian tern · American Golden-Plover · Arctic tern · Black oystercatcher · Black turnstone · Black-bellied plover · Black-headed Gull · Bonaparte's gull · Caspian tern · Common murre · Crested auklet · Dunlin · Glaucous gull · Glaucous-winged gull · Greater yellowlegs · Herring gull · Horned puffin · Hudsonian godwit · Least sandpiper · Lesser yellowlegs · Long-billed dowitcher · Marbled godwit · Mew gull · Parasitic jaeger · Pectoral sandpiper · Red phalarope · Red-necked phalarope · Rock sandpiper · Ruddy turnstone · Sanderling · Semipalmated Plover · Semipalmated sandpiper · Sharp-tailed Sandpiper · Short-billed dowitcher · Solitary sandpiper · Spotted sandpiper · Thick-billed murre · Tufted puffin · Western sandpiper · Wilson's snipe
Gamebirds & dovesPigeon guillemot · Rock Ptarmigan · Spruce Grouse · White-tailed Ptarmigan · Willow ptarmigan
WoodpeckersBlack-backed Woodpecker · Downy woodpecker · Hairy woodpecker · Northern flicker
Hummingbirds & swiftsRufous hummingbird
Also on the checklistAlder flycatcher · American Dipper · American Pipit · American robin · American tree sparrow · Bank swallow · Belted kingfisher · Black-billed Magpie · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-legged Kittiwake · Blackpoll warbler · Bohemian Waxwing · Boreal Chickadee · Brambling · Brant · Brown creeper · Canvasback · Chestnut-backed chickadee · Common raven · Common redpoll · Dark-eyed junco · European starling · Fox sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned kinglet · Golden-crowned sparrow · Gray jay · Gray-cheeked thrush · Gray-crowned rosy-finch · Gyrfalcon · Hermit thrush · Kittlitz's Murrelet · Lincoln's sparrow · Mallard · Marbled Murrelet · Northern goshawk · Northern shoveler · Northern shrike · Northern waterthrush · Northwestern crow · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Orange-crowned warbler · Pine grosbeak · Pine siskin · Red crossbill · Red-breasted nuthatch · Ruby-crowned kinglet · Rusty blackbird · Savannah sparrow · Snow bunting · Song sparrow · Steller's Jay · Surfbird · Swainson's thrush · Tecolote occidental · Townsend's solitaire · Townsend's warbler · Tree swallow · Varied thrush · Violet-green swallow · Wandering tattler · Western wood-pewee · Whimbrel · White-crowned sparrow · White-winged crossbill · Wilson's warbler · Winter wren · Yellow warbler · Yellow-rumped warbler
Small mammalsAmerican beaver · Dusky shrew · Hoary marmot · Masked shrew · Muskrat · Northern bog lemming · Northern red-backed vole · Porcupine · Red squirrel · Singing vole · Snowshoe hare · Tundra vole
Marine mammalsDall's porpoise · Fin whale · Gray whale · Harbor porpoise · Harbor seal · Humpback whale · Killer whale · Minke whale · Northern sea lion · Pacific white-sided dolphin · Sea otter
PredatorsAmerican marten · Black bear · Brown bear · Canada lynx · Coyote · Ermine · Gray wolf · Mink · Northern river otter · Wolverine
Hoofed mammalsCaribou · Moose · Mountain goat
BatsLittle brown bat
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Rock climbing in the national parks · Skiing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Weather & climate
The weather in Kenai Fjords is difficult to predict and can change rapidly. The area generally enjoys a relatively temperate maritime climate, primarily due to the influence of warmer ocean currents that flows through the Gulf of Alaska. Summer daytime temperatures range from the mid 40s°F to the low 70s°F. Overcast and cool rainy days are frequent. Winter temperatures can range from the low 30s°F to -20°F.
Questions people ask
Does Kenai Fjords charge an entrance fee?
No. Kenai Fjords is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Kenai Fjords open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Can I camp in Kenai Fjords?
Yes. The Park Service lists 1 campground in Kenai Fjords: Exit Glacier.
Source: Campgrounds
Do any Kenai Fjords campgrounds have hookups or showers?
No. None of the 1 listed campgrounds report showers, electric hookups, or a dump station.
Source: Campgrounds
When do Kenai Fjords campgrounds close for the season?
Exit Glacier is closed May 22 to Jul 21.
Source: Campgrounds
Is anything closed at Kenai Fjords right now?
3 active alerts as of October 14, 2026: Hazardous Conditions at Terminus Of Aialik Glacier; Canyon from Toe of Exit Glacier to the Outwash Plain; and more.
Source: Alerts
How busy is Kenai Fjords?
425,369 recreation visits in 2025, number 125 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
When was Kenai Fjords established?
1980. It covers about 1,047 square miles.
Source: Wikipedia
What is the weather like at Kenai Fjords?
The weather in Kenai Fjords is difficult to predict and can change rapidly. The area generally enjoys a relatively temperate maritime climate, primarily due to the influence of warmer ocean currents that flows through the Gulf of Alaska.
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
