overlooking kenai lake | slaughter ridge, cooper landing

6 miles . 2800 ft gain . 3200 ft high

Chugach National Forest

On our off day, we decided to stay close to our campsite before our long drive to Homer later in the evening. And we rolled straight into Slaughter Ridge. The name is pretty foreboding, but don’t worry, it was a more pleasant hike than the name suggests. The trail is steep, but that’s just like any other Alaskan hike. We were already primed after hiking Tiehacker Ridge the previous day. We were simply stoked to explore more of the Kenai Peninsula and had both high expectations and no expectations.

Getting to the trailhead is already a task in and of itself. There’s no real trailhead, which seems to be the case for many Alaskan hikes. You just drive to the end of the road and find parking. This trail actually had a pretty cute sign at the start of the hike once past the construction road.

The trail was honestly pretty fun. But we were spoiled by glacial views the previous 2 days, so we were a little less amused by the lack of glaciers. But what we did enjoy instead were still many peaks upon peaks, a glimpse into the valley of the Kenai town, and the gorgeous Kenai Lake. We caught it at a back-lit light so the lake was a little less blue than it could be, but what a cool view!

Beneath us were many groups of fishermen on the lake. I couldn’t tell if they were all tourists or if they were local. But that surely was the main sport in the area. No one really hikes here it seems! We turned around quickly as we felt weathered by the wind. Happy to explore more, we hiked further to the unnamed lake between our high point at Juneau Point and the opposing Peak 3950. This was a little introduction to Alaskan bogs as we tiptoed our way across the muddy, swamp grass to the little lake.

On our way down, we met a few parties, which was honestly surprising! It’s always a little comforting to know that other people hike the trail you’re on, so it feels semi-safer. We were happy to be back down at the cars, protected from the wind at this point!

Notes

• Park at the end of Stetson Circle which is north of Sterling Highway, adjacent to Cooper Landing School. It relatively resembles a trailhead. There are signs that point you along the trail, and you’ll cross a blasting zone – they seem to have someone stationed to help you cross between large vehicles to keep it safe.
• Like most hikes in Alaska, they are steep and enter the subalpine quickly. Be prepared for quick changing weather. It was much windier than we anticipated!
• Trail is well marked, we were never lost. We stopped at Juneau Point since we figured there wasn’t any necessarily better view at the high point consider how windy it was up there!
• Don’t forget bear spray and when possible, travel in groups and be bear aware!

Photos taken on Canon EOS R5