The distinctive reef at the entrance to Bulldog Cove affords protected anchorage in moderate conditions
The first point of interest includes the remains of the World War II fortifications at Fort McGilvray, part of the Caines Head State Recreation Area. A collapsed military dock off North Beach is situated near the trailhead to the fort, as well as to a campground and public use cabins at Callisto Canyon and Derby Cove. A recreation area brochure states that the pier survived the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and tsunami but the land in the area dropped five feet. The pier has no deck and is not safe to board or for tying up a vessel. A short hike takes the visitor through the deactivated WWII garrison to the top of the 650 foot high bluff where a gun position has a commanding view of the lower reaches of Resurrection Bay. Remnants of the fort are in disrepair but are open to explore, with caution. The trail continues a short distance to South Beach, which housed 500 soldiers during the war. There is a potential skiff/kayak landing site during calm sea conditions to the west of Caines Head. Watch closely for several wash rocks off the point and a short distance off South Beach. During the summer small boats troll along the Caines Head shore for coho salmon.
Three miles to the southeast is the north end of Fox Island, which is dominated by three distinctive peaks of 1300-1500 ft. The first bay down the west side of the island, unnamed on the chart, has a resort and tour boat dock operated by Kenai Fjords Tours. The lodge is located on a narrow isthmus between the bay and a lake.
Sunny Cove has an inviting beach, camping, and good anchorage in most weather
Near the south end of Fox Island on the west side is an open bay encompassed by the 900 acre Sunny Cove State Marine Park. A long sand and gravel beach is good for landing and access to the forest behind, where there is space for camping. Sunny Cove offers good anchorage and shelter, except from westerlies. The cove provides good views of Callisto Head, Bear Glacier, and the Kenai Mountains behind. The cliffs at the south end of the island are known for seabird and marine mammal viewing.
Directly across from Sunny Cove is Callisto Head, and behind it, Bear Glacier. The glacier terminates some distance back from the beach, and a tidal river flows through the moraine on the right side looking in (northeast corner of the beach). With local knowledge some small vessels pass through the channel into a glacial lagoon behind, but in general the passage should be considered non-navigable. The beach, while appealing from a distance, is pounded by breakers formed when a southerly swell piles up on the shallows that extend seaward a quarter mile or so from the beach. Bergy bits or growlers (broken ice calved off the glacier) often drift around the near shore. In general, it’s prudent to maintain a safe distance off the Bear Glacier shore.
At the southwest end of the Bear Glacier bay is a crescent-shaped beach encompassing Bulldog Cove. The cove divides into two gravel beaches separated by a small rocky outcropping, with mud bottoms. Small lakes lie behind both beaches. The more southerly of the two parts of the cove, partly shielded by a row of jagged rocks protruding from the very south end, is more sheltered from southwest, south, and even to some extent southeast weather, though it is not considered a good southeast weather anchorage. Furthermore, in strong west and north winds Bulldog can be an uncomfortable blowhole, but in calm summer weather it is a pleasant and scenic place to lay.
Heading south the next potential anchorage is Porcupine Cove, which is sheltered from west, north, and east with 5 fathom gravel bottom near the head, and a beach suitable for landings unless a south swell is running. Watch out for a wash rock on the west side of the entrance. The next shelter south is Agnes Cove, where the best shelter is the small bight in the east corner but water is deep almost to the shore. Shallower water for anchoring can be found in the southwest part of the cove, but it is more exposed to winds. The point at the south entrance to Agnes Cove has characteristics that are very attractive to seabirds, and at times large numbers of black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous-winged gulls, pigeon guillemots, phalaropes, puffins, and murrelets are present.
Pony Cove, which is popular with sport fishermen, is the last anchorage on the east side of the Aialik Peninsula, but it has deep water and is exposed to the southeast.
Harding Entrance has spectacular seascapes
At the south end of Rugged Island, Marys Bay is considered an east wind anchorage and provides some relief from all weathers but southwest. It is popular with boats waiting out weather before transiting the Harding Entrance toward points west. The Coast Pilot reports remains of an abandoned pier on the south shore that may still pose a hazard.
The area around Cheval Narrows and Pilot Rock is popular with sport salmon fishermen during the season, but the Harding Entrance can be hazardous due to open exposure and strong currents, especially when the ebb conflicts with winds off the ocean.
The following section refers to portions of the coast of Kenai Fjords National Park, which provides visitor amenities but also enforces some regulations regarding disturbance of wildlife and treatment of vegetation. Check with the park for maps that show camping sites, bear-proof containers, trails, cabins, and other features if you plan to go ashore. A guide to camping and landing beaches is available from the National Park Service.
Also be advised that many locations within the national park, and within Kachemak Bay State Park and State Wilderness Park to the west, including parts of upper Aialik Bay, western Harris Bay, the southeast coast of McCarty Fiord, and the southern parts of both sides of Nuka Bay, are owned by the Port Graham Corporation. Use of the uplands (above mean high tide) requires a PGC permit. Use of designated camping and hiking trail easements is allowed without a permit but it is important to obtain a map and descriptions of those easements from the National Park Service before using those uplands. Note also that gravel and sand beaches and the vegetated areas at the top of the beach comprise nesting habitat for many shorebirds, particularly plovers, terns, and oystercatchers. For that reason, dogs are prohibited and people are cautioned to watch out for nests. Birds that appear to be challenging intruders, giving “broken wing” displays, or simply squawking and appearing distressed likely are nesting the area and visitors should take every precaution to avoid disturbance.
The southern Kenai Peninsula coast is temperate rainforest with dense undergrowth and towering spruce and hemlocks
Aialik Bay extends 16 miles into the mainland and is extraordinarily scenic, with two tidewater glaciers and three others visible that have retreated from the shoreline, plus numerous coves and a few beaches. Water is mostly deep except for a terminal moraine bar with a minimum depth of 3 fathoms extending east from the mouth of Pedersen Lagoon. Few of the coves lining the sides of the bay are suitable for overnight anchoring, and others are suitable only during specific weather conditions. Most of the coves on the east side of Aialik Bay are blowholes and have little ground with depths of less than 10 fathoms. Paradise Cove, in the back of Three-Hole Bay, is the most used shelter on that side for anchoring; it’s mostly deep water but two bights on the south side have narrow shelves shallow enough for use by small boats. Anticipate williwaws there during southeast blows. Miller reports potential anchorages in parts of Bear Cove, Tooth Cove, Coleman Bay, and Abra Cove. Chat Cove near Aialik Cape is suitable for a lunch break but not for overnight anchoring.
On the west side of Aialik Bay, McMullen Cove is pretty good and has a sheltered gravel beach. A reef extends northwest from the south side of the entrance so it’s necessary to carefully skirt it by passing into the cove on the north side. But once you are inside suitable anchorage can be found in the western and southern parts of the cove. Quicksand Cove has a sandy beach backed by a small lake but is exposed to east and south weather. The ghost forest in and around the lake attests to subsidence resulting from the 1964 earthquake, which was as much as six feet in this area. Miller reports that Verdant Cove has adequate anchoring ground for all but northeast winds in the south end of the cove. All three of the coves in this paragraph have beaches suitable for landing a skiff or kayak, though Quicksand is subject to an ocean swell in all but very calm weather.
Aialik Bay splits about 7 miles north of Aialik Cape, with Holgate Arm departing to the northwest, terminating at the tidewater Holgate Glacier. The water may be choked with calving glacier ice, and is too deep for anchoring. A National Park Service public use cabin is situated on the north shore of Holgate Arm about a mile northwest of the northern side of the entrance to the arm, and a campsite is nearby.
A few miles farther up Aialik the smaller Coleman Bay branches off to the northeast. Off the north side entrance to Coleman the inlet bottom shallows up from nearly 100 fathoms to 3 where an old terminal moraine lies across the inlet. At the west end of the moraine the swift tidal inlet to Pedersen Lagoon can provide a thrilling ride to adventurous kayakers on the upper part of the flood tide (and ebb for exiting), but should not be attempted by a motorboat and should be considered only after scouting conditions on the other end of the passage. Inside the lagoon harbor seals haul out and have their pups on icebergs. They are very sensitive to disturbance and should be left alone. Sockeye salmon run into the lagoon in summer. A private eco-lodge is located on Port Graham Corporation land on the shore of Pederson Lagoon. Most of the land surrounding the lagoon, and other parts of Aialik Bay, is owned by the corporation, which requires a permit for access other than on public tidelands and specified public easements.
The head of Aialik Bay is fed by calving glacier ice from Aialik Glacier and is backed by the retreating Skee Glacier. The head of the bay is likely to be choked with floating ice. A National Park Service public use cabin is located at the outlet of a small stream about 1.5 nm north of the northern entrance to Coleman Bay and a NPS ranger station is on a little bight a short distance south of the entrance to Coleman Bay. During the summer season the NPS rangers may respond to calls on VHF Ch 16.
Stay at least a half mile from calving glaciers, and use extreme caution when lightering ashore with dinghies or kayaks or when camping along these shores. Calving of large icebergs can send huge waves surging down the inlet which can capsize small boats and can wash away camps placed too close to the water’s edge.
Notes
For about a seven-month period encompassing the winter of 1918–19, artist Rockwell Kent and his nine-year-old son lived on Fox Island in a cabin owned by a Norwegian fox farmer at a location close to the present-day Kenai Fjords lodge. There he experienced a variety of adventures, and he later described it as one the most productive periods of his life. Based on his journal during his stay, and using drawings he composed on the island, he wrote and illustrated the book Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska, which is still in print and available at local bookstores.