Kenai Fjords National Park, National park and nature reserve in southern Alaska, United States.
Kenai Fjords is a protected area on the southern coast of Alaska where the Harding Icefield feeds more than thirty glaciers that push between steep mountain ranges down to the Pacific. The coastline forms deep inlets and narrow waterways where seabirds nest and seals drift on ice floes.
The area received federal monument status in 1978 and was declared a national park two years later through legislation protecting Alaskan landscapes. The Alutiiq lived along these coasts for centuries and sustained themselves from the sea.
The coastal regions of the park were inhabited by Alutiiq people who developed maritime hunting techniques and established settlements along these nutrient-rich waters.
The town of Seward serves as the gateway for visits, and from there a single road leads to Exit Glacier at the edge of the park. The remaining areas are reached by boat or floatplane because the terrain is steep and cut through by ice.
The glaciers often calve during the summer months and send house-sized blocks of ice crashing into the water with loud thunder. Beneath the surface the ice stream continues and forms giant walls that become visible from a boat.
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