Beaches: Toes in the water

Here’s one best seen from a boat
It’s not a beach in the traditional sense, but Kenai Fjords National Park might be the most spectacular stretch of seaside scenery you’ll ever see.

Stretching along the southern coast of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula near Seward, the Kenai Fjords are massive geological formations carved by glaciers. The glaciers come from the mountains of the Harding Ice Field and slowly descend to the Pacific coast, where they crash into the sea.

Past glaciers have left towering monoliths of rock in their wakes; a number of active glaciers come right to the water’s edge, where their calving and runoff creates a neon blue-green water color.

Kenai Fjords is the only national park visited primarily by boat. Sightseeing cruises that depart from Seward sail along the fjords, where guests see the beauty of large rock outcroppings, with the towering, snowy ice fields in the distant background.

The sightseeing cruises pass a number of glaciers, giving visitors a close look at their grandeur and beauty.

The fjords are also a great place to see wildlife. Guides on the cruises point out seabirds, such as the colorfully tufted puffins, as well as massive Steller sea lions that breed on the rocks in the area.

www.nps.gov/kefj