Captain Cook State Recreation Area is a park on the

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. It is located on the shores of

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet (; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding ...

at the northern terminus of the

Kenai Spur Highway The Kenai Spur Highway is a highway on the Kenai Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. The road begins at a junction with the Sterling Highway in Soldotna and provides access to the towns of Kenai and Nikiski, dead-ending at the entrance to ...

, about north of

Kenai Kenai (, ; Dena'ina: ; , ''Kenay'') is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. By road, it is 158 miles southwest of Anchorage. The population was 7,424 as of the 2020 census, up from 7,100 in 2010, the fiftee ...

and north of

Nikiski Nikiski is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 4,456 at the 2020 census, down from 4,493 in 2010. Geography Nikiski is located at (60.707891, -151.262646) on the west side of the ...

. Both the Inlet and the recreation area are named after

Captain James Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

who explored the area in 1778.Captain Cook SRA

Alaska Department of Natural Resources The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is a department within the government of Alaska in the United States. The department has the mission of responsibly developing Alaska's resources by making them available for maximum use and benefit c ...

History

Archeological evidence, as well as Cook's observations indicate the area was previously inhabited by the Dena'ina people, who gathered

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

in the area. The beaches in and around the park have also been the site of

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

activity. The park is one of the oldest in the Alaska State Park system, having been authorized in 1971, with major capital improvement projects in 1978 and 2010.

Features

One of the park's main features is the ''Discovery Campground'', a 53-site wooded camping area on the bluffs above Cook InletDiscovery Campground

( ''Discovery'' was the name of one of the ships in Cook's expedition.) Campers are advised to keep a clean camp as black bears are known to frequent the area. There is a nature trail which encircles the campground. Below the campground is a beach on Cook Inlet, rocky in some places but more sandy near the river outlet. Beachcombers can find

agate Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of d ...

s here. At low tide extensive and dangerous

mud flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal f ...

are exposed below the beach. On a clear day visitors to the bluff and beach can see the distant

Aleutian Range The Aleutian Range is a major mountain range located in southwest Alaska. It extends from Chakachamna Lake (80 miles/130 km southwest of Anchorage) to Unimak Island, which is at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It includes all of the mountain ...

, including the volcano

Mount Spurr Mount Spurr ( Dena'ina: ''K'idazq'eni'') is a stratovolcano in the Aleutian Arc of Alaska, named after United States Geological Survey geologist and explorer Josiah Edward Spurr, who led an expedition to the area in 1898. The Alaska Volcano ...

The Milepost ''The Milepost'' is an extensive guide book covering Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia. It was first published in 1949 as a guide about traveling along the Alaska Highway, often locally referred to as "The ALCAN" ...

2018 edition, page 553 ,

Morris Communications Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications, and online serv ...

as well as several offshore oil rigs.Cook Inlet Oil and Gas activities map

The park is the northern terminus of the

Swanson River The Swanson River (Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Yaghetnu'') is a stream, long, on the Kenai Peninsula of south-central Alaska in the United States. Beginning at Gene Lake in the Swanson Lakes district, it flows southwest then north to Number ...

and its associated

canoe trail Water trails (also known as blueways) are marked routes on navigable waterway such as rivers, lakes, canals, and coastlines for recreational use. They allow access to waterways for non-motorized boats and sometimes motorized vessels, inner tubes, ...

.Map of the SRA
/ref> The park is also home to Stormy Lake, a lake with boat launch and picnic areas as well as a small, primitive, boat-accessible campground.Recreational Boating Access Projects, Southcentral Projects

Alaska Department of Fish and Game The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is a department within the government of Alaska. ADF&G's mission is to protect, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development i ...

The lake was the site of two efforts to eradicate

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

.Earl, Elizabeth
Fish population booms in Stormy Lake

Peninsula Clarion The ''Peninsula Clarion'' is a regional newspaper published in Kenai, Alaska that serves the population of the Kenai Peninsula. History The paper was founded in 1970. Five years later it was purchased by Dick Morgan, Max Swearingen and Pat ...

, 10/7/2015 In winter months the park features

ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters L ...

on the lake and cross-country ski trails.

References

{{authority control Beaches of Alaska Monuments and memorials to James Cook Protected areas of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska State parks of Alaska Protected areas established in 1971 1971 establishments in Alaska