Kenai Peninsula - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 25

15. Clam Gulch
Turning south at Soldotna, the Sterling Highway reaches Cook Inlet at Clam Gulch. The
restaurants in this aptly named town serve clam chowder, steamers, and razor clams, and
motels rent buckets and shovels for clamming. During the low tides, on the flats between
CapeKasilof(northofClamGulch)andAnchorPoint(tothesouth),clammersdigintothe
cold sand to extract razor clams, the main attraction here.
To the west, across Cook Inlet from the Clam Gulch tidal flats, a perpetually snow-
capped array of tall peaks greets the eye. Mt. Redoubt stands 10,197 feet high, and to its
left, 30 miles down the coast, Mt. Iliamna tops off at an impressive 10,016 feet.
16. Ninilchik
Just before entering Ninilchik, take a side road to the town's original site, where it stood
fromitsfoundinginthe1820suntilitsmid-20th-centuryrelocationaboutahalf-mileaway.
At the site of the old village, weathered log buildings still stand in the beach grass, and a
Russian Orthodox church built in 1901 overlooks the sea. In present-day Ninilchik a fa-
vorite preoccupation is clamming, but when the king salmon begin their summer spawning
runs up Deep Creek and the Ninilchik River, the town is overtaken by a frenzied fishing
fever, and anglers crowd every bit of the bank.