Palmer, AK 55+ Retirement Communities and Homes

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Overview

Anchorage, the state's biggest city, has many Alaska influences but is also sometimes called Los Anchorage for its Lower 48-style architecture and mannerisms.

The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for the Cook Inlet, which borders the peninsula to the west. It extends approximately 150 miles (240 km) southwest from the Chugach Mountains, south of Anchorage. It is separated from the mainland on the west by the Cook Inlet and on the east by the Prince William Sound. Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

The glacier-covered Kenai Mountains (7,000 ft/2,130 m) run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park. The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter and marshy, dotted with numerous small lakes such as Bear Lake. Several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake. Rivers include the Kenai River, famous for its salmon population, as well as the Russian River, the Kasilof River, and Anchor River. Kachemak Bay, a small inlet off the larger Cook Inlet, extends into the peninsula's southwest end, much of which is part of Kachemak Bay State Park

The Kenai Peninsula is littered with glaciers on its eastern portion. It is home to both the Sargent Icefield and Harding Icefields and numerous glaciers that spawn off them.