Parks and recreation
Relocation Information |
The Kenai Parks & Recreation Department provides essential parks, recreation, and beautification services through the provision of parks, greenways, trails and recreational facilities. Residents and visitors enjoy unique seasonal changes with almost 20 hours of daylight on the longest day of the year to invigorating winters with longer nights often affording spectacular displays of the Northern Lights. Regardless of the season, recreational opportunities and services are comprehensive, serving the needs of a community with varied interests.
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| Photo by Eric Massey |
Indoor facilities, include a public Recreation Center managed by the Boys and Girls Club of the Kenai Peninsula through a partnering agreement with the City of Kenai. The facility is approximately 17,000 sq. ft. and includes a gymnasium, racquetball courts, weight room, and saunas. The upper level includes space devoted to teens, offering a lounge, dance floor, pool tables, video games, and a snack bar. Programs for both youth and adults are offered throughout the year.
Outdoor recreational facilities include nine parks, one two multipurpose trails, 12 sports fields, one skate park, 16-hole disc golf course, community gardens, and 10k of groomed Nordic ski trails during the winter months. The local Softball Association, Kenai Little League, and local soccer clubs provide active leagues and tournaments throughout the summer. Kenai is home to the Peninsula Oilers, a semiprofessional baseball team which often contends for the Alaska League championship. The City’s beautification program also provides maintenance enhancements throughout the city, including along street and highway rights-of-way, greenstrips, parks and municipal owned facilities.
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Photo by Eric Massey |
Kenai’s winter is looked forward to as an enjoyable recreational season as well. Facilities include a 27,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose facility with refrigerated ice during the winter months. Many of the local schools and various hockey associations, along with the general public, utilize the facility. Nordic ski trails abound throughout the area, including 10k of groomed trails on the 18-hole Kenai Golf Course. Snow machining and ice fishing are also two favorite winter recreational pursuits.
In conjunction with the amenities provided by the City, the private sector in the Kenai area also provides leisure opportunities. Services include everything from cable television, video rentals, two movie theaters, four golf courses, two bowling alleys, fishing and hunting services, flight seeing, Kenai River access, and many other special events and services.
Kenai is surrounded by recreational opportunities unique to Alaska, including one of the largest subsistence dipnet fisheries in the state. The dipnet season is for residents only and is usually from July 10 through July 31. Over 15,000 permits are issued annually with a harvest of over 110,000 salmon. Perhaps the largest tourist attraction of the Kenai during the summer months is the area’s tremendous sports fishing. Including world class sized Kings, four different species of salmon return to the Kenai River each year. The lakes an streams surrounding the Kenai are filled with trout, grayling and many other sports fish. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge with its headquarters located 15 miles from Kenai, encompasses approximately two million acres and provides over 200 miles of established trails and water routes, including the Swanson River Canoe System. Many Alaska State Parks, including Captain Cook State Park located 30 miles north of Kenai, also provide residents and tourists alike the finest of the Alaskan outdoors.
For more information visit http://www.ci.kenai.ak.us/parks_recreation.html
