Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is a 1.92-million-acre (7,770 km2) wildlife habitat preserve located on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. It is adjacent to Kenai Fjords National Park. This refuge was created in 1941 as the Kenai National Moose Range, but in 1980 it was changed to its present status by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The refuge is administered from offices in Soldotna. The Kenai Wilderness protects 1,354,247 acres of the refuge as wilderness area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
| Designation | National Wildlife Refuge |
| Managed by | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| State | Alaska |
| Size | 1.9 million acres |
| FWS region | Region 7 |
| Center point | 60.34° N, 150.50° W |
| Night sky | About as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 10) |
Boundary map
Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees Federal campground
The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.
Weather by month
Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.
Where to camp
1 federal campground sits inside the boundary and 4 more are within ten miles of it. Nearest first. Distances are from the campground point to the boundary edge, from the Campsite Atlas index.
Trails
17 named Forest Service trails start or end within 31.1 miles of the center point, 142 miles in all. The 10 longest are listed here.
| Trail | Miles | Allowed uses |
|---|---|---|
| Resurrection Pass Trail ↗ | 73.7 | |
| Russian Lakes Trail ↗ | 21.8 | |
| Resurrection River Trail ↗ | 17 | |
| Crescent Creek Trail ↗ | 6.4 | |
| Bean Creek Trail ↗ | 5 | |
| Stetson Creek Trail ↗ | 4.6 | |
| Upper Russian Winter Route | 3.2 | |
| Russian River Anglers Trail | 3.1 | |
| Barber Cabin Trail | 1.7 | |
| Russian River Falls Trail | 1.4 |
Lengths and allowed uses come from the Forest Service trail layer by way of Trailhead Atlas. This trail list was copied from Trailhead Atlas on November 1, 2026 and is copied again on each weekly run. Trails in plain text have no page there yet. The radius is the one a circle of this unit’s acreage would have, measured from the center point, so a trail listed here can fall outside the boundary.
Explore
Nearby on the other atlases
- under 0.1 miBerg, Andrew, Cabin ↗Soldotna, AK
- under 0.1 mi
- 1.3 miSoldotna Post Office ↗Soldotna, AK
- 4.8 miCooper Landing Historic District ↗Cooper Landing, AK
- 4.8 miCooper Landing Post Office ↗Cooper Landing, AK
- 5.8 miPotter Section House ↗Anchorage, AK
- 6.4 miHolm, Victor, Cabin ↗Kenai, AK
- 8.3 miHirshey Mine ↗Hope, AK
Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.
Guidebooks for Alaska
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Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
How big is Kenai National Wildlife Refuge?
1.9 million acres.
Source: How acreage is computed
Who manages Kenai National Wildlife Refuge?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
What state is Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in?
Alaska.
Source: How states are assigned
Can I camp at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge?
The refuge page says whether camping is allowed here. The federal campgrounds within ten miles are listed under Where to camp.
Source: Where to camp
How do I get to Kenai National Wildlife Refuge?
A point inside the boundary is at 60.337° N, 150.504° W. Kenai Fjords National Park is 8 miles away. The official page carries directions and the office address.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Which national parks are near Kenai National Wildlife Refuge?
Kenai Fjords National Park (8 mi) and Alaska Public Lands (17 mi). Park Atlas has fees, hours and alerts for each.
Source: Nearby on the other atlases
Are there historic places near Kenai National Wildlife Refuge?
The National Register has 20 listings within 15 miles, including Berg, Andrew, Cabin and Johnson, Harry A., Trapline Cabin.
Source: Register Atlas
Sources
- Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
- States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
- Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
- Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q829102), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
- Description: Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
- Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
- Trails: the Trailhead Atlas open-data file of Forest Service trails, matched by trail endpoints falling inside a circle of this unit’s acreage around the center point.
- Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
- Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.