Turnagain Arm ~ Hope ~ Alaska

We follow the shores of the Turnagain Arm in Alaska

Anchorage is almost surrounded by water of the Prince William Sound on the east and Cook Inlet on the southwest.  The city sits on Turnagain Arm at the northern end of Cook Inlet.  We continued to follow Highway #1 to take us down the Kenai Peninsula.

Waters of Cook Inlet

The Cook Inlet is 290 km (180 mi) long and lies to the west of the Kenai Peninsula offering some great views on this sunny day.   James Cook was not the first explorer but he was looking for the Northwest Passage on his first attempt in 1778.  George Vancouver, who had served under Captain Cook named the inlet after him in 1794.

Portage Glacier

The Portage Glacier is included in Chugah National Forest.  It was named in 1898 because it was part of the portage route used between Prince William Sound and Turnagain Arm in those days.  The glacier filled the entire valley hundreds of years ago. Although all separated now, there were five other glaciers all connected to one another in those times, as well.

Placer River Overflow

We are following the Turnagain Arm on this part of Highway 1.  This was named by William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame.  He’d served on Cook’s third and final voyage seeking the Northwest Passage who once again learned that the river’s mouth would not take them where they needed to go so they had to ‘turn again’, therefore the name for the Turnagain River and Arm.  

Turnagain Pass

We were now on the Kenai Peninsula but turned off Highway 1 to find our way to the small hamlet of Hope, Alaska for our next overnight stay.  This drive was about 25 km (15 mi) along the southern side of the Turnagain Arm.

Cabins in Hope, Alaska

The small village of Hope has a population of under 200 now but at one time was a thriving community of 3000 people. Years before Anchorage was founded, news of the Six Mile Creek gold rush in 1895 brought thousands of people and it became one of Alaska’s first gold rushes.  In 1898, the word of Yukon’s Klondike Gold Rush caused most of them to leave, leaving only 23 people in Hope.  Some original buildings still remain today.

Seaview RV park

Welcome to the Seaview RV park at Hope, Alaska.  It is situated at the end of the road and we considered ourselves lucky there were empty spots with all the fishing we’d seen along the way.

The view was great, the price was right and they were right next door to the Seaview Café. 

Fishing on Resurrection Creek

Resurrection Creek is one of the tributaries of Turnagain Arm and the RV park at Hope sits at the mouth of this creek. We took our chairs and afternoon refreshments down there to watch the crowd.  There were families enjoying the water and fishermen there to fish some sockeye.  It took only moments for a fish to grab the hook, it looked so easy, it didn’t look like sport fishing as we know it. 

Seaview Cafe in Hope, Alaska

The café offers a pub and cafe where we sat out on the deck between the two for dinner.  We had the best halibut burger, ever!  The menu was a good one and prices were good, too.  We spent the rest of the evening sitting outside the RV enjoying the view till the sun went down.