Homer (Winter)

One of Alaska's most unique towns, Homer is a popular Kenai Peninsula destination for those who love the outdoors. The town of 4,000 is best known for a four-mile-long sandy peninsula — the Homer Spit — that juts into picturesque Kachemak Bay. Near the end of the spit are clusters of businesses, but most of these are closed in winter (Land's End Resort remains open). Back in town are several year-round art galleries (most notably Bunnell Street Gallery), along with fascinating exhibits at the Islands and Oceans Center and the Pratt Museum. Saunter along Bishops Beach at low tide, or cruise up Skyline Drive for an all-encompassing vista ...

One of Alaska's most unique towns, Homer is a popular Kenai Peninsula destination for those who love the outdoors. The town of 4,000 is best known for a four-mile-long sandy peninsula — the Homer Spit — that juts into picturesque Kachemak Bay. Near the end of the spit are clusters of businesses, but most of these are closed in winter (Land's End Resort remains open). Back in town are several year-round art galleries (most notably Bunnell Street Gallery), along with fascinating exhibits at the Islands and Oceans Center and the Pratt Museum. Saunter along Bishops Beach at low tide, or cruise up Skyline Drive for an all-encompassing vista across Kachemak Bay to the snow-capped, glacier-edged Kenai Mountains. Homer has an indoor ice rink for hockey and figure skating, and Beluga Lake — right in town — provides outdoor skating and amusing car races most winter weekends, with beat-up old vehicles spinning across an ice oval. Snowmobiling is another popular motor sport, with a range of trails, especially in the Caribou Hills area. Cross-country skiers will find many miles of groomed trails for both classic and skate skis. The finest and most challenging of these sits in open country at Lookout Mountain, with stunning mountain and bay vistas. Each March, the Kachemak Ski Marathon attracts skiers for an adventurous and extraordinarily scenic 40-km race.

About the Expert

Don Pitcher has written or photographed 10 travel guidebooks to Alaska, Wyoming, Yellowstone-Grand Teton, and the San Juan Islands for Avalon Travel Publishing, Random House, and Sasquatch Books.