Outdoor Family Activities

Go-cart racing
The Go-Kart Race Track, 4487 Sterling Highway, Soldotna, 907-262-1562.

Disc Golf Course
The Kenai Eagle 18-hole disc golf course on Tinker Lane, behind the Peninsula Oilers baseball field in Kenai. Instructions for playing this game that anyone, no matter what age or ability can play, are posted on the course. Disc golf is played like regular golf, only using specially weighted discs instead of balls. Instead of cups to drop the ball in, the target is a basket suspended from a post. The park is unsupervised and users assume all risks. The park is open year-round. There is no fee.

Skateboard, BMX parks
The Kenai Parks and Recreation Department park, off of Coral Street, near the adult softball fields, has a smooth asphalt surface with chain-link perimeter fence. It has a quarter pipe, kinked grind box, double bank, jump box, bank ramp, grind ledge and kinked square rail. The park is intended for skaters and BMX riders. Safety equipment (helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards at a minimum) is strongly recommended. A rules are listed at the site. The park is unsupervised and users assume all risks. The park is open to all ages. There is no fee. For more information, call Bob Frates at 907-283-3692.

Soldotna's Karen Street Park includes a gated skate park metal quarter pipes, boxes, rails, in differing shapes and sizes. The park is unsupervised and is open during daylight hours. Karen Street is located off the Kenai Spur Highway. For more information, contact the Soldotna Parks and Recreation Department at 907-262-3151.

The North Peninsula Recreation skateboard park is next to the Nikiski Community Recreation Center. It is open May through September from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The cost is $10 per person for the entire summer. ID cards will be issued to registered users. For more information, call 907-776-8800.

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
The headquarters on Ski Hill Road in Soldotna offers easy hiking trails, as well as one of only two national canoe systems in the country. Visitors can explore the waterways for day and overnight trips by taking out their own canoes or hiring commercial operations. Kenai National Wildlife Refuge was established to conserve moose, bears, mountain goats, dall sheep, wolves, salmon, waterfowl and other species; to fulfill treaty obligations; to ensure necessary water quality and quantity; and to provide scientific research, interpretation, environmental education and land management training. For more information, call 907-262-7021, e-mail kenai@fws.gov or go online to http://kenai.fws.gov/.

Kenai Public Beach
The beach is at the end of Spruce Drive in Kenai. Although it has one of the fastest tide changes in the world, the soft sand, sprinkling of shells and fantastic views make this a great place to run and stretch your legs.

Captain Cook State Recreational Park
The park is in Nikiski. But the drive to the end of the Kenai Spur Highway from Kenai will be worth it when your youngsters start clambering over the jumble of colorful rocks that are found on the beaches of this natural paradise. Camping, swimming and picnic areas make this a great way to spend the day.