Captain Cook SP

A lovely state park at the end of the road! There are small lakes along this road perfect for boating and fishing as well. This park is a gem! It is lush with growth, tall trees providing shade and lots of undergrowth carpeting the gravel soil. Sites ($12/night) are very nicely spaced and a bit grassy/gravel. Some are level and there were many open ones we were able to chose one perfect for us. They have nice tables and fire rings and firewood is available here too. Some of the sites are alongside the ridge overlooking Cook Inlet.

There is a narrow path which leads to "beach access" but it is an overlook. The beach is some 40 feet or more below. We enjoyed the benches and use our binoculars to observe the birds antics. The gulls were "fishing" for worms!

(This is when the tide was coming in.) One site hooked a rope to a tree so they could gain access to the beach. Beachcombers look for agates and rock specimens and walk along the mud and climb large boulders that appear with low tides. There was a bald eagle perched on one of the larger ones for the longest time. Gulls also rested on the stones and refused to leave them until the water came up and washed over their feet! The high tides come in quickly though and you have to be on the alert. Certainly don't want to get "stuck in the mud!" and then have the tide come in. They say it comes in 4 x faster than you can run and I take that seriously! The views are just beautiful. But can easily become hazy and cloudy with the moist weather this area receives. There is a beach access road and picnic area just before entering the park and many trucks with empty trailers were parked at the intersection leading to this road. Apparently they use ATV's along the beach. For what we are not sure. (Fishing/entertainment?) At least they are not allowed in the campground which was nice and quiet. Several families with children, some biking were tenting and having a wonderful time. It is often overlooked by out-of-state visitors as it is at the end of the road but well worth a visit! We spent Saturday night there and I stayed up to take pictures of the lovely sunset. There haven't been many to view either due to high mountain ranges, low clouds on the horizon, weather factors or just the fact that I was sound asleep when it finally descended. When I returned to the camper and loaded them into the laptop, Bob "woke-up" and had to see them too. It was beautiful!