Miller's Landing — Hotel in Alaska

We were renting a cabin at Miller's Landing through Airbnb. They called to let us know they offer tours so we took them up on it. We scheduled a full day kayak tour. It was nice to be on property as we had to meet at the dock at 5:30am.

When we arrived we met Chris our guide for the day. We were the only kayakers on a boat of fishermen. We had a 2 hour ride out to Northwestern Fjord. We were going one bay over from where they usually kayak to accommodate the people fishing.

They dropped us off on the rocky beach. The boat has a gangway that lowers down on the bow so we just had to walk off onto the beach. My daughter and I were happy we wore our rubber boots so we could just plod through the water. They quickly unloaded the kayaks and all the gear we will need for the day.

Chris quickly went to work setting up our double kayaks while we ran around taking pictures of the amazing scenery. After a quick review of safety and paddling technique he dragged us to the water and sent us off into the water. We started paddling through the pristine bay and it was a surreal experience. Pictures do not do the amazing beauty justice.

We paddled about 4 miles and made a quick stop to adjust the foot pedals for the rudder and just take a quick stretch. We had also dressed for a cool paddle and the temperature and the sun were making it quite warm so we peeled off a layer of clothes. We continued to paddle through the floating icebergs and had many curious seals popping up to check us out. We also had a whale sighting about 200 feet off the bow of our kayak.

We approached the foot of the Northwestern glacier and could hear the glacier calving. The blue ice glistened in the sun and we pulled over to the rocky beach to have our lunch. Chris laid out sandwiches, chips, and snacks. There were some large ice chunks on land from high tide so we went over for photo ops with them and the glacier in the background.

With our bellies full we headed back out on the water to paddle over to Ogive (pronounced Ojai) glacier. The base of it had disconnected from the Harding ice field above so it is brown and old looking. It is super tall and hard to tell scale from the pictures. We pulled up on the rocky coast next to Anchor Glacier that is very close to Ogive. Chris had brought hot chocolate and his stove thinking, like us, that it was going to be cold. We opted for the water instead since the sun was still shining bright and keeping us warm.

From here we had 1.5 hours to paddle 4 miles to the extraction point. Unfortunately, after a very calm flat morning on the water, the head winds had kicked up and were now making the waves crash over the bow of our kayaks. It made for some difficult paddling for the end of the day. We muscled through but were exhausted by the time we got to the beach. We had been paddling since 9 am with our couple of stops and we pulled in to the final stop at 4pm. The route we took is also a 3 night camping trip which would be a phenomenal way to experience all that this Fjord has to offer on a much more relaxed experience.

We waited for the boat to come pick us up and reflected on our amazing day. Chris is such a hard worker. He pulled us in and pushed us off of each stop all day. He was a wealth of information about the surrounding area the water, glaciers and animals. He even gave us a great suggestion for dinner later that night.

When we got back on the boat for our 2 hour ride back to Miller's Landing we all fell asleep. The combination of the early morning and 14 miles of paddling had gotten the best of us. Chance, is one of the owners of Miller's Landing and was our boat captain. He grew up in the area and is really interesting to talk to. He is very concerned about providing a positive experience and making his customers happy. I highly recommend you do a kayak or fishing tour with Miller's Landing and explore all that this amazing area of the world...

My husband and I have been to Alaska twice & rented an RV both times so we could explore & fish. The first time we stayed at the waterfront "Park" (really a parking lot...literally) in Seward. It's on the waterfront & has good showers & bathrooms, but no privacy and very crowded. One day out driving we discovered Miller's Landing and were VERY sorry we didn't stay there because it was remote and very laid back. The facility is at the end of a gravel road about 4 miles out of town and it is a little aged and well-worn... just what you'd expect in a cozy beachy village... not a dump, just a little weather-beaten and well-used. The next time we came to Alaska we made a point of staying there and LOVED it. The RV was too big for any of the spots in the woods and we were initially disappointed, but they have a number of spaces in a gravel area right on the water and we were able to get a place there. Other RVs were parked right next to us, but it was quiet and still felt fairly private. The view was absolutely stunning. We had electric and water hook-ups so no problem there at all. Our biggest challenge was getting level (but we're novices with RVs so it might have been us... although it is sloped a little).

What I LOVED was that there is a "clubhouse" facility... well, really it's where you check in, rent boats, sign up for charters, etc., plus a tiny market for necessities. They have free wifi there and free coffee (with a container for donations) and when the weather is good, there is a covered porch with rocking chairs and hummingbird feeders where you can sit and stare at the gorgeous scenery across the bay, see occasional sea otters frolic, butterflies flitting by, while you sit and sip coffee and send email to all your unfortunate friends who aren't with you. I woke up early every day and spent a couple of hours there every day until my husband and mother-in-law woke up. It was heaven!

They also do kayak rentals and fishing charters and I loved being there when the fishermen returned and hung their catch... it was just so perfectly ALASKAN!

The tent camping has a distinctly "hippies in paradise" feel and you hear live music and laughter coming from the woods in the evening (not obnoxiously loud... it just adds to the ambiance). I thought the showers and bathrooms were fine and was surprised to see the negative comments from someone else.

In short, if you want a casual and uniquely "Alaskan" experience, I would definitely recommend Miller's Landing. If you want something more glitzy and upscale, let me suggest the RV park attached to the Princess Lodge on the Kenai. If you want a place convenient to getting around in town (Seward), then stay in the waterfront parking lot in town which is nice and has good views and no real personality, but is heavy on convenience.

We LOVE Miller's Landing and will...

This campground is in a beautiful location. However, it is pricey for the amenities it provides.

There is so much stuff laying around that it was difficult to determine where the campground was when you first pulled in. Campsites for RVs in the wooded area are not flat and you are driving over tree roots and rocks. The pictures and maps also make the campsites look further spread out from each other. You are right on top of your neighbor, even in the wooded RV sites.

The showers were not clean and expensive for the amount of time you received via their token system. The showers took almost the full two minutes of one token to warm up and if anyone happened to flush a toilet while you were in the shower or you had to place another token in, the water went cold again.

The campground was noisy at all times of the day, even late at night into early morning. We had hoped for a quiet place to stay being outside of city limits, but this was not the case at all.

We had a bad experience with other campers/locals walking through our campsite at all hours of the day (even 3 a.m.) and talking loudly, even though our campsite was right next to the through road. This appeared to be the norm for people to walk through others' campsites as we observed them doing this on other sites as well. One of the campers was threatening to beat her young child, dragging him knocking his arms against our camper as she walked by our camper late at night and two teenagers knocked the camping chairs we had left out overnight down as they walked through. It appeared many of the campers were staying long term and that many of the locals used the showering and laundry facilities through conversations we had with several of them. The atmosphere felt unwelcoming and somewhat hostile to people outside the community. The remainder of our camping experiences in Alaska were quite different, making me believe this is unique to this particular campground.

We did enjoy being able to easily view sea otters and other marine life while here as the campground is right on the beach.

Overall, we had a much better experience camping in the Chugach National Forest with no electricity or running water than at Miller's Landing. At other campsites in Alaska, we had access to clean laundry and shower facilities with similar availability to the ocean or mountains for better pricing. The value for what you receive at Miller's Landing is not...