Things to do in Homer
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Bear Creek Winery
Wineries are scarcer than vineyards in Alaska, but this impressive family-run operation bottles some fine berry-based wines, plus fireweed mead and rhubarb vino. It conducts tours and tastings daily in the summer and sells its product on-site.
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Duncan House Diner
- Homer, USA
- Restaurants › Diner
This busy downtown place fries up Homer's best bacon-and-eggs, which it serves until 14:00.
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Homer Spit
- Homer, USA
- Sights › Waterfront
This long needle of land - a 4½-mile sand bar stretching into Kachemak Bay - is viewed by some folks as the most fun place in Alaska. Others wish another earthquake would come along and sink the thing. The Spit throbs all summer with tourist masses in unimaginable density, gobbling fish-and-chips, quaffing specialty coffees, getting chair massages, buying alpaca sweaters, arranging bear-watching trips, watching theatrical performances, and - oh yeah - going fishing in search of 300lb halibut.
The hub of all this activity is the small-boat harbor, one of the best facilities in Southcentral Alaska and home to more than 700 boats. Close by is the Seafarer's Memorial, which…
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Bishop Creek Trail
- Homer, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This hike is a 7-mile waterfront trek from north of Homer back into town (you could do it in reverse, but you're likely to miss the turnoff to the highway). The views of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Mountains are superb, while the marine life that scurries along the sand at low tide is fascinating.
The trailhead is opposite Diamond Ridge Rd, 5 miles north along the Sterling Hwy. The trail begins by descending along Diamond Creek, then hits the beach. Check a tide book, and leave before low tide and return before high tide. High tides cover most of the sand, forcing you to scramble onto the base of the nearby cliffs. Within 4 miles you'll pass a sea-otter rookery a few hundr…
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Homestead Trail
- Homer, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This 6.7-mile trek from Rogers Loop Rd to the City Reservoir, just off Skyline Dr on Crossman Ridge Rd, is a 2½-mile walk to Rucksack Dr, which crosses Diamond Ridge Rd. Along the way you pass through open meadows with panoramic views of Kachemak Bay and Mt Iliamna and Mt Redoubt on the other side of Cook Inlet. The trek continues another 4.2 miles, following Rucksack Dr and Crossman Ridge Rd to the reservoir. Cars are banned from both dirt roads.
To reach the trail, head out of town on the Sterling Hwy and turn right on Rogers Loop Rd across from the Bay View Inn. The trailhead is a half-mile farther, on your right.
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Homer Council of the Arts
The cold, dark season of unemployment has inspired a saying in these parts: 'If you're starving, you might as well be an artist.' Just browsing these great galleries is a treat, and on the first Friday of the month, many break out the wine and cheese, and stay open late for a series of openings all over town.
This is just the tip of the iceberg - grab a free Downtown Homer Art Galleries flyer at the visitors center with many more gallery listings, or stop by the Homer Council of the Arts, with its own awesome gallery and information on various tours.
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Rainbow Tours
Whenever you're out in the bay there's a chance of spotting whales - sometimes you can even spot orca from the tip of the Spit. Rainbow Tours runs a dedicated whale-watching tour. The comfortable 65ft vessel, MV Rainbow Connection, leaves Homer at 09:00, cruises to Seldovia, and then spends six-plus hours seeking out humpbacks, orcas, minkes, finbacks and gray whales in Kachemak Bay and Kennedy Entrance. The price includes lunch. Be sure to bundle up and bring your binocs.
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Carl E Wynn Nature Center
- Homer, USA
- Activities › Hiking
Located on the bluffs above Homer, this is highly recommended for families and anyone interested in the area's ethnobotany. With a few short interpretive nature trails, one of them boardwalked and wheelchair accessible, this is a grand place to learn which plants can be used to heal a cut, condition your hair or munch for lunch. Naturalist-led hikes leave at 10:00 and 14:00 daily in summer. It also has a slate of lectures and other programs; call the center for a schedule.
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Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
- Homer, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This nonprofit organization devoted to promoting appreciation of Kachemak Bay's ecosystem, runs the Carl E Wynn Nature Center and the Peterson Bay Field Station, both of which offer guided hikes and educational programs throughout the summer. Drop by to learn more about their offerings, and to get maps and info about Kachemak Bay State Park. It also operates the Yurt on the Spit, which does a daily 'Creatures of the Dock' tour.
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Homestead
Considered the highest-end - and perhaps the most delicious - restaurant in Homer, with appetizers like Kachemak Bay oysters and mains such as Thai curry and Sonoran seafood stew. Though the waiters wear black ties, patrons can come as they are (hey, this is Homer, after all). Reservations are recommended.
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Bald Mountain Air
Bald Mountain Air runs trips to the Katmai National Park headquarters at Brooks Camp, where countless bears converge to snag salmon ascending Brooks River - and where countless tourists converge to watch them. Once-in-a-lifetime photos are pretty much certain.
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Fat Olives
Fat Olives In this chic and hyper-popular pizza joint/wine bar, you could gorge affordably on appetizers such as prosciutto-wrapped Alaska scallops, delicious mains like wood oven-roasted rack of lamb or a huge slice of pizza to go ($4).
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Spit Sisters
If you're after a feisty girl-power vibe, you've come to the right place. There's a great view overlooking the Small-Boat Harbor, and delicacies to enjoy - apricot scones, blackberry muffins, sticky buns - made by the revered Two Sisters Bakery in town.
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Yurt on the Spit
Yurt on the Spit is run by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies whose mission is to promote appreciation of Kachemak Bay's ecosystem. Right behind Mako's Water-Taxi, Yurt on the Spit does a daily 'Creatures of the Dock' tour at 11:00 and 14:00.
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Emerald Air Service
Emerald Air Service is run by respected naturalists and offers a far more wilderness-oriented experience, bypassing Brooks Camp and seeking out bears along isolated Katmai beaches and lakeshores.
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Captain Pattie's
This oceanfront eatery has become a Spit institution by selling overpriced seafood to a constant stream of landlubbers. It claims its halibut is Alaska's best, but those in the know order crab.
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Pier One Theater
Live drama and comedy is performed in a 'come-as-you-are' warehouse next to the Fishing Hole on the Spit. Performances start at 20:15 Friday and Saturday and 19:30 Sunday throughout the summer.
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Fireweed Gallery
Has a more statewide representation than most of the other galleries. It's got photography, metalwork, oil paintings, jewelry, and is also home to the Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society.
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Pratt Museum
The recently renovated Pratt Museum is the best on the peninsula, with exhibits on the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the dangers fisherman face on Kachemak Bay.
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K-Bay Caffé
- Homer, USA
- Restaurants › Café
Ask any local and they'll tell you: this is the best coffee in town, and well worth the inconvenient drive. It also has free Internet access (donations appreciated) on one computer.
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Boardwalk
Widely viewed as the best place on the Spit for halibut - tempura-battered, fried and served kabob-style. Notice, however, that fishermen, unlike the tourists, go for the burgers.
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Ptarmigan Arts
An artist-owned and operated co-op featuring mostly works from the Kenai Peninsula, including jewelry, textiles, Alaska Native pieces, and Homer spruce ash-glaze pottery.
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Cosmic Kitchen
- Homer, USA
- Restaurants › Diner
A hippie twist on the standard diner: on one hand, it has burgers and Budweiser; on the other, you can pay 50¢ extra to have bee pollen added to your mango smoothie.
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Sportsman's Supply & Rental
Sportsman's Supply & Rental, close to the Spit, rents rods as well as rakes and shovels for clamming. It also offers showers and laundry services.
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Café Cups
Has a wacky exterior (think Antoni Gaudí) and an equally fun, eclectic-yet-refined menu that includes excellent curries and hand-cut rib-eyes.
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