Seward Highway - Southern Terminus - Seward, Alaska
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NorStar
N 60° 06.032 W 149° 26.479
6V E 364263 N 6665114
The southern terminus of the Seward Highway is located at the end of 3rd Avenue, which is near the Alaska SeaLife Center and Hoben Park, where you can view Resurrection Bay and learn about its marine life.
Waymark Code: WMB8PR
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 04/19/2011
Views: 6
In Seward, the Seward Highway, part of the Alaska Scenic Byways program, ends at the southern end of the city, where 3rd Avenue meets Railway Ave. At the foot of the road is the Alaska SeaLife Center, an aquarium that focuses on the marine life in Alaska, and a short block away is Hoben Park, where you can view Resurrection Bay, directly.
Seward Highway runs between Anchorage and Seward, a distance of 127 miles. The highway runs along Turnagain Arm, crosses the Kenai Peninsula via Moose Pass, then ends in the port of Seward. This portion of the highway is also State Route 9.
Seward is relatively old for a settlement in Alaska. It has roots as a trading post while Alaska was a Russian Territory. The modern city of Seward was established in 1903 when a team landed there to start building the railroad. The Founders Monument at the other end of Hoben Park provides more information about this event. At the end of 3rd Avenue, is a rectangular building that is the Alaska SeaLife Center.
The Alaska SeaLife Center is a great aquarium well worth visiting. Of particular note are the great swim tanks and a sitting room where you can watch sealions and puffins dive and swim underwater. Also noteworthy is a room about the different salmon seen in Alaska, and the 'petting' tanks, where you can touch sea anenome and other marine life.
Hoben Park is a municipal park that allows you to see beautiful Resurrection Bay. There is an old railroad station that is now part of the SeaLife Center by Railway Avenue, with a historical sign that describes the event of the 1964 Earthquake and Tsunamis that devastated Seward's shoreline and transformed this area from a railroad yard to a park.
Along 4th Avenue, a parallel road one block east of 3rd Avenue, is Seward's old downtown. The buildings still have a 'frontier' appearance to them and contain a variety of shops and eating places.
There are many more things to explore in Seward, so plan on a few hours before heading back to Anchorage!
Program: US State Program
Website: [Web Link]
Official Name: Seward Highway
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