Calving glaciers, ice-choked waters, rocky coasts shrouded in fog--the same landscape that challenged the earliest people and discouraged early explorers now attracts throngs of visitors to Kenai Fjords National Park. Today's visitors come to explore the park's 400 miles of shoreline and to catch a glimpse of the whales, sea otters, and sea birds that call this area home.

The lyrical writing and stunning photographs in this book--the first in a series about Alaska's national parks--tell the compelling story of the ancient people of the fjords, the science behind the making of the fjords and this unique coastline, the incredible abundance of life that exists here both above and below the sea, and, finally, a brief history of the Seward area and look at the future of the parklands.

Discover a land where glaciers retreat, forests rebound, and wildlife thrives and reveals itself in one of the most ancient and pristine places that some visitors will ever see. If protected, the author concludes, the park will "continue to reveal itself one vista, one species, one scoured foot of bedrock at a time.

Andromeda Romano-Lax is the author of Chugach National Forest: Legacy of Land, Sea, and Sky. She is an avid coastal explorer and the author of many other books about Alaska and Mexico. She lives with her family in Anchorage, Alaska.

Ron Niebrugge moved with family to Interior Alaska at the age of twelve, igniting his two passions--love of the outdoors and capturing the beauty of the natural world in photographs. Ron currently resides in Seward, Alaska. You can see some of Ron's other fantastic images in Alaska Geographic's Alaska Wildlands Calendar.