Cook Inlet sunset

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet stretches over 200 miles from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, with its rich watershed covering 39,000 square miles. Along the way, it narrows from about 80 miles wide to just 9 miles wide in its northeastern headwaters.

The Dena’ina people were the first to explore and settle this magnificent area.  Russian fur hunters were among the first European visitors in the 18th century. It is named after Captain James Cook who sailed into the Inlet during a 1778 expedition searching for the Northwest Passage.

Cook Inlet has the second highest tidal shift in the world sometimes exceeding 30 feet in its daily tide change … second only to the tidal forces of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.

This panoramic view expands across upper Cook Inlet, from Mount Susitna (Sleeping Lady) in the west to Mount Foraker, Hunter and Denali of the Alaska Range in the north during Alaska’s summer twilight.

All images © Dave Parkhurst www.TheAlaskaCollection.com