Nikiski, the heart of the Cook Inlet oil country is a full-service community of 4,406 residents that began as a small homesteaded community in the 1940s, located 16 miles north of Kenai. But with the discovery of oil on the Kenai Peninsula in 1957 Nikiski grew rapidly as a center of industrial activity thanks to its location. Today based out of Nikiski are a handful of oil companies that explore and produce crude oil and natural gas from both onshore production facilities and at offshore platforms in Cook Inlet.
Visitors also like the location of Nikiski as it serves as the gateway to Captain Cook State Recreation Area, a 3,460-acre state park nine miles to the north along Kenai Spur Highway. This un-crowded state recreation area encompasses forests, lakes, rivers and wide beaches along Cook Inlet from which you can gather in the incredible view of the Alaska Range volcanoes. It is here where the Swanson River empties into the Cook Inlet, attracting the attention of anglers casting for silver and red salmon and rainbow trout. This is also the west end of the Swanson River Canoe Route, an 80-mile paddle through the wilderness heart of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (907-262-7021). The state recreation area features campgrounds, hiking trails, boat launch, even a bathhouse and a swimming area on Stormy Lake.
But most swimmers, locals and visitors, will pass up Stormy Lake and head indoors to the Nikiski Pool at Mile 23.4 of the Kenai Spur Highway. Inside a dome-shaped building features a large heated pool with 136-foot-long waterslide, hot tubs and a visitor observation area. Outside there are picnic facilities and a playground.