Description: Stunning scenery will accompany you for the entire 4-mile trail. From the base of the spit, you will pass Mud Bay to the east, where tidal fluctuations provide excellent birding. Then you’ll find Mariner Park to the west, where you can access the beach. Almost 3 miles in, you’ll pass the Nick Dudiak Fishing lagoon to your east. Soon you’ll cross Freight Dock Rd. and find yourself at a T in the trail at the northwest corner of the harbor.
Going left, you’ll go to the east side of the harbor, where the trail ends at an overlook of the harbor entrance and a restroom. On your return to the northwest side of the harbor, you can take a little used road just above the east side beach from the Deep Water Dock.
Going right, you’ll be on the west side of the harbor and may want to take a slight detour at the south end of the harbor for a rest at Coal Point Park, where there is a picnic table. Take Fish Dock Road to the end and the pocket park will be to your north. Or cross the Spit road for a look at the Mariner’s Memorial. Continue to the end of the Spit Trail, where you can walk down to the beach just before Land’s End Resort. On your return, you can stick to the trail alongside the harbor or visit an assortment of shops along the Spit road.
Use: A popular paved walking, biking, skating, and running path that extends from the base of the Homer Spit to Land’s End where the land and path end at Kachemak Bay.
Access: There are more than 20 parking spots at the base of the spit on the north side of Kachemak Drive. There is additional parking at Mariner Park and past the large fish hook sculpture on the northwest end of the harbor. There are also a few parking spots at the southern end of the trail. There are public restrooms at the harbor and the end of the road.
Distance: 4 miles one way, more if you add the section on the east side of the harbor or Mariner Park.
Elevation change: Sea level with a few small hills (20 feet).
Trail Management Agency: City of Homer
Special Notes: The spit, a narrow peninsula, was formed by the terminal moraine formation deposited 14,000 to 15,000 years ago by the glacier that filled Kachemak Bay. The Spit trail was completed in two stages, from the base of the spit to the fishing lagoon in 1999 and the extension around the east side of the harbor in 2014. For more information on the Homer Spit, see Janet Klein’s booklet, “The Homer Spit”.
