An Easy Hike for Great Fishing and Beautiful Seward Scenery
There is a good salmon stream there with pink and chum salmon in it from late June through September. There is also good beachcombing there. You should allow about one hour to hike from Miller’s Landing to Tonsina.
The first mile and a half of the trail is all upland, through the woods. It starts near Miller’s Landing and goes to Tonsina Beach Bridge. You will know you are there because that is the first bridge you come to. There is also a picnic shelter there. In late June, July, August and September, there are also salmon spawning in the stream.
You can fish from the beach here for salmon in late June through September for pink, chum and silver salmon. Dolly Varden are also caught here. Silver salmon are caught here also, in late July and August, even though this is not their normal spawning grounds. Remember to read the fishing regulations because you cannot fish for the salmon in the streams. You have to fish from the beach into the salt water. The salmon are schooling up in the salt water, getting ready to return back to the streams that they were born in. It is very easy to catch the salmon from Tonsina Beach.
There is a picnic shelter area at Tonsina. Often people like to camp here (there is no charge for camping).
There is also good berry picking along the trail to Tonsina in late July and August! Always be alert – there are bears around and they may feel a need for berries or a taste of salmon (yours or theirs).
Miller’s Landing also does water taxi drop-off and pickup services here, both one way and round trip. Some people enjoy hiking out and like to have a water taxi pickup here so they don’t have to carry all those salmon back! The limit is six salmon per person per day. The pinks generally way about 2 to 6 lbs., and the chum salmon weigh about 8 to 13 lbs.
The two most popular lures for catching salmon are a pixie (usually orange or pink) or an Alaskan Snagging Hook (legal in our area). Miller’s Landing campground store has both lures for sale and also sells fishing licenses too. There are also salmon fishing poles for rent for a half day or a full day.
Or take the Miller’s Landing Water Taxi…. If you want to hike one way only, you can water taxi to or be picked up from Tonsina by water taxi.
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- A $10 cancellation fee is imposed for all reservations cancelled.
- Cancellations must be received by email only to reservations@millerslandingak.com The cancellation notice date is the date the email was received at reservations@millerslandingak.com Phone cancellations will not be accepted.
- Cancellations received by email 30 days prior to the first day of the reservation are charged a $10 cancellation fee and you will receive a refund of 90% of the total amount of the reservation.
- Cancellations received by email 15 to 29 days prior to the first day of the reservation are charged a $10 cancellation charge and you will receive a 75% refund. of the total amount of the reservation.
- Cancellations received by email 14 days to zero days prior to arrival are charged a $10 cancellation fee and you will receive a 50% refund only if we are able to rebook your camping, cabin, fishing, kayaking, watertaxi, shuttle, lunch, or activity. If we are not able to rebook your reservation then no refunds will be issued and. You must call or e-mail Miller’s Landing post date of cancelled stay in order for us to research whether or not your site booked. Sites that were booked of course qualify for the 50% refund, sites that were not unfortunately do not.
- In some situations a raincheck worth 75% of your reservation may be issued at the discretion of Miller’s Landing management instead of the applicable cancellation charge. If this option appeals to you please suggest this at the time of cancellation. Rainchecks are good for one year and may be used for activities, camping or lodging owned by Miller’s Landing or towards the cost of hats, tee shirts, gifts, etc. sold in the Miller’s Landing store or items sold online. For items purchased online the customer is expected to pay for the cost of postage. Rainchecks may NOT be transferred to another person.
- A 100% refund will be issued for any activity that was cancelled due to weather by Miller’s Landing. Miller’s Landing reserves the right to determine weather cancellations. Rain does not constitute cancellations.
Please note: Miller’s Landing encourages only guaranteed prepaid reservations. Unlike many other states, Alaska has a very short tourist season which can make it difficult for us to rebook when we have cancellations without ample notice.
If you are booking a charter and lodging and your charter , water taxi or kayaking is cancelled due to weather you are still responsible for the lodging or camping reservations and the normal cancellation policy applies. All of our activities are possible during rain, so rain does not constitute a cancellation. Miller’s Landing is not responsible for vehicle break downs, personal emergencies, flight delays, health issues or other unforeseen hardships. We will try very hard to work with you but the cancellation policy will need to be applied if we cannot issue a raincheck or find an alternative solution that appeals to both parties.
Please understand that Miller’s Landing also incurs a hefty financial merchant fee from our bank for the cost of charging your credit card and again for the cost of refunding it, and there is also a cost involved for the time involved in processing and refunding your reservation in employee costs. Our goal when taking your reservation is to have a solid, guaranteed prepaid reservation. We strongly discourage the practice of making reservations without having an airline ticket or making tentative reservations. Thank you for your understanding.