Leaf peepers don’t have to travel to New England to see fall colors. Brilliant yellows from birch and aspen trees dazzle just up the road at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Skilak Lake and Hidden Lake. Currant, cranberry and kinnickkinnick bushes carpet the understory in red and purple colors. Spruce grouse feed along gravel roads, and alert drivers might catch a black bear feeding in the forest. ABOVE:
A black bear crosses the Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News) A black bear crosses the Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
A black bear crosses the Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News) A black bear crosses the Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
A black bear crosses the Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Mist rises over Hidden Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Birch and aspen trees offer a splash of fall color by Hidden Lake looking toward Skilak Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Birch and aspen trees offer a splash of fall color by Hidden Lake looking toward Skilak Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Birch trees offer a splash of fall color by Hidden Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Bear poop with berries and seeds is in a trail near Hidden Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Birch trees offer a splash of fall color by Hidden Creek near Hidden Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Birch trees offer a splash of fall color by Hidden Creek near Hidden Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
