The Fox River starts at the terminus of the Chernof Glacier in the Kenai Mountains and flows 27 miles (43 km) to the head of Kachemak Bay, 52 miles (84 km) south-southeast of Kenai and 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Homer, Alaska. The river’s name was first reported in 1895 and may have been for Theodore Fox of the North Pacific Mining and Transportation Company that operated coal mines in Kachemak Bay.

The Fox River Flats is an area of extensive intertidal mudflats and braided channels in the delta floodplain of the Fox River, Sheep Creek, and Bradley River. Access to this area is either overland or by boat from Kachemak Bay. Overland access is by following the beach below the coastal bluffs on the north side of Kachemak Bay.

Early settlers recognized the value of the flats as rangeland for livestock and several homesteads were claimed nearby. In 1955, the Bureau of Land Management issued the Fox River Cattlemen’s Association a grazing lease of about 15,670 acres (6,342 ha). The lease provided for up to 500 head of cattle per year. In 1972, a portion of the lease (4,500 acres) adjacent to the intertidal zone was included in the newly created Fox River Flats Critical Habitat Area that was set aside for the conservation of salmon, migratory birds, and game animals. Read more here and here. Explore more of Fox River here: