Jakolof Bay is on the Kenai Peninsula, on the southeastern shore of Kachemak Bay, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south of Homer and 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east-northeast of Seldovia, Alaska. The name was first reported in 1915 by the U.S. Geological Survey. Jakolof Creek drains a small watershed on the western flank of the Kenai Mountains, underlain by rocks of the McHugh Complex, such as graywacke and conglomerate, developed between the Early Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods. The local soil type, unique to the area, is named after the bay. Jakolof soils are well-drained, consisting of very deep volcanic ash over alluvial deposits. These support native vegetation, including Sitka spruce with an understory of salmonberry, ferns, and mosses. Grasses, fireweed, lupine, and other forbs grow in small, scattered meadows commonly found on Jakolof soils.
A road was constructed in the early 20th century along the south shore of Kachemak Bay, linking Seldovia to Jakolof Bay and then to a chrome mine on Red Mountain. Chromite, an oxide of chromium and iron, is refined to produce chromium. The Red Mountain area had been explored and prospected since the early 1900s. Chromium-rich mineralization was discovered around 1910 and some limited mining occurred there during World War I. Large scale mining didn’t begin until demand for steel alloys surged during World War II. The Chrome Queen Mine (also known as the Red Mountain Mine) operated from 1942 to 1944 and again from 1952 to 1957. Chromite ore was trucked to Jakolof Bay, where it was loaded onto ships for export. A unique deep-water loading facility with an ore chute was constructed by blasting a tunnel through a bedrock headland to a loading wharf between Jakolof Bay and Kasitsna Bay.
The South Central Timber Company logged the Jakolof Bay watershed, followed by the watersheds of Rocky and Windy Bays, in the 1960s and 1970s. This activity played a significant role in the local economy. South Central Timber upgraded the road between Seldovia and Jakolof Bay and built what is now an abandoned road over the Kenai Mountains to Windy Bay and the Gulf of Alaska. Remnants of the log transfer facility can still be seen today, along with a rough gravel airstrip on the beach that is submerged during very high tides. Currently, the bay features a public dock supporting several set-net sites, an oyster farm, and a marine research laboratory at Kasitsna Bay. Read more here and here. Explore more of Jakolof Bay and Kachemak Bay here: