This ecoregion is located around the upper Cook Inlet on the south-central coast of Alaska, sheltered by mountains on all sides.

This coast has a gentle landscape and a relatively mild climate for Alaska with 380–680 mm of rainfall per year.

[1] The plant life here is varied for Alaska, composted of a mixture of conifers and other trees, shrubs, and herbs.

Birds include large numbers of bald eagles and wintering snow geese from Wrangell Island, who gather at the mouth of the Kenai River before their spring migration.

Nonetheless, natural habitats remain very well preserved, although wildlife of the Kenai Peninsula has become isolated from that of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the west side of Cook Inlet, and therefore from the rest of Alaska.