thumb|right|Sterling Highway eastbound, entering the [[Kenai Mountains.]]
thumb|right|Sterling Highway at mile 170 (km 274), descending a long, steep hill (locally known as "Baycrest Hill") towards [[Homer, Alaska|Homer.]]
The Sterling Highway is a state highway in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Alaska, leading from the Seward Highway at Tern Lake Junction, south of Anchorage, to Homer. To assist in agricultural transport and also open areas to tourism, work began on the Sterling Highway in 1946 to connect the Kenai Peninsula agricultural area with Seward. This highway honors Hawley W. Sterling, lifetime ARC engineer who served as assistant chief engineer from 1932 until his death in 1948.
Route description
The Sterling Highway is part of Alaska Route 1. It leads mainly west from Tern Lake to Soldotna, paralleling the Kenai River, at which point it turns south to follow the eastern shore of Cook Inlet. It is the only highway in the western and central Kenai Peninsula, and most of the population of the Kenai Peninsula Borough lives near it. The highway also gives access to many extremely popular fishing and recreation areas, including the Chugach National Forest, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and the Kenai, Funny, and Russian rivers. The southern end of the highway is at the tip of the Homer Spit, a landspit extending into Kachemak Bay. A ferry terminal here connects the road to the Alaska Marine Highway.
Major intersections
Mileposts on the Sterling Highway begin with Mile 37 (60 km), continuing from the mileposts of the Seward Highway. (The 0 (zero) mile marker for the Seward Highway is in downtown Seward, at the intersection of 3rd and Railway Avenues. Thus, mileposts along the Sterling Highway reflect distance from Seward, which is not actually on the Sterling Highway.