Lake Clark National Park
Port Alsworth, AK · Southwest AlaskaFree
A floatplane gets you from Anchorage to Crescent Lake, the most visited spot in Lake Clark National Park, in under an hour. You watch the bears there mostly from a boat. Sockeye…
Photo: Mbz1 (Brocken Inaglory) / CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Volcanoes
Katmai National Park
About
In July, brown bears fish Brooks Falls in Alaska's Katmai National Park for the sockeye that jump it, 200,000 to 400,000 of them a year. By September most of the bears have moved to the river mouth, and in June and August you may see few or none. You get to Brooks Camp by air taxi from Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, King Salmon and other towns, or by water taxi from King Salmon. Everyone sits through a bear safety talk first. The falls platform, 1.2 miles from the visitor center, holds 40 people and sets a one-hour limit when there's a waiting list.
Highlights
Brooks Falls bears, best in JulyValley of Ten Thousand Smokes bus tourAbout 2,200 brown bearsFalls platform holds 40 peopleNo roads; air or water taxi inBrooks Camp on Naknek Lake
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