Katmai National Park
King Salmon, AK · Alaska PeninsulaFree
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…
Photo: National Park Service / Public domain · source
Volcanoes
Lake Clark National Park
About
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 reach the lake in July and coho from mid-August, and on a clear day Redoubt Volcano, the park's 10,197-foot high point, stands over the ranger station. Chinitna Bay, on the Cook Inlet coast, can put up to 20 brown bears in view from one spot. Richard Proenneke's cabin on Upper Twin Lake is open from late May to late September and locked in winter. Port Alsworth, on Lake Clark itself, has the summer visitor center but no grocery store, so fly in with your food.
Highlights
Redoubt Volcano, 10,197 feetChinitna Bay, up to 20 bearsLake Clark, over 40 miles longTanalian Falls trail from Port AlsworthNo roads, 120 air miles from AnchorageProenneke cabin, late May to September
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