Katmai National Park and Preserve — Attraction in Alaska

An Expensive Disappointment

What the tour guides and expedition companies won't tell you is that your chances of seeing a grizzly bear (brown bear) are highly variable.

You may think that you've done all the research, timed things perfectly, and are all set to see tons of bears chomping on salmon as they swim up the falls.

The truth is that you have a good chance of seeing no bears at all, even in "peak season". We came in the first week of July. We arrived on a float plane from Anchorage with 10 people. Only one person from that flight saw a bear before we left, and then only for about two minutes.

You can look into booking a longer overnight stay and increase your odds, but that adds more costs to an already very expensive excursion. You're essentially doubling down on your bet. What I want the reader to know is that you can lose. Costs of flight per person is approx $1k. Costs of stay at Katmai vary, but are around $600/person. Also factor in that while you're there you're not doing the other things Alaska has to offer on your likely limited vacation time (glaciers, sailing, hiking, rafting).

Just know that those photos of multiple bears catching salmon mid-air are from the one or two times when Katmai was at its absolute best. You're much more likely to catch it at less than that, and it's possible, perhaps even likely, that you see no bears at all. So if you're thinking of going to Katmai to ensure you see a grizzly on your trip, know that it isn't a sure thing, or even...

In the shadow of the volcano

There are no roads into Katmai. Most of the nearly 5 million acres of this combined national park and preserve are designated wilderness where no hunting is allowed. The only way in is by boat or float plane.

For many travelers to the park—limited in number even before the pandemic—Katmai is where to visit a 1.2-mile-long fishing hole that serves the largest concentration of brown bears in the world.

For archaeologists such as Laura Stelson, who explored here in the footsteps of a 1910s expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the park is a site to study 9,000 years of human history. The longstanding Indigenous communities that lived in the area were displaced and re-established after the massive 1912 eruption of the Novarupta, the largest volcanic paroxysm of the 20th century. Stelson hopes one day to find the right technology to scan what lies beneath the pumice and other rock that covers this otherworldly landscape about 290 miles southwest of Anchorage.

“Katmai is a very unique place with all these different types of landscapes presented in one single park,” says Stelson. “You have coastal beaches. You have tundra. You have spruce forest, mountains, volcanoes, and you have this weird desert. So there’s just a lot of environmental diversity and diversity of...

This place is amazing. Bears, bears, everywhere! The Park Rangers do an incredible job educating everyone that passes through on safety and keeping a very close watch to ensure all the rules are followed. They're always happy to answer questions about the bears, from educating about the species & how they live to identifying the bears that are around. There is also plenty of other wildlife to enjoy, especially birds.

If possible, I would suggest camping instead of going on a daytrip. The platforms feel like a ghost time during the mornings and evenings, and there were multiple points where I was able to sit down, stretch my legs out, and just enjoy a little quiet time with the bears. No place on Katmai is safe, but the campground is comfortable and the electric wire fence that encourages the bears to keep out is well constructed.

With all this said, please do not go here if you are not prepared to respect the rules. This is not a zoo and while these bears are habituated to humans, they are wild. At times it was discouraging to see Rangers having to shout at guests who seemed to be intentionally ignoring their instructions. This is one of the most magical places on the planet that anyone could ever hope to visit and hopefully we can keep it that way & not mess it up for the...