Sightseeing
IconicBrooks Falls
FreeWatch brown bears catch leaping sockeye salmon from a raised platform beside a six-foot waterfall in Katmai.
Photo: Katmai National Park and Preserve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Sport & OutdoorIconicOutdoor AdventureFree
Katmai National Park and Preserve
Brooks Camp, reached by floatplane from King Salmon · King Salmon, AK
Why you should go…
Katmai cannot be reached by car, and most visitors fly in to Brooks Camp on a small floatplane. Everyone starts with a required bear safety talk, then walks to viewing platforms where brown bears catch salmon at Brooks Falls. July is the peak month to watch bears fishing the falls, though bears are in the area from mid-June to mid-October. Daily bus tours run to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, buried in ash by the 1912 eruption of Novarupta.
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Good to know
General sport & outdoor guidance
Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.
Weather calls the shots
Check the forecast the morning of and keep an indoor backup in your pocket for the day it turns.
Shoes, water, sun cover
The three things that decide whether you last the whole outing or cut it short after an hour.
Parking and launches fill early
On a nice weekend, lots and trailheads are often full by mid-morning.
Daylight shrinks in shoulder season
Spring and fall visits need an earlier start than the same trip in July.
What's around here?
The closest stops to Katmai National Park and Preserve, ordered by straight-line distance.
0.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing