“USA 🇺🇸 Alaska ~King Salmon to Katmai National Park with the Bears at Brooks Falls”

• July 14, 2023
• By Pen
• 2 Comments

Bears, Bears and More Bears!!! This adventure was fabulous!

We flew out of Anchorage, to King Salmon. It’s an easy flight of close to an hour. It was an early evening flight, so I had made clam chowder and cornbread to eat for dinner, before heading for the airport. Thank goodness for planning ahead.

King Salmon sits about 280 miles southwest of Anchorage and is the closest town to the world-famous Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park.

Unlike most parks in the United States, there are no roads connecting this park to the rest of the state. One cannot drive to Katmai, Brooks Camp, or King Salmon.

We spent one night at Bear Trail Cabins in King Salmon. It was very clean and they provided the shuttle from King Salmon Airport, and again the morning of to the pickup spot for the Water Taxi. We were told we would get to store our overnight bags at the cabins, though, till we came back from the Park visit. This did not happen, and we had to haul everything around the whole time, and when at the Park, had to store them in a shed by the visitors center, till departure.

Bear Trail Cabins, King Salmon  ⬇️

In the morning, at 6:15 AM we were shuttled to the Sockeye Saloon, by our overnight host.

We were technically picked up by Katmai Water Taxi on time, but they told us our 7AM departure would be delayed, till the fog lifted. Typical for the weather we are having this summer.
We sat around for over an hour, then finally loaded on to the boat. About 50 minutes later, we arrived at Katmai National Park.

**No eating food on the boat. No standing while boat is moving and do not smash mosquito on the clean windows.

⬇️ Coming into Katmai National Park 

⬆️⬇️ Two Bears were on the beach as we arrived. Chelsie spied them, first.
By the time we left the Park, we would see upwards of 50 Bears

Katmai National Park is a beautiful and wild park located in Alaska, and is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, as well as several unique geological features.

Acreage: Katmai National Park and Preserve spans over four million acres of remote, wild, and spectacular country.

Visitation: Since the park was established in 1980, it has an averaged total annual visits of more than 37,000.

Elevation: Mount Katmai, the namesake of the park, reaches a height of 6,716 feet. It is a stratovolcano with a crater lake at the top. It’s also home to several other volcanoes including: Mount Martin and Mount Griggs.

Katmai’s landscape is diverse, with forests of spruce and pine trees, alpine meadows, and crystal clear streams and lakes. The park is also home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, including Grizzly Bears, Wolves, and over 200 species of birds.

After off-loading from the boat, we were herded into the visitors center to attend “Bear School.” There are rules to follow, whilst in the Park, if we were to be allowed to wander freely, without constant ranger supervision.

The rules follow basic common sense: Stay 50 feet away from the bears at all times. If they charge, do not run. Do not litter. Do not feed them. Do not carry food on your person in the Park. Only eat at picnic tables provided; behind the electric wire, or in lodge. Keeps all gates closed, after passing through them.

The Bear hide is a reminder to visitors, not to feed the Bears. “A fed Bear is a dead Bear.” This female had to be euthanized, after fishermen were feeding her fish. A wild Bear begins to expect the handout and become aggressive towards people, when not being fed.

We passed Bear School and got a really cool pin to keep. Each year a local artists design is chosen for this occasion ⬇️

The Hike to Brooks Falls ⬇️

We enjoyed the short, flat, easy hike, and it was no surprise that we encounter Bears on the trail, as they also use it to get back and forth to the Falls. We encountered a Sow and her Cub. We waited, and only walked forward, as they walked, ahead of us. When she turned and began walking towards us, we left the trail.

Eventually, we made it to more wood board platform trails. These have a series of gates, to keep the Bears off. As we walked on the raised platform, we saw many Bears crossing on trails underneath. It was so fun!

⬆️ ⬇️ This was the Bear to watch. He was large and clearly in charge. He first came to the falls, chewed on a piece of wood, then promptly took a nap.

There were around ten Bears to watch at this same times. The Sockeye were few in numbers, as the run was just getting started. We could see some trying to jump the falls, but Bears missed them, though they made many attempts. Most of the Bears are underweight, since leaving their dens, and they need protein. It’s a very vulnerable time for them. They work so hard and come up empty for hours!

⬇️ Another Bear to watch was the youngster who came on the scene. He clearly lacked skills and was all over the place in the water, burning a lot of calories, trying to catch a fish. I was wondering if this was his/her first spring without mom. The Katmai Bear moms, will keep their cubs with her for up to three winters, including the winter of their birth.

⬇️ Back to Mr Large-and-In-Charge. He scored! It was very interesting to watch. His power nap paid off!! He was done eating that fish in just under a minute. As soon as he ripped it open, all the Bears from below could smell it and they made their way to the Falls.

The most coveted Bear fishing spot ⬇️

Brown Bears usually congregate at the falls in July through early September, and many well-known photos of Bears have been taken here. July witnesses the greatest concentrations of bears of any month at the falls; up to 25 bears have been seen at one time at Brooks Falls in that month.

The Brute ⬇️

One does not see Bears, just at Brooks Falls. There are Grizzly Bears all over the Park; on the Beach, and on the many dirt trails. They rule. We are only visiting their habitat. We get out of their way, obviously.

These Grizzlies are called Brown Bears, when they live on the coast. Inland Bears who are hearty red meat eaters; the likes of Caribou, Elk, Deer, Moose etc, are called Grizzlies. People can easily be on their menu. The coastal Brown Bears are simply the same Grizzly Bear, but survive on a different diet.

The Brown Bear Grizzlies eat Salmon, berries and they rely on  grasses, rich in nutrients, along the beach. Just like the Bears at Clark Lake National Park, who dig clams and feed on Salmon and the same grasses, people are not a menu item for these Bears, either.
This allows for a very safe and unique experience with these Bears in their natural habitat.

There is a lodge, a tiny picnic area, behind an electric fence, and camping is permitted. It was busy with visitors, but did not feel crowded, till arriving at the viewing platforms. The actual Falls platform is timed, and everybody gets 30 minutes. The platform below the Falls is not timed. They are equally as good to view from, but the Falls is more scenic.

Fishing Skills

Bears often use the same fishing techniques they learned from their mothers, such as:

The dash-and-grab: Early in the season, when salmon are plentiful, some bears will chase after fish and use their paws to pin them to the river bottom. This technique requires a substantial amount of energy, so it is quickly abandoned when the number of salmon in the water thins.

Diving: Most bears prefer to “snorkel” (see snorkeling, below), but occasionally a bear will completely submerge itself, looking for fish.

Pirating: Some bears steal fish from other bears, particularly early in the season, when hibernation has left them famished. Upon catching a fish, smaller bears will often run away from the river and into the forest to avoid the hungry advances of a larger bear.

Snorkeling: Many bears employ the technique of snorkeling, or swimming on the surface of the water with their faces submerged. This strategy is especially useful in the fall, when dead and dying fish are often just below the surface.

The sit-and-wait: The most dominant bears get the best fishing spots; they sit in the highly coveted, area of “bubbles” and wait for fish to swim by. When they do, the bears quickly pin the fish to the river bottom or against their bodies.

The stand-and-wait: Some bears like to stand precariously on the top of Brooks Falls and wait for the fish to jump close enough that they can catch them in their mouths. This works only when the river is crowded with jumping salmon.

Katmai National Park is home to approximately 2,200 brown bears, and claims to have the highest concentration of them in the world. That density is due to an abundant food: salmon.
Last year, Katmai National Park reported almost 62 million sockeye salmon migrated through the park and the neighboring Bristol Bay, allowing the Bears here to be some of the biggest in the world.

We were told the blonde colored Bears, indicate they are the older Bears. This gal was in her twenties. She is always at the Falls fishing, once the fish start running.

We originally had six hours to enjoy the Park, but the fog shortened that down to just over four hours. The good news is, by early afternoon, the sky was blue and we had sunshine. It was warm. It was beautiful.

The time went by too fast. We would have loved to have spent more time at the Falls for sure.

There is no wifi in the park, and we only had wifi in our cabin on King Salmon.

We knew to be back at the beach by 1:45PM. The Katmai water taxi was almost two hours late. We had lots of extra time, but no way to know this. Not impressed.

We had collected our bags from the shed and waited at the beach, to be on time. It got too hot, so we sat in the trees on some soft moss. The mosquitos were relentless.

There are a fair amount of rangers at this Park, as the beach and trails coming and going to the lodge have to be monitored at all times. The rangers would holler “Bear on the Beach.” Or, “Bear on the trail,” and we all had to clear the area. This would go on for well over an hour.

There were at least six Bears during this time, while we waiting for the late taxi. It was pretty neat-o. The Bears are curious and continually hungry and looking for food.

If Interested:

Live Bear Cam
Brooks Falls

https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

Water Taxi Back to King Salmon ⬇️ 

⬆️ Oops the salmon boxes weighed too much for airline’s regulations…these passengers had to repack the fish 

The Visit to Katmai National Park
It was fast-paced, and not cheap, but so worth it. It would have been fun to stay overnight in Katmai National Park, or take the bush plane, instead of the water taxi, but both options cost even more.

Info on a Party of Three: ⬇️

$400 pp commercial flight round trip, out of Anchorage 

$331 total for one night in Cabin with shuttle

$990 total for water taxi and their shuttle from King Salmon to Katmai National Park and back to Kingman Airport.

$63 for three soup, salad and cookie lunches at the lodge 

So, several grand for a party of three for 28 hours, and nobody included any food. Ha!

Be aware: we all know planes do not give snacks or food on domestic flights by now, so we were lucky to get a cup of water on the flight.

Arriving in King Salmon isn’t a huge thrill. Do not expect a cute island village like Seldovia, but there is a bank, small grocery, saloon/restaurant and gas pumps. That is it. Oh, and the restaurant was closed in the morning, when we were there, waiting for fog to lift. Breakfast would have been awesome, but no.

The Bear Trail Cabin provided fresh water, and tea/coffee. There was no food option.

Whichever way you choose to get to Katmai National Park, just make it happen, and pack some food for your duration!
We had a blast, though very hungry for the majority of time.

More Bear Photos ⬇️

⬆️ The HAARP Station on King Salmon

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