Katmai National Park
Trip Assistant
How Much Time?
There is a campground here, so you don’t have to be locked into expensive lodging, but it’s very very hard to make reservations. However, you still have to get there by bushplane. The bears are cool and all, but how much time do you really want to spent watching them? A few hours? A few days? It seems wasteful to take an expensive bush flight here for a few hours of bear-watching but that’s the reality of things. There aren’t 100s of miles of trails here to occupy your time but the Valley of 10,000 Smokes tour is enjoyable.
Need to Know
- Services are only available in the park from June through mid-September (even though the climate is not that bad).
- Bear watching at Brooks Camp is best in July when salmon are swimming up river, and then again in September when bear feast on their carcasses.
- Brooks Lodge is reserved via lottery. Camp sites are released all at once, and they go fast for July. and a few other outfitters offer boat and kayak tours to the tidewater glaciers, if you’d like something a little different from the typical cruise ship tour.
Highlights
- Brooks Falls
- Valley of 10,000 Smokes
- Hallo Bay
- Mount Katmai
- Novarupta
- Mount Mageik
Activities
- Bear Viewing
- Flightseeing
- Hunting
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Backpacking
- Paddling
Favorite Trails
Unlike most parks, hiking is not the star attraction, but you can hike up to Dumpling Mountain.
When To Go?
Weather
Visitation
July is the best time for bear watching at Brooks Falls. They return in September to feast on dead salmon. Other areas, like Hallo Bay, offer pretty good bear watching all summer.
Park Map Downloads
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