Visiting Katmai National Park – Alaska

Katmai National Park (NP) is located in Alaska, USA. The first time I heard of Katmai NP I got intrigued right away but I didn’t know much about Alaska or how hard it can be to access certain places. Alaska has two major roads, which means that a lot of places are only accessible by boat or plane. That is why a lot of Alaskans have their pilot license!

Transportation to Katmai:

After hours of research, planning, and booking, we were finally ready to go! We decided to go camping for a few reasons. First, there is only a few lodges in the park and they are extremely pricey, or you have to do the park in one day and sleep in Kings Salmon. So to really enjoy the park camping was our best bet! We were really lucky to get a camping spot! There were only 10 spaces available because of Covid, which is nothing as the Campground has a 60 person capacity. If no camping was available we would have camp in the wild but to be honest I am glad we did not have to!

The first step to get to Katmai was taking a flight from Anchorage to King Salmon early in the morning with RAVN Air. Once we arrived the team from Katmai Air picked us up and took us to their office on the river, where we would get on a seaplane to Brooks Falls in Katmai. We found Katmai Air to be really great, reliable, and very convenient. After the water taxi (boat) canceled the trip the day before due to weather, we quickly called Katmai Air and they were able to get us on a flight! 

We hopped into that little aircraft with 10 seats, it was the smallest aircraft I have ever been in. It was a really cool and unique experience! We flew for around 20 mins. Flying over the park was incredible despite the weather being rainy. We landed on the water, pulled up to the beach, and finally set foot on Brooks Camp! We had to move quickly though because already we saw our first bear and it was approaching fast. When you arrive at Brooks you must first do the bear training. It takes around 45 min and is very interesting and useful! You learn about the park, bears, and how to be safe around them during your visit.

Campsite:

At the end of the training, we walked to the campground where we set up our tent and put all our belongings into the “safe cabin”. The camprground is surrounded by an electric fence, not that it will prohibit a bear to enter but it might discourage it. The park also has a cabin to store your food, bags and anything with an odor (including flovored water). When you are ready to eat, you will need to do so in a designated food area sounded by an electric fence. If you don’t bring your own food there is one cafeteria. It is a bit pricey but also reasonable, considering you are in the middle of nowhere!  When you’re ready to go, don’t take anything to eat or drink with you except water because bears have an amazing sense of smell, and trust me you will see bears!

What we experienced:

We spent almost 2 full days and 1 night in Brooks. While you walk the park make sure you are being bear-aware! There are elevated walkways over the rivers and water which let the salmon run the springs. At the world-famous waterfalls, you have two types of platform areas, the closer one with a limited number of people allowed at a time (1h per person) and another larger one where you can go anytime for as long as you like. While waiting to go on the closest bridge you can see the lower part of the fall. We were able to see a female and her two cubs. Not a lot of females with their cubs are going to the fall as males can become really aggressive with the little ones. But that female was fearless and kicked some male’s butt!

We came across a lot of bears on our hikes and even if you know you might see one from really close, the feeling is indescribable. We saw a few-month-old cub with its mom, my heart was beating so hard. First because it is a mom and her cub you never know, but also because seeing them in their habitat is a beautiful opportunity. I add the feeling I was living a National Geographic Documentary..

Bears can come from anywhere, you have to let them pass and do your best to be as far as possible but sometimes it is not possible due to the high vegetation or your surrounding! Do your best to stay away from them, even by moving off the trail. When it was time to leave we packed up our campsite and left by boat (the weather improved and we had already paid for it). I highly recommend taking a seaplane instead of the boat, it is faster and less susceptible to weather. We had an amazing time and while we were departing we couldn’t stop thinking about when we could return one day.

Because we spent the night we were able to be on these platforms until 10 pm at night. No one was there which made it even more magical.

Fun Facts:

• Katmai NP  is mostly known for its incredible bear population. However, Katmai was established in 1918 to protect the volcanic region! The surrounding is beautiful and I definitely intend to go back and see more of the park!
• There are more bears than humans.
• There is no entrance fee for that National Park.
• Each year Katmai National Park creates an online vote to determine the fattest bear.
• Here the bears can win up to 4 pounds (1.8kg) a day.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will answer you!

I will write more about Brown Bears in another article.

Links:

You can find my Youtube video about Alaska: Here

Learn more on Katmai National Park: https://www.nps.gov/katm/index.htm

See my last article on how to sleep in bear country: Here