Katmai is one of the most unique U.S. National Parks—not only is it located in an incredibly remote part of Alaska, but it also is home to one of the highest concentrations of brown bears on the planet. My husband, Justin, and I spent four days in Katmai, primarily to see some of these magical creatures, and wound up discovering that this park has so much more to offer than its famous furry residents, including volcanoes, turquoise lakes, and fascinating history. Here’s 11 incredible things to do in Katmai National Park.
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Katmai is located on a remote portion of the Alaskan Peninsula, about 300 miles southwest of Anchorage. It’s one of the most inaccessible national parks, given that you can only reach it by boat or float plane. However, it’s well worth the effort to get here!
Things to do in Katmai National Park
1. View the Park’s Famed Bears
Of course, the main reason that people wind up putting in the effort to get to Katmai is to see some of the 2,200 brown bears that call the park home. These bears have become something of a worldwide internet sensation, from being the stars of explore.org to the contenders Fat Bear Week every autumn.
The most famous place for bear viewing in Katmai National Park is Brooks Falls, a six foot waterfall in the Brooks River where hundreds of thousands of spawning salmon jump every summer. This is one of the only places on the planet where brown bears, which are usually extremely territorial, peacefully hunt side-by-side, due to the sheer volume of salmon and other food resources.
There’s conveniently a series of wooden elevated boardwalks that lead to two platforms that directly overlook the falls, allowing the visitors to safely observe the bears.
When Justin and I visited, there were times that an enormous bear was SO close to us—sometimes, directly beneath our feet under the platform or just a few feet in front of us. It’s definitely the closest we’ll (hopefully!) ever be to a brown bear! We wound up spending HOURS watching the bears, each of which have their own personality and hunting technique—it’s SO much fun to just observe these impressive creatures.
It’s important to note that the bears are only at Brooks Falls during the salmon runs, typically in July and September. As soon as the salmon stop running, the bears, who are desperately trying to put on weight to withstand their winter hibernation, will immediately desert the falls and head to other parts of the park to hunt and forage for food.
During these timeframes, you might get lucky and see a few bears along the nearby beach of Naknek Lake or on the trails around Brooks Falls, but it’ll be MUCH harder. Accordingly, if you’re visiting in June or mid- to late August, you might want to consider going with a knowledgeable guide, who can help you track down where the bears are.
2. Walk along the Brooks River
If you want to kick your bear viewing experience up a notch, consider picking up a permit to walk off trail and along the Brooks River, providing an incredibly unique—and, at times, thrilling—look at Katmai’s wildlife.
During our first day in Katmai, Justin and I had a perfectly lovely time, just observing the bears from the elevated platform next to Brooks Falls. But, on our second day, we happened to chat with some other visitors who had picked up a permit to walk along and into Brooks River (RIGHT where the bears themselves walk!), who highly recommended the experience.
So we wound up picking up a river permit from the visitor center for a whopping $6 for the both of us, rented some waders from the Katmai Trading Post, and headed to the river by Brooks Falls. It was an incredible, if nerve-wracking, experience, standing IN the water with eight massive brown bears, fishing for salmon a few hundred yards away from us.
You are required to stay 50 yards away from the bears at all times, so you constantly have to be scanning the area around you to see if any of them are coming or going—we had to move several times to get out of the way of an enormous bear ambling by. It was definitely a little on the scary side, but also one of the most unique experiences of our entire lives. Plus we got some of the best photos of our trip from this perspective!
3. Join a photography tour
If you’re new to wildlife photography or don’t quite feel confident to wander around Brooks River with a bunch of hungry bears by yourself, consider joining a photography tour, where a knowledgeable guide will lead you around and help you spot bears away from the busy Brooks Falls platform.
There’s a variety of different tours that you can pick from. The concessionaire that runs the park’s accommodations, Brooks Lodge, offers a photography day tour or there’s several other operators that offer multiple day tours, like Expeditions Alaska.
While watching the bears from the viewing platforms is awesome, there’s a finite amount of perspectives that you can get from them. With a photography tour, on the other hand, the possibilities of where and how you’ll see—and be able to capture—bears are endless!
4. Go to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
Katmai is now mostly famous for its bears, but it actually was established as a national park for something entirely different—the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century (and one of the five largest eruptions EVER recorded!).
In June of 1912, the Novarupta Volcano spewed volcanic ash into the air as much as 20 miles high, which fell over an area of about 3,000 square miles. The landscape was forever changed here, with the pine tree forests turning into barren fields of volcanic pumice and ash. For several decades, heat trapped in the soil from the eruption emerged through steam vents, thus leading to the name “The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.”
Today, the only way to get to this area is by a ranger-guided tour, offered through Brooks Lodge.
The Valley is actually 23 miles away from Brooks Camp, where most visitors arrive and stay in Katmai, down a VERY bumpy road—and even through a few rivers! Accordingly, tours are provided in old school buses with beefed up tires.
During our tour, we made a few stops along the way at scenic overlooks, to learn about the geology and natural history of the area and eventually made our way to Robert F. Griggs Visitor Center in the Valley. From here, we hiked along the Ukak River Trail, taking in the views of the colorful, yet barren landscape; the vibrant wildflowers along the pathway; and a waterfall and beach along the ashy waters of the Ukak River.
We had HORRIBLE weather the day we went—it was cold, rainy, and incredibly windy, with fog obscuring most of the views—but it was still one of the best things we did in Katmai. I seriously can’t imagine how great it would’ve been if the weather had cooperated!
It’s worth mentioning that if you’re a true adventurer, you can also catch a bus ride with one of these tour groups to do some backcountry camping in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. This is REAL backcountry camping—there’s less than five miles of maintained trails in the park, so you have to be confident with route-finding and wilderness survival skills.
Justin and I hike all the time, but aren’t quite hardcore enough to tackle backcountry camping in Katmai yet—but hiking to Novarupta is definitely on my bucket list!
5. Kayaking in Naknek Lake
If you’re lucky enough to be visiting on a nice, sunny day, I’d highly recommend renting a kayak from Brooks Lodge and getting out onto the neighboring Naknek Lake. This body of water is quite impressive–not only is its water a stunning turquoise color, but it also holds the title of being the largest lake to be completely located within a U.S. National Park!
The coastline is an excellent place to spot bears and there’s even a sea cave that are carved into the cliff sides near Brooks Camp that you can explore in your kayak.
6. Hike the Cultural Site Trail
Right by the Brooks Visitor Center, you’ll find the trailhead for the Cultural Site Trail.
This 0.5-mile flat trail leads through the woods to a building that protects a pithouse, a replica of the kind of lodging that was once used in Katmai by the Sugpiaq and Alutliq people up to one thousand years ago. It’s kind of amazing to think that the ancient people here were able to engineer solutions to withstand the harsh weather conditions—and the massive beasts!
Be sure to actually check out the building at the end of the trail—it’s not very well-signed and from reading reviews on AllTrails, I think a lot of people don’t realize that it’s there and wind up disappointed with the hike.
7. Go to a Ranger Talk
Over the three nights that Justin and I stayed here, we formed a bit of a tradition—get an evening beer at Brooks Lodge and then head to the evening ranger-led program at the Brooks Camp Auditorium.
Most of the presentations were so impressive and provided a deeper insight into the natural history and ecology of the park.
For example, our favorite programs were about salmon, from their life cycle to how their population is monitored by the state of Alaska and their importance to Katmai, and Beringea, the land bridge that once connected Russia to Alaska and was used by ancient people to populate the Americas. It was also a great way to meet other guests and chat in the park—there were so many people in our presentations who knew a LOT about Beringea!
8. Get a beer at Brooks Lodge
This is going to sound weird but my favorite thing about Katmai wasn’t actually the bears—it was the people we met!
If you’re lucky enough to have a chance to stay overnight in Katmai, there’s this incredibly unique adult summer camp kind of vibe. No one has cell service or access to the internet, so, at the end of the day, most people wind up warming up around the fire at Brooks Lodge, drinking their beverage of choice and chatting with the other guests.
It’s no surprise but the guests in Katmai were some of the most interesting and well-traveled people we’d ever met—diehard wildlife photographers, world travelers, scientific researchers. We LOVED chatting with these people from all over the world and bonding about our experiences in the park and beyond.
Even if you’re not staying overnight, it’s absolutely worth popping into the lodge for a coffee or tea and sitting around the fire for a chat with some of the other visitors—it seriously is one of the best things to do in Katmai!
9. Walk to Lake Brooks
Most travelers arrive in Katmai on Naknek Lake, either via the water taxi or seaplane. But there’s actually another lake near Brooks Camp, Lake Brooks, that you can easily walk to along Lake Brooks Road.
To be honest, Lake Brooks isn’t quite as stunning as Naknek—its color is more of a standard blue color, instead of the vibrant turquoise of Naknek. But you’ll almost certainly get it all to yourself and it’s a unique place to see wildlife. This is a good spot to see salmon during spawning season and, accordingly, is also an excellent place to see bears!
10. Hike the Dumpling Mountain Trail
If you’re looking to get your blood a-pumping, Dumpling Mountain is the only challenging hike in Katmai, which steeply climbs 2500 feet over about nine miles roundtrip. Along the way, you’ll reach two overlooks, both of which offer beautiful views of Brooks Camp and the turquoise water of Naknek Lake.
The views along the trail are great, but be forewarned—this trail is known for being quite buggy and is frequented by bears. It was actually closed when we visited Katmai because some visitors decided it was a good idea to feed some bears along the trail (for the record, this is a BIG no no!).
So remember to make plenty of noise while you’re hiking to let any bears in the area know that they’re not alone and come armed with bugspray.
11. Go on a Flightseeing Tour
Katmai has a STUNNING landscape, from the turquoise waters of Naknek to the colorful volcanic fields of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. And one of the best ways to see it is from a thousand feet in the air with a flightseeing tour!
Many of the nearby cities have operators that offer flightseeing tours over Katmai, like this tour from Homer. During these experiences you’ll get to enjoy the diversity of landscapes in the park, plus may even get the chance to see bears, moose, sea otters, or a host of other animals.
How to Get to Katmai National Park
Katmai National Park is located in southern Alaska on the Alaskan Peninsula. The park is pure magic, but it’s also EXTREMELY remote and expensive to access.
We actually wrote a whole post on how to get to Katmai National Park. But, in short, there are no roads leading here and the only way you can get to the park is by boat or by plane. Most visitors get to the park by first arriving in the nearby town of King Salmon, although you can get to Katmai through a few others towns, like Homer or Anchorage.
Getting to Katmai National Park from King Salmon
The closest city to the park is the teeny town of King Salmon, about a 20 minute flight or 45 minute boat ride away. You cannot access either King Salmon by car.
Many travelers, including us, first hop on a flight from Anchorage to King Salmon, which are offered by a handful of airlines, like Alaska or Horizon Air. From King Salmon, you can take either a water taxi or float plane to the park.
There’s really only one company that offers each of these services—Katmai Water Taxi or Katmai Air. I’d STRONGLY recommend booking with Katmai Air, instead of the water taxi.
We initially wound up booking with the Katmai Water Taxi, because, at the time, it was about $50 per person cheaper than a flight with Katmai Air (it now costs the same). We later found out—from personal experience!—that the water taxi is canceled due to the weather MUCH more frequently than the float plane and the company does not offer any kind of refund in the event of a cancellation.
During our trip, Katmai Water Taxi told us after we were dropped off in the national park and without cell service or internet access that our return trip was canceled because of the weather. They did not offer us any kind of help with trying to figure out a way that we could get back to King Salmon for our flight back to Anchorage and honestly, were quite rude throughout the whole situation.
It wound up working out for us fine—we had to purchase an additional $400 worth of flights from Katmai Air (which conveniently has an office in the park) and we were ultimately reimbursed for these tickets through our travel insurance company. However, we spent a decent amount of our time in Katmai, panicking and trying to figure out how the heck to get back to Anchorage from such a remote place, without any access to the Internet or our cell phones or any kind of help from the Katmai Water Taxi.
So TLDR—save yourself the headache and just book with Katmai Air!
Getting to Katmai National Park from other cities around Alaska
There’s a handful of private tour operators that fly directly from nearby towns to Katmai.
Homer has the widest variety of options, like this tour option or this option (which can also go to Lake Clark National Park), although you may also have luck finding tours from cities, like Anchorage or Kodiak.
Best time to visit Katmai National Park
If you’re mainly coming to see bears, the best time to visit Katmai is usually in July and September, when the salmon are running in Brooks Falls.
That being said, these periods of times can be extremely crowded—so much so that rangers actually often limit the number of people and the amount of time they spend observing the bears on the wooden observation platforms. Accordingly, you may have to wait in line to watch the bears, be allowed to stand on the platform for about 40 minutes, and then be forced to get back in line.
We went in early August and would actually highly recommend this timeframe. There still were PLENTY of bears, but not that many other visitors, so we never had to wait in line for the observation platforms. Plus, we still got tons of those iconic shots of bears catching leaping salmon in their mouths.
Outside of July through early August and late August through September, there won’t be any salmon at Brooks Falls and, accordingly, there also likely won’t be any bears. So, if you do visit outside of these timeframes, I’d highly recommend joining some sort of guided tour that will take you into Katmai’s backcountry, where you’ll have a much better chance of getting to see the park’s famed bears.
As far as I’m aware, most of the transportation options to get to and from the park only operate from the beginning of June through the end of September. Outside of this timeframe, you’ll need to privately charter transportation here.
How Long Do You Need to Visit Katmai National Park?
Most visitors come to Katmai as part of a day trip for just a few hours to see the bears. Honestly, if that’s all you’re interested in, a few hours is usually plenty of time to walk to Brooks Falls and get a few epic shots of these creatures.
In our experience, though, I’d recommend staying at least a night or two, so you can see both Brooks Falls and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Most people will only visit Katmai once in their life, so you might as well get to experience both of the park’s biggest highlights!
In fact, we stayed for three nights and four days and found plenty of things to do in Katmai to keep us busy!
Where to Stay in Katmai National Park
You essentially have two options of where to stay in Katmai—Brooks Lodge or the Brooks Camp Campground.
Staying at Brooks Lodge
Brooks Lodge offers 16 private cabins with bunk beds that accommodate up to four people. They’re definitely on the rustic side, but offer a heater, electrical outlet, and bathroom, with a toilet, sink, and shower.
Even though they’re shockingly expensive (over $1,100 USD a night!), they’re extremely competitive to book. In fact, there’s actually a lottery that happens every December so that you can book for a year and a half in advance. For example, in December 2025, there will be a lottery for cabin reservations for the summer of 2027.
If you’re lucky enough to snag a reservation here, you can either bring your own food to make here (although there isn’t any kind of kitchen facilities that you can use) or, alternatively, there’s a buffet provided in the main Brooks Lodge building.
Staying at Brooks Camp Campground
If you’re more on a budget, like us, you can alternatively stay at the Brooks Camp Campground.
While it may sound a bit scary to pitch a tent in a park that’s home to 2,200 bears, not to worry—there’s actually an electrified fence that completely surrounds the campground.
We camped here for our three nights in the park and thought it was quite nice—clean vault toilets, free firewood for campfires, plenty of shelters to cook and eat in, and a food and gear cache.
You do need to bring in everything you’ll need to camp here, as there’s no gear rentals here—so you’ll need a tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, pillows, and anything else you’ll need to comfortably make your home outside for a few days.
If you’re comfortable with that, though, it’s definitely a MUCH more affordable option than Brooks Lodge—just $18 per night per person!
Just be sure to mark your calendar for when Brooks Camp Campground reservations go on sale, usually on January 5 at 8 a.m. AKST at recreation.gov. Campground reservations for prime bear viewing times sell out the INSTANT they go on sale.
I REALLY wanted to go to Katmai in July, but, despite logging on to the reservation system a few minutes before they were all released, they were totally sold out by the time I clicked on it. We wound up loving the timeframe that we went to Katmai, so it worked out fine, but if I’d suggest being flexible with the dates you plan on visiting the park, in case you’re unable to get reservations.
Staying at Grosvenor Lodge
It’s worth mentioning there’s a third option—Grosvenor Lodge—which is a remote fishing lodge that only accommodates six guests at a time. You would need to take a flight from Grosvenor to access Brooks Falls and it’s actually even more expensive than the Brooks Lodge, starting at around $5,000 per person for a 3 day trip!
See—I told you there was so many more things to do in Katmai other than just watching the bears! Do you have any questions about visiting this unique place? Let us know in the comments below!
