Everybody can see bears on a road trip through Alaska - with a lot of luck. However, there are a few places along the coast of Southeastern Alaska where the chances to see kodiak and grizzly bears increase exponentially. Where the salmon gather in large numbers to migrate upriver to their birthplaces, bears are sure to gather in order to feast on the fat fish coming in from the ocean before they start on their exhausting journey through their home rivers. Bear watchers just have to get to the mouth of these rivers to be sure to encounter many bears hunting their favorite food: salmon.
The ways to get to the bears are either easy or strenuous, but most certainly they are exciting. Many times the visitors move among the bears - without any safety fences or other security measures except their own behaviour. Thus everybody is guaranteed the experience of a lifetime.
The best places to view bears in Alaska are:
Anan Creek or Stikine River
Visitors fly by waterplane to either Anan Creek or Stikine River, where one of the biggest salmon run takes place in Southeast Alaska.
Admiralty Island
The number of visitors per day is limited. Reservation is required, but the chances are good to see bears. There are said to be about 1.600 of them in the reserve.
Lake Clark National Park
Beneath the two volcanoes Mt. Redoubt and Mt. Iliamna there is the Great Alaska Bear Camp. Visitors follow their guides from the tent camp to the best places to watch the bears.
Redoubt Bay
Close by is the Redoubt Bay Lodge. Here bear watchers are taken to the bears by boat.
The Bears of Brooks Falls and Katmai National Park
This is probably one of the most famous bear watching places in Southeast Alaska. Here visitors are walking among the bears to two observation platforms where they can watch the fishing kodiak bears from a safe lookout. To get there, however, they may encounter bears in close proximity. In order to give everybody the same chance to view bears the viewing time on the platform on Brooks Falls may be limited. Thus enough time should be available to visit the platform a few times during the stay at the lodge.
The Bears in Hallo Bay close to Homer, Alaska
Waterplanes take visitors to the coast along the Cook Inlet where they can watch bears during the day. Rustic tent cabins are available for overnight stays.
The Kodiak Bears of Kodiak Island
There are a few options to view bears on Kodiak Island: waterplanes take bear watchers to a beach or river where they can be seen closeup. If the weather situation is good the planes land and drop off their passengers for a few hours which they spend among the bears - no security measures except their own behaviour included. Another way is to stay overnight in the Zachar Bay Lodge, an old cannery. From there waterplanes take visitors to Frazer Lake which offers good bear viewing.
Bear Viewing in Alaska - an Unforgettable Experience
Anybody who goes bear watching in Alaska is sure to have the experience of a lifetime in the wilderness of the north. But even if the chances are good to view bears there is never a guarantee - this is a natural surrounding, and nature is not always to be counted on.
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