Like many of you, we spent much of the pandemic visiting state and national parks. I visited Acadia National Park in late summer 2022 which was the last of my personal ‘big 5’ national parks to visit (Acadia NP, Yellowstone NP, Yosemite NP, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Grand Canyon NP). Naturally, once home from a great trip, I set my sights on the next adventure…
December 1st
December 1st, December 1st, December 1st. That date is stuck in my brain as that is the date the Brooks Lodge Lottery in Katmai National Park opens each year. If you’re worried that planning a summer trip to Alaska in only 7 months could be stressful, don’t. When you enter the lottery, they are pulling names for their 16 lodges in Katmai National Park for a year and a half later. I entered the lottery in Dec 2022 and found out in January 2023 that our name was pulled for a cabin in the summer of 2024! Once notified we were chosen, I had a few days to put down a deposit or give up the spot. Obviously, I put down the deposit and knew we’d figure out the details later. These cabins are coveted and there was no way I was going to let logistics get in the way of good fortune.
A Few Things To Know About The Cabins
Cabins sound affordable, right? Like a nice alternative to a hotel when you want to save some money and be out in the nature. Nope. I repeat, absolutely not. To date, these are easily the most expensive accommodations I’ve ever stayed in. For context, during summer 2024, these cabins cost around $1200 per night. Yeah, you read that right. They each have 4 single beds (2 pairs of bunk beds) and a split bath (toilet in one room and sink/shower in a separate area). So, if you are a single person with 3 friends, you could all split the cost and that will ease the pain. You know what else eases the pain? BEARS!
What’s Katmai National Park?
Let me rewind. Perhaps you haven’t heard of Katmai NP or maybe it sounds only a little familiar. Have you ever seen Fat Bear Week posts on social media or in the news each fall? Those are the bears of Katmai NP! To me, Katmai is so special because it’s home to the Brooks River where thousands of salmon swim upstream each July to spawn. And where there are seemingly infinite salmon, there are lots and lots and lots of brown bears!!! In fact, the salmon are so plentiful you can see many bears congregating with only occasional conflict while they feast at Brooks Falls. And you can be very close to these brown bears (standing safely on an elevated platform) without disrupting their behavior, and while getting very good pictures. I have two select memories in life that stand out as the most unbelievable things I’ve ever seen. The Northern Lights and a baby’s birth (because it was like science fiction; don’t worry, baby and mom did great). But now, I’ve added this:
This picture was taken around 9:30pm on the day we arrived at Katmai. At highest count, there were 23 brown bears in the water together looking for their next meal. This is now a core memory of mine.
How To Get To Katmai
Katmai NP is on the Alaska Peninsula in the southwest of Alaska and there are no roads to Katmai. We flew from Anchorage to King Salmon and then chartered a float plane from King Salmon to Katmai. At the time of writing, there were two float plane companies I was able to get a hold of. The more obvious of the two is Brooks Lodge (the same outfitter that handles the cabin reservations). If your name is pulled for a cabin, the emails from Brooks Lodge will include information on their float plane service. We opted to use Branch River Air, based in King Salmon and I have no complaints. They were slightly more affordable, picked us up from the airport and took us to their office, and when there were 30 mph winds on our departure day, the owner came to pick us up in a bigger plane than we had paid for. In addition, the office manager told me that if any flights were canceled because of weather, they would move all flights to later in the day instead of completely canceling and leaving you stranded. This would then bump everyone else’s flight after yours to a later time so that the departures are all still in the same order. Given that we heard of other flights and the water taxi being outright canceled for weather while we were there, this seemed like a helpful policy.
The water taxi is the other way to get to the park. It also originates in King Salmon and the pricing per person is still expensive. While I voted for the water taxi, everyone else in the group voted for the float plane so that’s what we did. I had seen some mention online that perhaps the water taxi is more reliable because it can go in fog whereas planes would have to cancel. But during our second day in Katmai, both the water taxi and some flights were canceled for wind, so it may be a bit of a crapshoot either way.
How Long To Spend In Katmai
Most people don’t get the option for a cabin. Your other option for overnight accommodations in the park is camping. This is a way more affordable option (up to $18 per person per night) but requires that you bring your gear. The third option is to visit Katmai as a day trip. Whether you’re visiting for the fishing, the bears, or the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, there are outfitters that would love to help you get there and act as a guide if needed.
Since we were in a pricey cabin and this was part of a much longer Alaska trip, we spent two nights in the park and I think that was perfect for us. It was enough to have a ton of bear time while also allowing for other camp activities like the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes Tour (VTTST) and special ranger programs. We attended a bat discussion by a world expert that was fantastic. Two days also allowed a buffer in case of bad weather, and there was heavy wind and rain at times. Any longer may have become cost prohibitive. A day trip, which I believe most people do, or only one night would be fine and 100% worth doing, but I think two nights is better.
Bear School
Regardless of how you arrive to Katmai National Park, the first stop for everyone is Bear School. This is a short class where you learn how to behave and what to expect while at Katmai. A ranger will review the layout of the park and platform etiquette. And of course, much of the discussion is around what to do and not do when you inevitably encounter a bear.
I’ve been to bear safety discussions elsewhere. But during Katmai Bear School, it becomes clear the attitudes and behaviors around these bears are different. Don’t misunderstand, these bears can absolutely kill you. But, as the ranger started the class she asked if we wanted to keep the door behind her open while she talked since it was a little stuffy. We agreed and she nonchalantly asked that if a bear tries to come through the door during class, we either let her know or just walk up and shut the door.
To The Bears!
Once you’ve completed Bear School, you are free to explore! We went straight to the Brooks Falls viewing platforms for the afternoon, came back to camp for dinner and then went to the bears again at night. Keep in mind the sun doesn’t set until much later in the summer, so we were able to stay at the viewing platforms until they closed at 10pm.
The park areas near Brooks Lodge are small and easy to manage. You’ll get the hang of it quickly. And don’t forget to check out the ranger programs and the VTTST. We weren’t sure if we’d want to spend time away from the bears, so we hedged our bets a little on the VTTST. We reserved two spots in advance and decided last minute to try to add two more. Only one of us was able to sign up the night before and so I stayed behind. I was briefly bummed about this but then I spent 8 hours that day walking around and watching bears, so really it worked out for the best! And I got more great pictures, so I’m not mad about it. For what it’s worth, the three on the tour agreed it was worthwhile, and they were happy with their decision. I am probably the most bear-obsessed of our group and I was happy I stayed behind.
Regardless of which activities you do or skip, just soak it all in! Katmai is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most people, so just be present while you’re there and you can’t go wrong.
Do I Need To Bring Anything Special?
Yes and no. If you arrived with no gear, you would still see bears up close and have an amazing experience. But also, you’ll see a lot of people with a lot of gear. Caveat: I am not a fisherperson and so didn’t bring waders or any fishing gear and wouldn’t even know what to bring for that. In our group of four, we had two fancy cameras with several lenses, several pairs of binoculars, and my Vortex scope with tripod. You can’t use tripods on the Brooks Falls viewing platforms, but you can use a monopod so if your camera is heavy, plan for that. I used my scope on the shoreline back at camp, not on the viewing platforms. Bring bug spray obviously, but if you have a mosquito net for your head, bring that! I always thought those were silly but am now a total convert after my daughter and I had blood running down our faces and ears from white socks fly bites.
Also, it’s easier to pack in soft-sided bags if you’re taking a charter plane (and there will be a weight limit). We used hard-shell suitcases for the Alaska trip overall but then packed duffels inside. Once at Branch River Air headquarters, we put what we needed for Katmai in the duffel bags and then left what we didn’t need in the hard-shell suitcases and stored them in the Branch River Air locker until we got back to King Salmon.
We also brought a deck of cards, a small game, and personal books/journals. And not only does the Ranger station have a Junior Ranger booklet for littles, but they have a Not So Junior Ranger booklet for adults that 3 of us did! And yes, adults can do a swearing in ceremony and get a badge/patch as well.
Wrap It Up, Misty
This is getting long so here are 3 parting thoughts:
1 – When you put your name in the lottery, you add your preferred dates. It’s worth doing a quick search online for the best time to go. We went from Aug 3-5 which was nearing the end of the salmon run. We got very lucky with the amount of bears still fishing in the river. Classically, mid-July is the best time to go.
2 – Perhaps you don’t choose the trip, the trip chooses you. If Katmai is on your travel list but you aren’t sure how or when to make it happen, just start putting your name in the lottery every year. I think this is one of those things where you can’t plan exactly for it. Maybe it’s better to just put your name in and then if it gets pulled, you’ll know it’s time.
3 – Is this my new favorite national park? It easily could be and some days I think it is. But right now, it’s tied for second place with Glacier Bay NP. Yellowstone NP remains the GOAT for me – it’s hard to compete with those winter wolves!
