Alaska is house to extra wild bears than another U.S. state, however not all bears are created equal. Whether or not you’re hoping to identify large coastal brown bears fishing for salmon, smaller black bears foraging within the forest, and even polar bears roaming the Arctic coast, these 10 finest locations to see bears in Alaska promise wild encounters you gained’t quickly overlook. From fly-in journeys on distant lakes to guided excursions alongside the Inside Passage, there’s a bear journey for each form of traveler. Viewing bears within the forty eighth state is one thing I’ve skilled firsthand a couple of occasions, and it’s all the time a thrill. Right here’s the place to see bears in Alaska, together with really useful excursions and suggestions for a secure and unforgettable expertise.
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1. Crescent Lake, Lake Clark Nationwide Park (coastal brown bears)
This stunning glacier-fed lake is tucked inside Lake Clark Nationwide Park on the Alaska Peninsula, about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. I celebrated a bucket-list-worthy birthday in Alaska with a flightseeing tour to Crescent Lake to view brown bears dwelling their finest lives. It stays considered one of my most vivid journey reminiscences.
After our floatplane skimmed to a cease on the lake, we climbed aboard a small pontoon boat operated by Redoubt Mountain Lodge. From the water, we watched bears fish for salmon within the shallows, completely unfazed by our presence. In contrast to their inland cousins—the famously aggressive North American brown bears (ahem, grizzlies)—Alaska’s coastal brown bears thrive on an abundance of salmon, protecting bellies full and temperaments extra easygoing.
This bear-focused journey was a part of an adventure-packed, multi-day itinerary with Salmon Berry Excursions. We flew with Rust’s Flying Service, which additionally provides direct bookings for unbiased vacationers. The flight itself was gorgeous, hovering over turquoise-blue lakes and rivers, jagged mountain peaks, and seemingly countless wilderness. (Be sure you learn my suggestions for movement illness earlier than you go, particularly if you happen to’re susceptible!)
Afterward, we warmed up with sizzling cocoa and a scrumptious salmon lunch on a small, distant island. Redoubt Mountain Lodge additionally provides in a single day stays, the place friends can take pleasure in bear viewing and fishing excursions. When you’re on the lookout for a fly-in journey that mixes journey with serenity, Crescent Lake offers a really memorable expertise.
2. Brooks Falls, Katmai Nationwide Park (coastal brown bears)
Brooks Falls in Katmai Nationwide Park is the long-lasting Alaskan bear viewing vacation spot you’ve probably seen in photographs, with large coastal brown bears standing midstream, mouths open, catching salmon mid-leap. It’s distant, dramatic, and completely well worth the effort.
I haven’t been to Brooks Falls but, however my well-traveled mother and father have. (Am I jealous? You guess!) My dad, Tom Lanin, says, “Of all of the fantastic issues to see and do in Alaska, crucial must-see for us was the brown bears feasting on salmon at Brooks Falls. We weren’t dissatisfied, seeing as many as eight bears at a time, many gorging themselves on monumental salmon. We liked it!”
To get there, you’ll must guide a fly-in journey, usually from Anchorage or Homer. Many guests keep in a single day at Brooks Lodge, which provides guided excursions and entry to elevated statement platforms.
When you’re on the lookout for the quintessential Alaska bear expertise, Brooks Falls delivers. Simply be ready for restricted availability and guide your Brooks Falls Tour effectively prematurely, particularly throughout salmon runs in peak season.
3. Alaska Wildlife Conservation Heart (coastal brown, grizzly, and black bears)
An simple and secure place to see bears in a natural-looking atmosphere is on the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Heart. You’re just about assured to see each black and brown bears at this nonprofit sanctuary close to Portage, a small group close to the pinnacle of Turnagain Arm.
The middle rescues injured and deserted wildlife and offers spacious enclosures that mimic their pure habitats, surrounded by wetlands and mountains. Throughout our Salmon Berry multi-day group tour, we noticed bears at this sanctuary, together with wolves, moose, musk ox, plains buffalo, and different native creatures.
Strolling alongside the elevated Bears Boardwalk, the atmosphere was so lush that I virtually felt as if I used to be viewing these highly effective creatures within the Alaskan wilderness, not in a wildlife conservatory. Seeing black bears and brown bears mere toes away was a panoramic expertise. Life-sized cutouts of a black, brown, and polar bear provide guests a hanging visible comparability of every species’ dimension, making it simple to understand simply how large these animals actually are.
This scenic cease is good for street trippers heading between Anchorage and Seward. Portage is about 50 miles from Anchorage and a cease on the Alaska Railroad, midway from the state’s capital metropolis to the Kenai Peninsula. When you take the prepare, no automobile is required to succeed in the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Heart, because it’s only a 5- to 10-minute stroll from the station.
4. Denali Nationwide Park, Inside Alaska (inside grizzly bears)
Denali Nationwide Park provides a glimpse into the rugged world of actually wild grizzlies—the leaner, extra solitary cousins of the calmer salmon-fed coastal brown bears. These grizzly bears roam the tundra and alpine slopes of Alaska’s inside, foraging for berries, roots, and floor squirrels in a panorama of extremes. With fewer meals sources and harsher situations, Denali’s brown bears are typically extra aggressive, making respectful distance important.
Guests can spot bears from the consolation of the park’s shuttle buses alongside the 92-mile Denali Park Highway, particularly in summer time when bears are energetic close to open meadows and riverbeds. Denali is accessible by automobile, prepare, or bus from Anchorage and Fairbanks. A Denali naturalist-guided hike provides an opportunity to study bear conduct, ecology, and the fragile stability of life in Alaska’s inside.
For majestic views of Mount Denali and the Alaska Mountain Vary, guide a keep on the nature-focused luxurious Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, situated simply a few scenic hours from the nationwide park entrance.
5. Kodiak Island, Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak brown bears)
Kodiak Island, a.okay.a. Alaska’s Emerald Isle, is house to the legendary Kodiak bear. It is a subspecies of brown bear discovered nowhere else on Earth. Remoted for over 12,000 years, Kodiak bears have advanced into among the largest land omnivores on the planet, generally even rivaling polar bears in dimension. What units them aside isn’t simply their bulk, however their calmer temperament, formed by the island’s wealthy ecosystem and ample salmon runs.
Accessible through each day brief flights from Anchorage with Alaska Airways or by ferry from Homer, Kodiak Island provides a distant but reachable wilderness expertise inside the Kodiak Nationwide Wildlife Refuge.
6. Kaktovik, Northern Alaska (polar bears)
Whereas most bear viewing in Alaska focuses on brown and black bears, wild polar bears do roam the far north. Kaktovik is a distant Inupiat village on Barter Island within the Arctic Circle from which polar bear viewing excursions depart. Reaching this island within the Arctic Nationwide Wildlife Refuge is an journey in itself, with most vacationers flying into Kaktovik on small chartered airplanes from Fairbanks.
One TripAdvisor contributor exclaimed about their Polar Bear Journey with Planet Earth Adventures, “There isn’t a solution to describe this wonderful expertise. I had been to Churchill (Canada) to see the bears, however this far surpassed that have. The primary day, we noticed 32 bears on the seashore! Day by day after that, we noticed bears, and shut sufficient for good photographs, even with my iPhone.”
Embark on an Alaskan polar bear-seeking mission from late August via October. That’s when the bears collect close to the shore, ready for sea ice to kind.
Sadly, polar bear viewings in Alaska are declining as a consequence of shrinking sea ice, inhabitants loss, habitat disruption, and unpredictable bear conduct pushed by local weather change and human exercise. If seeing wild polar bears in Alaska is in your bucket checklist, guide your Alaskan Polar Bear Journey whilst you nonetheless can.
7. Ketchikan, Inside Passage (black bears and occasional grizzlies)
Ketchikan is famed for black bear viewings, with Herring Cove providing one of many few vehicle-accessible spots simply 10 miles south of this well-liked port metropolis’s downtown. Adventurous hikers can discover solo (bear spray really useful!), however my husband and I opted for a guided shore tour throughout our Alaskan cruise.
Led by a naturalist, our small group hiked a one-mile stretch of the 64-acre Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary. Although we noticed a hibernation den and remnants of salmon left by black bears in a stream, practically two hours handed with no bear sightings. Simply as murmurs of disappointment started, phrase got here from one other information: a bear was headed our manner. We hustled to the subsequent viewing platform, and inside minutes, a black bear ambled under us. Not probably the most dramatic encounter, however nonetheless a thrill to witness wildlife in its pure habitat.
Why seek for black bears in Alaska? In line with the Alaska Division of Fish and Recreation, black bears are the most ample and smallest species within the state. Sometimes, black bears are extra timid and fewer confrontational than brown bears, particularly when stunned or confronted. This implies they’re typically simpler to look at safely than brown bears. A naturalist suggested throughout considered one of my Alaska journeys, “When you see a bear in a tree, it’s in all probability a black bear. Bears don’t climb bushes for no cause. Don’t lookup. Go searching as a result of one thing bigger in all probability chased it up that tree. And that one thing might be a brown bear.”
Study native tradition and spot wildlife like bears, salmon, and eagles throughout a Ketchikan Alaska Native Cultural and Scenic Shore Tour with my trusted accomplice, Get Your Information.
8. Chichagof Island, Southeast Alaska (coastal brown bears)
The Chichagof Island in Southeast Alaska is house to each brown bears and black bears. The fifth-largest island within the U.S. is accessible through cruise excursions or chartered excursions from Sitka and Juneau. A part of the Tongass Nationwide Forest, this island is densely forested, laced with berries, and wealthy in salmon streams, making it prime bear territory. The truth is, Chichagof Island has the highest inhabitants of bears per sq. mile of anywhere on the planet.
Many Inside Passage cruises provide bear-focused excursions right here, typically combining wildlife viewing with cultural experiences in close by villages. Most vacationers attain the island through cruise ship. When you’re on the lookout for a bear journey that doesn’t require a fly-in journey or in a single day keep, a Chichagof Island Bear Search Tour is a good choice.
9. Pack Creek, Admiralty Island
Often known as the “Fortress of the Bears,” Pack Creek is situated about 40 miles south of Juneau and is accessible through a 30-minute floatplane experience, adopted by a brief paddle or hike to the viewing space. There’s an statement tower and a seashore viewing web site, each providing glorious probabilities to see bears of their pure atmosphere. With very restricted each day permits and no crowds, Pack Creek provides considered one of Alaska’s most intimate bear-viewing experiences. E book your Pack Creek Viewing Journey through Get Your Information now.
10. Alaska Zoo, Anchorage
The Alaska Zoo is the one place within the state the place you’ll be able to see all three native Alaska bear species: black, brown, and polar. The bears stay in habitats designed to imitate nature, with instructional indicators and scheduled enrichment demos. It’s a managed care facility, so the expertise doesn’t have the uncooked, wild really feel of Alaska’s distant bear-viewing spots. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re brief on time or touring with children, the zoo provides a straightforward and secure solution to see bears in Alaska.
Suggestions for a Profitable Bear Viewing Journey in Alaska
Whether or not flying right into a distant lake or climbing via Alaska’s wilds, right here are some things to remember:
- Go throughout late summer time: That is peak salmon run season, which implies bears are most energetic and visual.
- Select a guided tour: Native guides know one of the best spots, will educate you about Alaska and wildlife, and perceive the right way to preserve you secure.
- Skip the snacks: Bears have an extremely delicate sense of odor, and bringing meals could put bear observers at risk. Meals could also be prohibited (as at Pack Creek) or allowed in designated areas solely (like at Brooks Falls). Some outfitters present meals.
- Deliver bear spray: At any time when exploring nature in Alaska with out a information, bear spray is an absolute should. (And browse instructions to you understand how to make use of it earlier than you set out!)
- Permits are required: Restricted licenses are sometimes required to entry wild bear-viewing places. Sometimes, these are included in guided excursions.
- Put on numerous layers: Alaska climate is unpredictable, and you might get moist on some excursions.
- Deliver binoculars and a zoom lens: You’ll wish to seize the second with out disturbing the bears.
- Test age restrictions: Many excursions aren’t appropriate for youthful kids as a consequence of security or logistics.
Discover Extra of Alaska
The most important state within the U.S. invitations us to decelerate, look nearer, and really feel extra. It’s the place to go to attach with nature and rediscover marvel. Listed below are extra tricks to make you lengthy for an Alaskan trip.
Uncover the small, quirky city of Talkeetna, gateway to Denali. (It was the inspiration for the fictional city of Cicely within the TV present Northern Publicity!)
Dig into the finest meals in Talkeetna, from freshly tapped birch syrup to caribou meatloaf and fireweed ice cream.
No automobile? No downside! Listed below are walkable issues to do in Seward, a small coastal city with a giant character.
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Which of those bear-viewing adventures sounds most enjoyable to you? Share your feedback and questions under!
A Observe from Colleen: I didn’t obtain any financial compensation associated to this weblog put up. Go to Anchorage and Salmon Berry Journey & Excursions hosted my most up-to-date go to to Alaska. Click on their hyperlinks to be taught extra about what to do in Alaska. As all the time, my opinions and suggestions are my very own.
