United States
On the Alaska Peninsula where the Pacific Ring of Fire meets one of the richest marine ecosystems on Earth, Katmai National Park and Preserve protects four million acres of volcanic wilderness that is home to the largest concentration of brown bears on the planet. This is the Alaska of primal imagination — a landscape of steaming volcanic valleys, salmon-choked rivers, and bears so numerous that the challenge is not finding them but choosing which group to watch.
The character of Katmai is defined by the relationship between bears and salmon. Each summer, between June and September, sockeye salmon return to the park's rivers and streams to spawn, and the brown bears of Katmai congregate along the waterways to feed with a single-minded intensity that is both awe-inspiring and faintly terrifying. Brooks Falls — where the Brooks River drops two metres over a ledge of volcanic rock — is the iconic location, with bears standing at the lip of the falls catching leaping salmon in their jaws in a scene that has become one of the most recognisable wildlife images in the world.
The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, formed by the catastrophic eruption of Novarupta volcano in 1912 — the largest volcanic event of the twentieth century — stretches across forty square miles of ash deposits that remain largely barren over a century later. The eruption expelled thirteen cubic kilometres of material, burying the valley under over two hundred metres of ash and creating a landscape of fumaroles and steam vents that explorer Robert Griggs, arriving four years later, described as resembling "the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes." The landscape, though now largely quiet, retains an otherworldly character that makes Katmai more than a bear park.
The coastal areas of the park — accessible by boat from the fishing village of King Salmon or by floatplane — offer a different Katmai experience. Along the shoreline, bears dig for razor clams, graze on sedge grass, and patrol the tidal zones with a proprietary confidence that reminds visitors who the true owners of this landscape are. Whale watching is possible in the offshore waters, and the park's rivers support world-class sport fishing for rainbow trout and five species of Pacific salmon.
Katmai National Park is accessible by floatplane from King Salmon, which is served by scheduled flights from Anchorage. Brooks Camp, the primary bear-viewing location, operates on a reservation system — permits for day visits and camping must be booked well in advance. The bear-viewing season runs from late June through mid-September, with the peak at Brooks Falls occurring in July. The fall season (September) brings bears back to the river for a final feeding frenzy before hibernation, with the added spectacle of autumn colours in the surrounding boreal forest.