Katmai
National Park
About Katmai
Visited – June/July 2021 (#56 of 63)
Established (as NP) December 1980
2M acres (almost twice the size of Yellowstone)
Where is Katmai: About 250 (air) miles southwest of Anchorage.
Recommendations
Don’t miss: Other than seeing the bears, there’s not a lot that can compete with that. You can take a tour to the Valley of 10000 Smokes which is supposedly pretty cool, but will take almost a full day. It wasn’t available during our trip.
When to visit: July and September are the best times for bears, so plan for those months Note you’ll need to reserve the lodge 2 years in advance.
How long to stay: One good day will be wonderful, but two should give you a lifetime full of memories.
Definitely check out the Photo Gallery of our best pictures.
Photo Gallery
You might not have heard of Katmai, but you’ve almost certainly seen some of the iconic bear photos.
Check these out and you’ll want to visit for yourself.
Link to NPS Info
Click to visit the park’s website with maps, history, and lots of great info on things to do and places to see.
Trip Report
Read about our adventure to Katmai…..
Visiting the bears at Katmai is definitely an adventure. Besides the iconic photo shots of the resident bears, we got to experience them up close and almost too personal.
Katmai Blog Posts
Katmai Trip Report
“Incredible” is an understatement in describing our trip to Katmai National Park. It is now near the top of our list of favorite National Parks. Yes, it’s that good. The coastal brown bears that live in Katmai are related to the grizzlies found in many other parks,...