Katmai National Park (>4 million acres) is home to the world’s largest population of brown bears (>2000). Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park is famous for viewing brown bears feeding on salmon trying to make their way upstream. You can visit Katmai National Park as a day trip from Anchorage, Homer, or King Salmon to see the bears. Alaska’s official website (link) has a wealth of useful information about all the available tours.
Best time to go for bear viewing in Katmai National Park
Early June to late September is the best time to visit Brooks Falls in Katmai National park for bear viewing. However, the number of bears arriving at the Brooks Falls in turn depends on the arrival of salmon and I highly recommend to book these expensive tours only after confirming the salmon arrival. Early September is recommended if you must book a trip early to avoid missing award flights to King Salmon island.
Typical cost of a bear viewing day trip at Brooks Falls
See the table below for some of the companies that offer bear-viewing trips to Brooks Falls. None of the tours include food and beverages and you must bring your own packed lunch, snacks and water. There could be an additional 6% added taxes and other fees to the amount listed in the table (Alaska is supposed to be a no sales tax state).
Brooks Falls Bear Viewing Tours
| Tour Name | Time Spent Flying | Time Spent With Bears | Cost | Pick Up Place | Notes |
| Katmai Air | 2.5 hours each way | 4 hours | $1,370 | Anchorage | $30 Park Entry Fee |
| Regal Air | 2.5 hours each way | 4 hours | $1,350 | Anchorage | |
| Trail Ridge Air Inc. | 2.5 hours each way | 4 hours | $1,350 | Anchorage | 3% credit card surcharge |
| Rust's Bear Viewing | 2.5 hours each way | 4 hours | $1,350 | Anchorage | $30 additional Katmai NPS fee |
| Brooks Lodge Bear Viewing | 2.5 hours each way | 4 hours | $1,350 | Anchorage | |
| Emerald Air Service | 1.5 hours each way | 5 hours | 1,595 | Homer | 6% online convenience fee (call company to book) |
| Alaska Bear Adventures | 1.5 hours each way | 4 hours | $1395 | Homer | |
| Brooks Lodge Bear Viewing | 30-45 minutes | 4 hours | $450 | King Salmon | Katmai Air is used for transportation |
Typical Bear Viewing Itinerary from Anchorage
Which company to choose for a day trip to Brooks Falls?
You must choose one of the companies based on their policies on refunds and credit card surcharges. I recommend Brooks Lodge based trips with Katmai Air transportation for the reasons listed below.
- Brooks Lodge (link) is the only full-service establishment near Brooks Falls, and their sister company, Katmai Air (link) provides transportation to the location.
- Lunch buffet can be purchased at Brooks Lodge for $20-40 per person.
- Katmai Air either provides full refunds or gives the option to reschedule flights in case of bad weather.
- You can either pay $1350 for a Brooks Lodge day trip from Anchorage or $450 for a day trip from King Salmon island.
- I recommend using Alaska miles (transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines then move to Alaska) to book flights to King Salmon island as described below.
Cheaper way to Brooks Falls from King Salmon island
Travelers can fly from Anchorage to King Salmon (AKN) and then take either a float plane (e.g., Katmai Air) or a water taxi (Katmai Water Taxi) to Brooks Camp and pay only $450 for the round trip. The lodging in King Salmon island is around $450 per night (link) and the water taxi ticket comes with a free shuttle from the airport to the ferry launch point. I highly recommend using Katmai Air instead of a water taxi due to the issues described below.
Issues with water taxi
- The water taxi rides tend to get cancelled due to bad weather.
- Refund policies are not customer friendly even when the cancellations are due to bad weather.
- Read the negative reviews of Katmai water taxis from disappointed tourists on TripAdvisor (link).
Award booking flights to Anchorage & King Salmon
Alaska Mileage Plan can be used to book award flights to Anchorage (ANC) and King Salmon (AKN) airports.
It’s also easy to make use of Alaska’s free one-way stopovers to spend some time in Anchorage on your way to King Salmon (see image below).
Should you spend a night on King Salmon Island or at Brooks Lodge?
Most tourists take the earliest flight from Anchorage to King Salmon and go directly to Brooks Lodge or camp by taking one of the hourly departures of float plane (e.g., Katmai Air) or a water taxi (Katmai Water Taxi). They will return by the end of the same day to catch a flight back to Anchorage. This budget method will only cost $450 per person for the bear viewing at Brooks Falls (if you use Alaska miles to book the flights).
King Salmon accommodations cost around $450 per night and Brooks Lodge charges over $1000 per night. It all comes down to how much you are willing to spend and how interested you are in seeing the bears in nature by taking repeated trips.
My trip to Brooks Falls was several years ago and there were very few visitors. However, these days (due to the post-COVID 19 travel surge), the wait times at the Brooks Falls Platform may exceed 3 hours.
Conclusion
A trip to see brown bears eating salmon in Katmai National Park is very expensive and needs careful planning. If you book a trip too early in the season, there may not be any bears at the falls due to late salmon arrival and you will be disappointed after spending a lot of money. I recommend using Alaska miles to fly to King Salmon Island and using Katmai Air in early September to make a day trip to Brooks Falls.