How To Get to Katmai National Park and Preserve
We’re doing a deep dive into the logistics and planning required for visiting Katmai National Park and Preserve. Being that the park isn’t accessible by road, it can take a little extra planning and strategy to get to.
Though there are many different lodges in the park we’ll be focusing on the most visited and developed area called Brooks Camp. We’ll share how to get there by plane and boat, how you can stay overnight, food, and additional activities you can do in the area so you can make the most of your visit!
Though this blog post was made in partnership with REI, the opinions are entirely our own.
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A Little about Katmai National Park
Image courtesy of Katmai NP
Katmai National Park and Preserve is located on the Alaska Peninsula, about 290 miles southwest of Anchorage and isn’t accessible by road.
Katmai was established as a National Monument in 1918 to protect its rich volcanic history. However, it was left greatly undeveloped and seldom visited due to its remote location until the 1950s.
After a series of boundary expansions, the present Katmai national park and preserve was established in 1980.
Today, Katmai National Park & Preserve protects 9,000 years of human history and is an important habitat for sockeye salmon and the over 2,200 brown bears that rely on them.
Every summer the bears of this area gather at the Brooks River to fish for Sockeye salmon that are on their way to their spawning grounds in Brooks Lake.
To maximize your bear viewing at Brooks falls, the most number of bears can typically be seen in the months of July and September. See chart.
Flying to Katmai
Flying from Anchorage
We booked through Katmai Air and left from Anchorage. Our trip required two flights, one from Anchorage to King Salmon. The second was a float plane from King Salmon to Brooks Camp. In total our flights were $950 per person round trip. Katmai Air was friendly and easy to work with and we would definitely recommend them if you think you will be needing to fly from Anchorage. Flying from Anchorage is convenient if you’re coming from the lower 48 as you will likely be arriving in Alaska via the Anchorage International Airport. If you are arriving in Anchorage via car there is plenty of safe parking at the airport.
Alternatively, you can book your own flight to King Salmon and then hop on a Katmai Air flight to get you into Katmai and you’ll save a little bit of money. However, we were unable to find flights that didn’t require overnight lodging in King Salmon.
Flying from Homer
You can also fly out of Homer, Alaska. For this information we referenced our friends, Evan & Melanny their experience leaving out of Homer to get to Katmai! They chartered a plane using Stellar Air Service. In Homer there are a number of pilots and flight services. I recommend calling around to get quotes so you can compare.
Flying with Stellar Air Service cost $2800 for a direct flight to Brooks Camp. The plane seated 4 passengers and the total cost was split between the 4 passengers bringing the price to $700 each.
They said that they spoke and planned their trip directly with the pilot who was flexible with the scheduling since it’s a privately chartered plane. In total the flight from Homer into Brooks Camp was 2 hours. The pilot picked them up two nights later at a predetermined location in Brooks Camp.
Both flight location are great options. It all comes down to where you plan to leave from when you go to Katmai National Park.
The ferry to Katmai
There are also a ferry that goes to Brooks Camp! It would be a cool way to see the surrounding area by water. The ferry costs, $275 round trip out of King Salmon. You can also book your flights to Kind Salmon through the water taxi for $925 that includes your round trip flights and ferry. The ferry operates June 1 – September 25 and takes approximately 45 mins each way.
If you find that you’re pressed for time, there are plenty of day trips that leave from both Anchorage and Homer!
Staying in Katmai
Camping in Katmai
During our stay in Brooks camp, we camped in the camp ground that is located inside an electric fence. To get reservations you have to go through Recreation.gov. Reservations for camping permits at Brooks camp opens up around the beginning of the calendar year, this year it was Jan 5.
The peak season dates get taken quickly. Be online early if you’re wanting to secure specific dates. The fee for Brooks Camp Campground is $12 per person, per night during the peak season. There is a maximum group size of six people for each permit. In shoulder season the fee to camp is reduced to $6 a person, per night.
Katmai Trading Post where you can make reservations for bus tours, flight-seeing tours, and guided sport fishing
Staying in Brooks lodge
Brooks Camp also has a sports lodge called Brooks Lodge that offers accommodations, meals, guided sport fishing, Valley of 10,000 smokes bus tours, and Flight Seeing tours. Everything is a la carte.
The lodge exclusively offers rooms that sleeps four people each and the rooms are $850.00 per night.
Food in Katmai
Bringing your own food
We mostly ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during our time in Katmai. There are plenty of bear safe food caches that you are required to store your food in. You also are required to eat all of your food inside the various electric fenced picnic areas to ensure yours and the bears safety around food.
Owen eating at the Brooks Lodge
Brooks Lodge Dining Hall
Meals at the lodge are your only food option if you don’t bring your own food. The meals vary in price based on which meal of the day it is. Here is the pricing for all the different meals offered at the lodge:
The lodge also has a small bar in the “lobby area” right as you walk in the door.
What to do in Katmai
Take the bus to the valley of 10,000 smokes
The valley of 10,000 smokes bus tour is a great way to go out and see the site of the largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century. The bus tours operate roughly June 5th thru September 17th. The tour consists of a 23 mile drive to the valley with a park ranger that stops for scenic views and wildlife. There you can take a guided hike down to examine the ash and pumice on the valley floor.
If this is something you are interested in, we recommend booking this tour ahead of time though it isn’t required.
The Valley of 10,000 Smokes Bus
The pricing for the bus:
Full tour with sack lunch - $96
Full tour without lunch - $88
One way - $51
One way is for those who are wanting to backpack in the Valley of 10,000 smokes. We will not be getting into the details of that but if you are interested I recommend reaching out to the parks head office in King Salmon.
View from the float plane window during our flight-seeing tour of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes
Flight-seeing Tour of Valley of 10,000 Smokes
We ended up seeing the Valley of 10,000 smokes via a flight-seeing tour. We booked our tour onsite at the lodge trading post the day of.
The flight tours are offered daily, weather permitting, and are one hour long. It was an incredible way to see the otherworldly landscape. The flight ended up giving us the chance to see more of the area from a unique vantage point.
The flights are $260 a person, with a minimum of two people and can be booked on site or ahead of time.
View of Brooks Camp from the float plane
A bear snorkeling for salmon
Thank you all so much for stopping by! We hope that this blog post is helpful and that it’s handy for planning your own trip to Katmai National Park and Preserve. If you have any additional questions be sure to toss them in the comments in the event that those questions are helpful for others!
Adventure-a-foot,
MAK
