Top 5 Alaska Bear Tours: 1 Lake Clark 2 Brooks Falls 3 Katmai 4 Juneau 5 Wrangell
Published on: July 15, 2021 | Last Updated: May 2, 2025
Alaska bear viewing gets your heart beating and your hands shaking, as you come face to face with some of the most powerful land mammals on this planet. An Alaska bear safari is more than just a chance to take the perfect photo; it is an opportunity to walk in their BIG footsteps, learn a little about their daily life and habitats and head home with a richer understanding about the magnificent grizzly bears of Alaska. We ‘walk you’ through our Top 5 Alaska bear tours which you should be considering including in your perfect Alaska wildlife holiday.
Lake Clark bear viewing
Lake Clark National Park Bear Viewing
- Best for photographing mother and cubs
- Fly-in day tours and multi-day lodge stays possible
- Diversity of habitats; such as meadows, river estuaries, tidal beaches and forests
We first visited Lake Clark national park in early July, as we decided to focus on early summer bear viewing in Alaska before the main salmon runs were in full flow. This is a great time to see female brown bears with spring cubs and we were rewarded with three separate females; all of which had two young cubs. The cubs were a bundle of energy, mischief and fun and provided us with hours of great photographic opportunities. Sometimes the cubs would climb trees located close to the beach and show off their climbing skills; or make a real mess of the ‘clamming technique’ their mum was trying to teach them. We were able to photograph the bears from our ATV; but our preferred option was on foot, as their mothers – one in particular – were very used to the presence of humans and incredibly tolerant of our presence.
For a powerful female brown bear to trust you around her cubs is a huge privilege and not something to be forced, or taken advantage of by photographers. There is always an instinctive distance mum feels comfortable with you around her precious cubs and your expert bear guide who will be with you at all times in the Alaskan wilderness will constantly guide you and inform you, even when you may be getting carried away with the whole experience.
Brooks Falls bear viewing tours
- Best for the classic bears catching salmon at Brooks Falls photos
- Need to book Brooks Falls lodge more than a year in advance during July and early August
- Bear viewing at Brooks Falls is more ‘controlled’ due to presence of park rangers
- Day trips from Anchorage and Homer possible if you can’t book the lodge.
If you have marvelled at the quality of some of the bears catching salmon photos displayed on the internet, you can bet that a lot of them were taken at Brooks Falls located in Katmai national park. There are actually three different viewing platforms at Brooks, but only two of them have views of the famous falls and just one has the perfect angle for taking the photos of the brown bears; who will either position themselves above the falls – waiting for a salmon to jump within striking distance of their powerful jaws – or, below the falls to trap salmon underneath the falls. Obviously, it takes a lot of energy and often lots of failures, for the salmon to make it up the falls.
Best time to visit Brooks Falls for bears?
Having visited Alaska multiple times, we are always a little cautious about being too specific with our advice about when is the best time to see bears catching salmon at Brooks Falls. Bearing in mind this is the main reason bear fanatics and keen wildlife photographers include Brooks Falls in their Alaska bear safari. Last time we were in Alaska, we took a floatplane from Homer to Brooks on July 27th; which should have been pretty much peak season for this famous bear viewing location in Alaska. For sure we saw bears – even one which met us off the floatplane as we landed – but we did not get the classic bears on top of the falls shots we hoped for and the salmon run was far from at its peak. However, if we look back over multiple years we can still say that July and early August offer the best chance to see bears catching salmon and September can also be considered a good option, for people who would prefer to avoid the crowds.
Katmai wilderness Lodge bear viewing
- Scenic floatplane ride from Kodiak to the lodge, with the chance to see Fin Whales
- Intimate walking safaris for bears, as well as bear photography from a small skiff
- Maximum of 6 clients per guide
- Incredible accommodation and food given its remote location
- Long days in the field with packed lunch to maximise your grizzly bear photography
- Grand re-opening set for summer 2027 so book early to avoid disappointment
Staying at Katmai Wilderness Lodge is an experience you will never forget and 100% it is the Alaska bear viewing lodge for which we receive the most positive reviews. As the only permanent wilderness lodge permitted to operate within Katmai national park, it is already offering the visitor a very special insight into the brown bears of Katmai. Add to the very special location, superb hospitality, great food and some of the best bear viewing guides in the business and you have a truly winning combination. Your hosts will treat you like family during your stay and those long days in the field and the chance to ‘walk with the brown bears of Katmai’ will stay in your memories for years to come. If there is one wilderness lodge to visit in Alaska then it has to be Katmai Wilderness Lodge for bear viewing magic.
We have been visiting Katmai wilderness lodge since the summer of 2008 and every year our clients return from their 4 to 7 night stays overjoyed by the natural bear viewing experience. The lodge owners may the difficult but correct decision in 2025 to close the lodge for two entire bear viewing seasons so they can carefully improve both the facilities and most importantley the waste mangement systems. In the spirit of ‘leave only footprints’ and the fact the lodge is located in a pristine wilderness location which also was home to native Alaskans for the last 6000 years. it is very important to do things correctly and protect both nature and the native heritage. Allan from Wildlife Trails will be taking a small group of clients to Katmai wilderness lodge in 2027 so please contact him direct for further information and to reserve your space on this once in a lifetime Alaska wildlife holiday
Juneau bear viewing
- Chance to visit Pack Creek in Tongass National Forest on Admiralty Island.
- Auke Bay in Juneau one of the best places to see Humpbacks bubble netting in Alaska
- Another great bear viewing location out of Juneau is Waterfall Creek
- Affordable bear viewing and whale watching holidays
Juneau first came to our attention because it was known as one of the best places to see Humpbacks bubble netting in Alaska. Indeed, on our first visit there, we had unbelievable sightings of this unique behaviour, as well as several full body breeches by adult Humpbacks – simply amazing. We also found out that there were several floatplane providers flying out of the main Juneau airport (there is a floating dock close by!) who organised fly-in bear viewing tours to salmon rich rivers nearby. We were lucky enough to visit both Pack Creek and Waterfall Creek during our stay and the bear viewing was great – for different reasons – in both locations. Bear viewing out of Juneau also presents a more affordable Alaska bear safari option for visitors and you can also use the Alaska Marine Ferry service to link up communities like Juneau and Wrangell; both of which have great bear viewing and whale watching operators.
Pack Creek bear viewing is a very rustic experience best suited to adventerous travellers who do not expect any on site facitlities and are happy to just sit or stand in the wilderness and wait for the bears to arrive. That’s exactly what we did during our visit and atlhough the weather was not the best and the number of bears was relatively small, the experience was enchanced because we were in a very small group and felt we were almost alone with the bears when they started to fish in the shallow waters.
There is also a short forest walk from the beach estuary area to a beautiful spot on the river. This feels quite exciting and a little exposed as you walk through the thick undergrowth to a perfect observation cabin, from where you can see down the river. Seeing bears here with the right light would be amazing because the background is much more interesting and colourful than the grey rocks near the beach. I was thinking of the photographs we have taken of Spirit Bears in the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada, and the forest here and huge rocks next to the river reminded me of that primeval landscape.
Wrangel bear viewing at Anan sanctuary
- A truly unique chance to see brown and black bears fishing for salmon at the same location
- Because Anan is reached by boat and not floatplane, less chance of your bear viewing being cancelled.
- Beautiful concealed hide located close to the river
- Chance to see black bears and cubs
Firstly, if you are lucky enough to arrive into the tiny harbour of Wrangell on the Alaska Marine Highway, then you should have already trained your eyes for wildlife encounters, as you scanned the waters for Humpbacks Whales and Orcas. Wrangell is a small charming town directly connected with the ocean. Infact, they have a wonderful facility for refitting and building boats and the wildlife operators who offer the Anan bear tours and Le Conte glacier tours depart from the wooden jetty which is directly connected to your hotel – happy days in the Alaskan wilderness!
The beauty of the visit to the AnAn Bear and Wildlife Observatory, is the sanctuary’s proximity to Wrangell and the fact that it is accessed by boat. A very comfortable, highly manoeuvrable jet boat, with a cruising speed of 30km/h and a built in toilet, is your mode of transport to AnAn. On arrival you have an easy to moderate 1km boardwalk through magnificent old growth rainforest, before arriving at the well-constructed, spacious viewing platform; complete with steps down to a hide close to river level. This is wear the Anan bear viewing magic starts and if you are lucky like us you will get to see both black and brown bears.
Firstly, I noticed a black bear was moving around not too far from the boardwalk so I stopped to photograph it while waiting for the riverside hides to empty of people. There was a couple of discreet hides very close to the falls and river and as I went down the steps I realised a brown bear was up to it’s neck in the swirling waters plucking salmon from the current. This in itself was a superb action photography opportunity and to add to that close by on the bank was a black bear and for the moment they were happy to ignore each other while focused on catching salmon, or eating them.
After clicking away in the hide I headed back up to the main walkway around the top of the falls and was amazed to see a female black bear with two spring cubs. I think she was keen to focus on fishing and could not head down to the river with her young cubs. So with vocal instructions she communicated to the cubs to climb a nearby tree and this was thrilling to observe and photograph as I knew how well black bears and even fairly young cubs can climb and this would ensure their safety while mum was feasting on salmon below.
Allans Top Travel Tips
Always include a minimum of two Alaska bear viewing tours in your itinerary. Several of our tours include three and despite the additional cost it is an important tactic when it comes to organising your Alaska wildlife holiday.
Weather disruption is part of any Alaska wildlife tour and we would say that out of all our close to 30 destinations around the world, Alaska is the one most affected by weather. In addition, different rivers in different Alaska national parks will experience varying levels of returning salmon dependent on multiple factors, so if you focus only on one destination you run the risk that that particular river is having a poor season, or the salmon run is very late, which simply means that there will be fewer bears around.
Homer bear viewing tours are a favourite of ours, as it is a lovely drive to connect Anchorage with Seward and then Homer along the Kenai peninsula and you then have multiple bear vieiwng destinations accessible by floatplane from Homer, including Brooks Falls, Lake Clark and Funnel Creek.
