Trip Overview

When I asked my social media followers what they most wanted to photograph if they were making a trip to Alaska, the answer inevitably included the word “bears”. I gave that some thought, and eventually came up with a trip that, over 7 days, would take us to some of the best bear-watching and photography locations in Alaska.

We’ll meet on the morning of July 8 and fly to the fishing village of King Salmon on the Alaska peninsula. In July, the red salmon run in the Naknek River is in full swing, and the fish will be streaming up the river into Katmai National Park. And that abundance of fish, means an abundance of bears.

In King Salmon, we’ll take just a few minutes to drop off our bags at the hotel, grab our camera bags and jump on a small float plane for the flight to the Brooks River. The Brooks River is short, less than two miles long and connects Naknek and Brooks Lakes. Migrating salmon funnel through in abundance, and are forced to pause by the obstacle of Brooks Falls. And there in July, the bears congregate in large numbers to fish.

Brooks is a popular place, and we certainly won’t be alone during our two days photographing there, but since we are staying locally, we’ll have the freedom to linger at the falls after the tourists have left. And people or not, Brooks Falls is AMAZING for photography, with options to photograph bears in many different areas from grassy riverside meadows, lakeside gravel bars, and of course at the falls themselves.

We’ll have three days to spend at the falls, and you may wish to use one of thsoe for an optional day trip to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, another icon of Katmai National Park. On the third evening, we will catch a flight back to Anchorage where we’ll spend the night.

The following day we’ll drive down the Kenai Peninsula to Homer. Homer is one of my favorite towns in Alaska. A fishing town on the shore of Kachemak Bay, it has a beautiful setting with views of the glaciated peaks of Kachemak Bay State Wilderness Park across the bay from town. We’ll have a relaxed evening with time to explore around town, and have a great dinner at one of Homer’s many restaurants.

The following morning, we’ll head down to the airport and jump on another small bush plane for the flight across Cook Inlet to the coast of Katmai or Lake Clark National Park. Our exact destination is not set. Rather we will head where the bears have been most active and where we will have minimal crowds. This may be the famous Hallo Bay, or it may be one of the many other nearby bear watching areas.

The coast is a very different setting from Brooks, as we’ll be able to photograph bears grazing and interacting on the sedge meadows, walking on the beach, and possibly digging clams on the nearby mudflats. We’ll have several hours to explore and photograph before climbing back on the plane and heading back to Homer for the evening.

Our second day in Homer, we’ll head out on a boat for a few hours of photography in Kachemak Bay. Just across from Homer is the Kachemak Bay State Wilderness Park which holds a great location for seeing and photographing black bears. Humpy Creek is a salmon stream where black bears congregate to fish in the summer. With stops to look for bears, and to photograph the abundant marine life of the bay (including Humpback Whales, Harbor and Dall’s Porpoise, Sea Otters, Sea Lions and many bird species) we will be well occupied during the outing.

After the day of explorations and photography, we’ll spend one more night in Homer before heading back up the road to Anchorage.