Best American Adventures: Camp With Brown Bears

 

We've just updated our popular America's Best Adventures feature with 50 new trips, bringing our grand total to 100 iconic escapes (see the map, state-by-state list, and photo gallery, too). So no matter what your pleasure—hiking, heli-skiing, surfing, climbing, biking, or paddling—we've got the perfect adventure for you. Check in each day for a new, out-the-backdoor adventure highlighted here on our blog.

By Robert Earle Howells; Photograph by Alaska Stock/National Geographic

It’s thrilling to see big browns with no fence or barrier between you and them. At the Great Alaska International Adventure Vacations Bear Camp, you can quietly watch a dozen or more brown bears from a spruce-fringed meadow that lies between Mount Iliamna in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve and Cook Inlet. Or try out the camp’s viewing platform elevated 15 feet (4.5 meters) above the grassy plain, where hungry brown bears congregate in late spring and summer to fatten up on the supple shoots. (In case you were wondering, it’s black bears that climb trees; browns prefer to push the tree over. Listen to your guide and stick to protocol, and you’ll be safe.)

In June and July the bears stick to the meadow. By mid-August the action shifts to a nearby stream, where the bears glut on spawning salmon and teach their cubs how to fish. It’s precisely this abundance of food that accounts for Alaska coastal brown bears’ prodigious size (650 to 700 pounds, or 295 to 318 kilograms, is typical)—they are somewhat larger than their interior grizzly cousins. It also explains the remarkable numbers of their congregations. It’s not unusual to see 20 at a time from your chosen Bear Camp perspective.

Camp is a cluster of eight heated, portable huts arrayed along the beach where long days permit plenty of time between viewing sessions to gather for meals or a campfire and trade bear lore and lies. Shellfish are abundant, so there’s a good chance you too will do some glutting on fresh local bounty.

Need to Know: Great Alaska Bear Camp (www.greatalaska.com) offers one- to three-day camps that include the flight across Cook Inlet from Soldotna, from $1,095.

Comments

[Hai]

I like your post very much Robert Earle Howells.This is truly what i saw on television on National Geographic Chanel.My whole family's most favorite one.
http://www.indochinadeluxetravel.com/vietnam-tours.html
http://www.indochinadeluxetour.com/

[cep telefonu]

That brown bear catches my attention. Bares are very rare.

[moncler down coats]

I found some interesting things and I will apply to the development of my blog.More people need to read this and understand this side of the story.I love it, I learned something today! Thanks!

[moncler down jackets]

ake pride in your accomplishments, as they are stepping stones to your dreams. Understand that you may make mistakes, but don’t let them discourage you. Value your capabilities and talents for they are what make you truly unique.

[cheap android tablet]

Amazing. Very exciting. But also dangerous.

[ferragamo shoes]

the information of this post is very relevant
for what i am looking for, thank you so much for sharing this one

[Jordan II Kicks]

It is not enough to do good; one must do it the right way. Do you think so?

[Getty Image Office Philippines]

That brown bear catches my attention. Bares are very rare.

[Nikka]

Camp with brown bears? Is it safe?

[grace]

this photo is amazing. A-MAZING.