Katmai National Park and Preserve

    Katmai National Park and Preserve is located at the head of the Alaska Peninsula approximately 290 air miles southwest of Anchorage. It includes over 4 million acres of land and water and is roughly bounded by Shelikof Strait to the east, the Lake Iliamna watershed to the north, the Bristol Bay coastal plain to the west, and the Becharof Lake watershed to the south. The area was originally established as a national monument in 1918 to preserve geological features related to the 06 June 1912 eruptions of Mt. Katmai and Novarupta volcano. To protect habitats for, and populations of, fish and wildlife, including, but not limited to, high concentrations of brown / grizzly bears and their denning areas; to maintain unimpaired the water habitat for significant salmon populations; and to protect scenic, geological, cultural and recreational features.

    Brown bear and salmon are very active in Katmai. The number of brown bears has grown to more than 2,000. During the peak of the world's largest sockeye salmon run each July, and during return of the "spawned out" salmon in September, forty to sixty bears congregate along the Brooks River and the Naknek Lake and Brooks Lake shorelines. Brown bears along the 480 mile Katmai Coast also enjoy clams, crabs, and an occasional whale carcass.

This information was provided by the National Park Service