Where to View an Alaskan Grizzly BearBear Viewing in Alaska | Bear Tours Alaska
Everbody who comes to Alaska has a list of things that they want to see and nothing tops that list more often than the Alaskan Grizzly Bear! I'll never forget. We had only been in Alaska a short while when our kids came home and told us that there had been a grizzly bear out on the middle school football field. This middle school was only a few miles from our house and all I could think was "Wow, we really are in Alaska!" It was cool and scary at the same time. Where else but in Alaska do you have these types of converstations at the dinner table? It was pretty exciting!
Grizzly Bear or Brown Bear - What's the Difference?A brown bear is actually a grizzly, but a bigger version of one. Brown bears are grizzly bears that live roughly 200 miles or lessfrom coastal areas. They get bigger due to a regular diet of salmon and other plentiful food supply.Alaska is home to 98% of the brown bear population in the United States.
Bear Viewing in Anchorage and South Central Alaska
Although it is impossible to guarantee a bear sighting, Alaska has one of the largest populations of black, brown and polar bears in the world. Most visitors won't see a polar bears though. They live in the far north of Alaska and most of uswho live in Alaska don't even see them. If done properly, bear viewing is safe and it is an experience that one will never forget. Here are four ways to see a bear in Alaska:
Alaska Bear Viewing ToursThe near sure bet to see Alaskan Brown Bears in the wild is to booka bear viewing tour to The Brooks River Falls in Katmai National Park.It is estimated that some 2000 bears live in the park. Brooks River Falls is world-famous. You've probably seen a picture on a poster or calendar...like the one to the left. Katmai National Park is southwest of Anchorage, over the Cook Inlet. To get there, book a commercial flight to King Salmon Alaska and then charter air service to Brooks camp. Expect to pay $500-$600 round-trip...lodging not included. Find out more at The Katmai National Park's
website
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation CenterOk, some of you might think that going to a wildlife park is cheating, when it comes to viewing Alaskan bear and other Alaskan wildlife. I did to!But this isn't a zoo. It's location is very natural and beautiful. It's a great stop that won't take but an hour or soof your time. The park was established by Mike Miller in 1988 on a 150 acrehomestead that he purchased. The purpose of the park is to take care of injured, abandoned and orphaned wildlife. Some of the animals you'll see are brown bears, moose, black bears, bobcats and deer!
See Them in The Wild!
Alaska being Alaska, an opportunity to see a bear can present itself at anytime in almost any location. In Alaska bear attacks make the news somewhat regularly. There are no regular places to see a bear in the city of Anchorage, but two places that you stand the best chance isin the Hillside neighborhood and Bird Creek.
Each year the city of Anchorage gets after citizens who do notproperly store and discard their trash. The bears love to get into their trash cans. The city has even started to fine residents who do not secure their trash! This something that you don't read about in travel brochures,but I thought you'd like to know. Take an early morning drivein the hillside areas...you never know what you might see. Hillside refers to the homes located in the foothills of the Chugach State Park, which serves as a backdrop to the city of Anchorage.
Last summer the hot spot to see a bear was in the Bird Creek area. Fish Creek is about 20 minutes south of Anchorage. It is one of the best nearby fishing hotspots ... and where there are fish, bears usually aren't far away! Whether you want to fish or just watch others fish, Bird Creek is a great place to go. If you prefer just to watch, you can go right down to the water'sedge or watch from viewing platforms that were recently built. It's quite nice. Bird Creek has undergone a big transformation in the last few years. Cars used to line up for miles along the narrow Seward Highway, but now a parking area, a paved walking path and theviewing platforms make the experience much safer and nicer. Sheri and I went there on a week day morning last summer just tosee if any fish were being caught. I watched for about a half hour and I would estimate that I saw a fish on 50% of the lines that were in the water. There were about 80 people fishing at the time. Yea, lot's of fish!!
Bird Creek was the focal point for a lot of local newspaperand television coverage. Bears were frequent visitors Nearly everyday, last summer, there would be pictures and articles about bears at Bird Creek. Many of the newspaper articles served as reminders to those that fished there to act in an appropriate manner. What was happening was this. The bears would smell or see the caught fish on the shore near the a fisherman. Once the bear got too close, many fishermen would panic a bit and throw their catch to the approaching bear. Anything to keep a bear from following them! According to wildlife officials, this practise was teachingthe bears to be lazy. The bears were finding it easier to walkup to a fisherman and have a fish, thrown to them rather than actually have to catch a fish for themselves. How easy for the bear, huh? Sounds like pretty smart bears tome! Wildlife officials didn't like what was happening so they wereactive in instructing those who fished there to keep their gearand caught fish close at hand. Then, when a bear approached, they needed to gather their stuffand walk away long before the bear got too close to them. Not following this instruction would, officials worried, eventually endanger both the fishermen and the bears.
The Anchorage ZooIf you thought the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center was cheating, then you'll really think that going to the Anchorage Zoo to see a bear REALLY is cheating.Nothing beats seeing Alaskan Wildlife in the wild, but The AlaskaZoo is a very nice place to visit while in Anchorage. It's notthe San Diego Zoo, by far, but you'll enjoy it. Anchorage Alaska Zoo Website
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