Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park: All You Need to Know

Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park is one of the most coveted places to stay in the U.S. National Park System. Its location near the famous Brooks Falls makes it a fantastic place to stay to witness the brown bears feast on the plentiful salmon that swim upstream every year in the Brooks River. Staying here, however, is not as simple as just booking a cabin. There is a process involved, it can be costly, and hard to get to. In this guide, we break down all there is to know about staying at Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park – and trust us, staying here is worth it!

About Katmai National Park

Katmai National Park and Preserve is located in southwestern Alaska. It encompasses a vast swath of land including the area from the 1912 volcanic eruption, now known as the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. This volcanic region sits within the Pacific Ring of Fire and is one of the most active volcanic areas in the world.

Volcanic ash and sand was deposited after the eruption forming what is now known as the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, aptly named due to the once enormous amount of smoking fumaroles post eruption. Today, we can visit the Valley of 10,000 Smokes as a day trip from Brooks Lodge, for an up close look at the change that the 1912 eruption brought to the area.

Besides the visual result of the volcanic eruption, seeing the wildlife tops the list of things to see in Katmai National Park. Over 2,000 brown bears make their home in Katmai National Park. For the best chance of viewing them up close, head to Brooks River and Brooks Falls, as we lay out in this guide.

Katmai National Park also contains the ancestral homeland of the Dena’ina, Yup’ik, and Sugpiat-Alutiqu/Aleut people. These tribal communites lived off the abundant natural resources in the area. The volcanic eruption forced many of the communities out in 1912, however, many descendants of the native people still call areas within Katmai home.

KATMAI NATIONAL PARK FACTS

Katmai is the habitat for one of the world’s largest concentration of brown bears

LOCATION: Alaska
CLOSEST CITY: King Salmon, AK
ANNUAL VISITORS: 36,000
57th most visited U.S. National Park (out of 63)
BECAME A NATIONAL PARK: 1980
TOP THINGS TO SEE & DO: View the brown bears & visit the Valley of 10,000 Smokes

All About Brooks Lodge

As an old fly-in fishing camp, Brooks Lodge (also known as Brooks Camp) began in the 1950s. With its remote location near the Brooks River, it is a fantastic place to fish, in particular sockeye salmon, rainbow trout, and arctic grayling. This is great for human fishermen but also for the bears! The brown bear that live here come for the fish, feasting on salmon throughout the summer. In July, as the salmon begin their journey upstream, bears sit at the top of Brooks Falls, a waterfall in the Brooks River. Hundreds of thousands (and sometimes into the millions) of sockeye salmon make their way upstream from Naknek Lake, through Brooks River, up Brooks Falls, and onward to Brooks Lake. The hungry bear are waiting!

Brooks Falls | Brooks Lodge

You have likely seen the iconic photograph of the salmon jumping right into a hungry bear’s waiting jaws while at the top of the falls. Well this is THE place to observe the brown bears feasting on salmon, at the falls and even in the river. Because of these unique viewing opportunities, you must prepare well in advance if you want to stay at Brooks Lodge during your visit.

The Lottery for the Cabins

In December of each year, a lottery opens up for the ability to stay in the Brooks Lodge cabins approximately 18 months later. As an example, from December 1 – 30, 2024, the lottery for 2026 dates was open for applications.

Pay close attention to the application requirements. The person who submits the application must also be traveling. You can have up to four people in your cabin and can have larger groups, which would mean you are requesting multiple cabins. Only one application per person is allowed.

The more flexible you are with your dates, the better your chances. The lottery drawing is completely random.

Once you have entered the lottery, you will be notified in January of the following year if your application was drawn. For example, I applied in December of 2023 and found out on January 13, 2024 that our number was drawn for a stay in September 2025. As numbers are drawn, they reach out between January and February, so 1-2 months after the lottery closes, until all dates and cabins are filled. They then compile a waitlist and will let you know your number on the waitlist. If you are waitlisted, don’t despair because cancellations happen.

Once you get notice that your number is drawn you have seven days to pay the deposit. Final payments are due within 90 days of your arrival.

For more information on the lottery process, check out this section of the Brooks Lodge website that explains the process in more detail: Lottery Information for Brooks Lodge.

When to Go

One of the biggest debates about visiting Brooks Camp is when to go. Brooks Camp is generally open June 1 – September 18, though the dates can vary slightly from year to year. July and September are the most popular months with two slightly different experiences.

In July the bear are skinny and hungry and are eager to feast on the plentiful salmon. You will see many bears at Brooks Falls, thousands of salmon jumping up the falls, and may get that iconic photo so many are after with the salmon jumping right into a hungry bear’s mouth. The downside is that the crowds are very high due to the high amount of day trippers. For prime bear viewing, you will likely have to wait your turn at the popular Brooks Falls platform. We also heard that the line can go out the door of the main lodge during meal times. Mosquitos are also pretty bad at this time of year. However, July has slightly better weather than September.

In September, the bears are well fed at this point so they are fat, and oh so cute!

A fat bear in September | Brooks Lodge

They are still feeding on salmon, although are mostly fishing straight out of the river. Bears do hang out at the falls, but we never saw the salmon jump into a bear’s mouth during this time frame, although there were still a small amount of salmon jumping the falls. We had a slight drizzle one day and also had temperatures in the upper 30s in the early morning hours. We also experienced sunny days and blue skies with temperatures mostly in the 50s. There were no issues with mosquitos and crowds were very manageable. The weather overall is cooler than July but with that comes less mosquitos. Everyone we talked to, from staff at Brooks Camp, our float plane pilot, and others at camp that we met who had visited previously much prefer September to July. We were really happy with our September visit and if we get the chance to stay here again will request a September stay.

What about June and August? June is hit or miss in terms of weather and bear activity. The previous year’s winter determines when the salmon will start their arduous journey upstream. That then determines when the bear will start feasting on the salmon. June is low on crowd levels but of course with that comes the less likely potential to see the bears and the salmon run.

In August, similar to June, crowd levels taper off after the popular July time frame. The salmon have now mostly moved upriver so the bear are not feasting as much in Brooks River and Brooks Falls. Mosquitos will still be an issue, although you will have nice, late summer weather here. For the most part, people prefer to focus on July and September for reasons stated above.

Verdict – when is the best time to visit?

There really isn’t one “best time” to go to Brooks. Each month provides a unique experience. June and August will be quiet, however less exciting in terms of watching the bears feed. July and September will be busier and each with their own different experiences. July is crowded with skinny bear catching salmon at the falls. September is comfortable in terms of crowd levels with fat bears fishing a little at the falls, but mostly out of the river. It is expensive to stay here, however, and getting here also takes planning and is pricey. Because of this I recommend focusing on July or September to get the most “bang for your buck”.

As for us, we requested July dates and September dates on our lottery application. As stated above, were really happy with our September visit. We plan to enter the lottery again at some point and will request September first, although we would also be perfectly content with a July visit!

How to Get Here

Brooks Lodge is located on Naknek Lake within Katmai National Park deep in the Alaskan wilderness. The only way to get here is to fly in via float plane or to take a combination of a flight and ferry, which we outline below.

A float plane, the most common transportation here | Brooks Lodge

For our full guide visiting both Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks in a one week trip check out:

One Week Itinerary: Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks

A float plane, the most common transportation here | Brooks Lodge

Option 1 – Commercial Flight and Float Plane Combo

The majority of people arrive via float plane, mostly from King Salmon, although depending on where you are in Alaska you may also be able to take a float plane in from that location. Guests that we chatted with while at Brooks said they were in Homer before Katmai and took a float plane from there.

This is the typical course of travel to get here: From Anchorage take a commercial flight to King Salmon, Alaska (airport codes: ANC to AKN). Then take a Katmai Air float plane flight from King Salmon to Brooks Lodge. Here is the link to Katmai Air’s website: Katmai Air.

How we did it: Prior to our visit to Brooks Lodge in Katmai we were at the Lake Clark Resort in Port Alsworth in Lake Clark National Park. Part of our package that we worked out with Lake Clark Resort was to be flown to Katmai after our time there. From Lake Clark National Park we took a one hour float plane ride right to Brooks Lodge.

On our way back to Anchorage we did the following: Katmai Air float plane from Brooks Lodge to King Salmon, Alaska (Booked via Katmai Air). We had about two hours in King Salmon until we boarded our Alaska Air flight to Anchorage. The flight from King Salmon to Anchorage took just under one hour. (Booked via Alaska Air with airport codes: AKN to ANC).

Option 2 – Flight and Ferry Combo

From Anchorage, take a commercial flight to King Salmon, Alaska (ANC to AKN). The Katmai Water Taxi runs a seasonal ferry from late June through early September with transfer service from the King Salmon Airport to the ferry dock. The ferry ride takes approximately 45 minutes as it cruises along Naknek Lake to Brooks Camp. It was no longer running during our visit the second week of September. Here is a link to the water taxi website: Katmai Water Taxi.

The Brooks Lodge Cabins

Brooks Lodge consists of 16 cabins that each sleep 4. There is a building called a “Skytel”, that was built in the 1950s and transported here from Seattle.

The Skytel Cabins | Brooks Lodge

This building holds 10 attached cabins while there are 6 other individual cabins on site. You cannot make any cabin requests, as all cabins are assigned.

Individual cabins | Brooks Lodge

All the cabins are exactly the same inside: two sets of bunk beds, a small desk and chair, and a full bathroom. The bathroom sits at the back of the cabin. The toilet has a door however the sink and shower are more exposed. There is a curtain that you draw when using the sink or shower. It is private but not as private as a door, of course.

The rustic cabin was cozy and the beds were comfortable. We were thrilled with our accommodations, just feet from the bears!

The Brooks Campground

While staying in the cabins is the most coveted lodging at Brooks Camp, the campground remains wildly popular as well. Dates for staying at the campground are released for the same year in January. So in January 2026, all the dates for 2026 are released. We heard these camp sites can go very quickly so if you have specific dates in mind be ready! Set an alarm to be ready on your computer, log in to your account, and be ready to book.

The campground is about a quarter mile down a path from the main lodge. There is a cabin with restrooms and a shower available near the Main Lodge as well as vault toilets near the campground. Storing food in the food cache is of utmost importance as no food is allowed in tents because…bears!

The campground reservations is run by the national park service. Click the following link for more information: Brooks Camp Campground.

The Main Lodge

The Main Lodge is where you will eat your meals and relax and hang around the fire. We absolutely loved hanging out here after a day of bear viewing!

The Main Lodge | Brooks Lodge

The meals are all served buffet style. You have the option to purchase the “full meal” or the “mini”. The menu for each meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) as well as meal times and pricing are written on a board each day. There were many options: Usually two meat dishes, potatoes or rice, vegetables, and a salad bar. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and cider are available for free throughout the day.

The large fireplace is a real wood burning fire with chairs around it. It makes for a communal place to relax and chat with other guests.

There is also a bar here serving cocktails, beer, and wine. It opened at 4:00 pm during our September visit.

Bear School – Your First Stop at Brooks

As soon as you exit the plane, the staff is ready to help with your luggage. They load the larger bags into a trailer attached to a four wheeler and haul it up to your cabin for you. You are ushered up to “Bear School”, a must to learn how to safely explore the area.

The class takes about 15 minutes where you watch a video about the brown bear that live in the area. The bears are used to humans and have learned that they are non-threatening, which is why as of this writing there have been no incidences here. The bear are also well fed due to the plentiful salmon, the draw for them to come here. However it is very important to pay attention as to what to do here in bear country. You will likely be implementing several of these tactics to stay safe while here.

Once we completed the course, we were given a commemorative pin.

Cell Service – You are Off the Grid!

There is no cell service here! You are unplugged for your duration here. To be honest it was wonderful as we were fully immersed in our experience here. When we arrived back to “civilization” and connected back to wi-fi the news headlines were jarring. We reconnected with family, shared a few photos, and turned our phones off. If anything, staying at Brooks showed us how fantastic it is to be off the grid.

What to do near Brooks Lodge in Katmai

Bear Viewing

Without a doubt viewing the bear is the number one thing to do here. Brooks Lodge makes it easy to access a series of boardwalks, trails, and platforms for unbeatable bear viewing.

The entire trip from Brooks Camp to the Viewing Platforms is 1.2 miles one way. Below we outline how you get from Brooks Camp to the viewing platforms on Brooks River and Brooks Falls:

1. The Bridge

Immediately outside of the Main Lodge is the entrance to The Bridge. There are a series of gates as you enter and exit the bridge. Be sure to close them behind you for obvious reasons!

The bridge that leads from Brooks camp over the river, your first glimpse of the bears! | Brooks Camp

The bridge takes you across where Naknek Lake and Brooks River meet. You will likely see many bears fishing and snorkeling in the river here.

Bear in the river below the bridge | Brooks Camp

2. The Road – First Part of the Trail to get to the Platforms

As you exit the bridge you are now on a road that also serves as a pathway to the trails to get to the platforms.

The exit gate from the bridge to the trail | Brooks Lodge

This road is also used by bear so be very bear aware! On our first day on the trail we had a curious bear come up to the exit gate.

The bear was walking along the river bank and then came up to the gate! I shot this photo through the chain link of the gate | Brooks Lodge

We waited until she left and was a good way down the path until we entered the road. This bear was flopped several hundred feet up the trail in the grass. We all had to move a bit off trail to go around her.

The road is used by the bus or vans on day trips and by park ranger vehicles. It is also the beginning of the trail to the viewing platforms at Brooks Falls.

The road you take to the Falls | Brooks Lodge

3. The Brooks Falls Trail – Second Part of the Trail to get to the Platforms

After walking on the road you come to a fork. To the right is the flat, windy trail that leads to the viewing platforms with the sign at the trailhead. To the left are pit toilets. These are the last facilities!

The fork in the road: to the right is the windy trail taking you to the platforms and to the left are the pit toilets. The sign is at the trailhead to the falls | Brooks Lodge

The trail is a pretty path through the woods. As you walk here you will see many areas of mashed down grass as this is where the bears sleep! It is not uncommon to see bears on this path as they use this trail as well. Below we share all about our bear encounters!

Right as you reach the gate to the platform there is a path that veers off to the right.

The gate to the elevated walkway with another trail to the right | Brooks Lodge

Not only is this a path the bears use but also fishermen to get to the river. In fact, we also used this trail to enter the Brooks River during our half day guided fishing and photography tour. Once on the elevated walkway, make sure to secure the gate behind you!

4. The Elevated Walkway

Once you leave the path and enter the gate, you can breathe a little easier! It is exciting being on the same trails as the bears!

Shortly up the elevated walkway from the gate is a second gate. Again always be sure to securely close these gates behind you | Brooks Lodge

It is likely to see bears sleeping or walking next to the walkway. There are signs to encourage you to keep moving as to not disturb them in their natural habitat. On more than one occasion we saw bears below us, walking through the woods or taking a nap.

You will come to a central area of the elevated walkway with a walkway heading to the Riffles Platform to the right and Brooks Platform straight ahead.

The central area with two sections leading to the Brooks Viewing Platform (straight ahead) or the Riffles Platform (to the right) | Brooks Lodge

This area also includes a lot of informative signs as well as a roof in case you get caught in inclement weather!

5. The Brooks Viewing Platform

The Brooks viewing platform is the most popular area to view bears.

Walkway to the Brooks Platform. You can see people viewing the bears from the end | Brooks Lodge

In the busy months, the platform can reach capacity with rangers rotating people in and out so everyone gets a prime spot to view the bears at the falls. The location of the Brooks viewing platform is right in front of the falls and is the place to get those iconic photos of salmon jumping up the falls as hungry bear wait.

View from the Brooks Platform | Brooks Lodge

During our visit in September, it was never at capacity. I was always able to grab a spot on the lower platform and take my time watching and taking plenty of photos. While here, you will also see bears amble out of the woods and into the river!

This is the Brooks viewing platform. I took this photo from the river on a photo tour | Brooks Lodge

This is also a great spot to view the fishermen and many bear further down the river.

6. The Riffles Viewing Platform

The other platform here does not see as many people as you are a bit further down from the falls. However, it provides a great view of bears feasting at the falls and elsewhere in the river. We often rotated between Brooks and Riffles as the views were always changing as bear moved in and out of the river.

View of Brooks Falls from the Riffles Platform taken at 100mm | Brooks Lodge

7. Back to Camp

To get back to camp, you follow the same way back: Platforms -> elevated walkway -> windy trail through the woods -> the fork of the trail at the junction of the road and pit toilets (take a left) -> the road back to the bridge -> the bridge back to camp!

Back to the Bridge – almost back to camp! | Brooks Lodge

Tour to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes

Brooks Lodge offers a fantastic day trip to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. We plan to write up a full guide on our experience, but here is a quick recap:

The tour out to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes is to visit the site of the 1912 Novarupta volacanic eruption. The landscape is forever changed and we can see and learn a lot from it today. It is a full day tour, beginning around 8:45 am when you board the bus (or two vans, in our case) and ride the 23 mile road out to Ranger Station.

While here, we listened to a ranger talk, ate a packed lunch provided by Brooks Lodge, and then hiked down to the river and waterfall. All along the way the ranger shared various information so it was a very informative hike!

View from the Ranger Station | Valley of 10,000 Smokes Tour by Brooks Lodge

The views at the falls were beautiful. Massive walls of volcanic ash formed the walls of the canyons.

The river down by the falls | Valley of 10,000 Smokes Tour by Brooks Lodge

The waterfall | Valley of 10,000 Smokes Tour by Brooks Lodge

From here, we hiked back up to the fork and took a left to the confluence of two rivers. The views here were also magnificent.

The Confluence. In the second photo, you can see the difference in water color of the two rivers as they meet | Valley of 10,000 Smokes Tour by Brooks Lodge

We really enjoyed this day trip, a completely different experience than days around the fish and bears at Brooks Camp. If you have multple days at Brooks, I highly recommend this tour.

Guided Fishing & Photography Tour

This was a great place for Mike and I as his favorite hobby is fly fishing and mine is photography. What better place to do both side by side than the Brooks River in Katmai National Park?!

Looking down Brooks River – see the bear?! | Brooks Lodge

We booked a half day guided fishing tour with a great guide, Sam. I went along as an “observer”, complete with waders and armed with my camera. Mike learned a lot about fly fishing while being just steps from brown bear also fishing in the river.

What a catch! | Brooks Lodge

As for me, I had a great time photographing the many bears from the river. It was quite a surreal experience being eye level with them! I got my best photos of the trip from the river and am so glad we did this. It was, at times, a little scary as we would see bear coming out of the woods and into the river not too far from us. Sometimes they would walk towards us as they realized we were catching fish! We slowly would move away and they would do their thing and we ours. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

Photos I took of bears during our guided fishing/photography tour in the Brooks River | Brooks Lodge

About Bear Encounters

You are in bear country, there is no away around it. Approximately 2,000 brown bears live in Katmai with around 50 living near Brooks River and Brooks Falls. By visiting you are entering their habitat. You will likely encounter bears while walking to and from the viewing platforms so you must be aware your entire time here. Seeing the bear along the trail is common and they also frequently walk through camp. One night I was in the main building where meals are served and headed out to use the restroom which is located in a separate cabin from the main building. As I exited the bathroom building a massive brown bear was sitting just a few feet away munching on grass and berries! I closed the door and stood there for a minute. I finally decided he was just far enough away that if I walked quietly and quickly and kept my eye on him I’d probably be fine. Well I lived to tell the tale so, yes, it was fine! Several times we saw bears roaming through camp, usually from the windows of the main lodge while we were dining or hanging out by the fire.

We had a few encounters on the trails:

On our first day a large bear was sleeping right off the trail in the grass. As the group we walked with got closer we realized he was there so we all stopped and talked just to not startle him. He lifted up his head, looked at us, and flopped back down. We all walked quite a bit off trail to pass him and all was well.

On our second day, we walked behind three fishermen on the last bit of trail before getting to the falls platform and a bear rounded the corner, about 20 feet away. Our group moved off trail again and watched him pass.

A zoomed in shot I took of the bear walking on the trail. We were off trail in the bushes waiting for him to pass | Brooks Lodge

No sooner had we gone back on the trail did we see a female and two cubs ambling in our direction down the trail. Again, we moved off trail. As she passed, the mom side eyed us as she moved slowly past but the cubs were curious! One stopped in front of where we stood and peeked at us, thankfully she moved on! So, yes, you will have encounters and it is adrenaline inducing for sure. Walking with others or a piggy-backing onto a group is best, although plenty of people walk solo. Many times it was just Mike and I walking back and forth from Brooks Camp to the platforms. You regularly encounter others going back and forth to the viewing platforms as well, so you are never truly alone.

By paying close attention in Bear School and learning other ways to stay safe, you will likely be fine!

Bear jams are a thing here, as well! If a bear decides to sleep on or right off the path or feed near the trails, people have to wait until he or she moves off the path. This can slow down your time walking to or from the platforms.

Our Overall Experience: 3 Days at Brooks Lodge

We combined our trip to Katmai National Park with Lake Clark National Park, which is just to the north of Katmai. Once we had our dates secured for staying at Brooks Lodge, we built the rest of our Alaska trip around it. We contemplated visiting other places but settled on Lake Clark, not only due to the logistics of being the closest park to Katmai but also because visiting the historic Proenneke cabin was high on our list of places to visit in Alaska.

Around 9:00 am our float plane left Lake Clark Resort. Our pilot, Sasha, along with Mike and I and our luggage, lifted up over Lake Clark, taking in the views of Alaska’s deepest lake, at 1000 feet deep. Sasha shared information as we cruised along, which was great as it was like a private tour of the area!

We continued over Lake Iliamna, which is actually the largest lake in Alaska. From here we were now over tundra with wide open spaces interspersed with vibrant shrubbery, showing their early fall colors. As we cruised over the tundra I spotted a moose and a brown bear…the first of many wildlife spottings on the trip!

We had to detour a bit to get over the mountain pass as clouds were low lying. Our trip ended up taking 1 hour and 15 minutes from Lake Clark Resort to Brooks Lodge.

Flying over Brooks! You can see the bridge spanning the river | Brooks Lodge

We landed in Naknek Lake, right in front of Brooks Lodge and already saw brown bear walking the shore!

Our first stop was Bear School, where we learned all about how to act safely in bear country. From here we were shown to our cabin. We settled in and set right off for the platforms!

We saw bear on this first day, first on the bridge that takes you right from Brooks Camp across Brooks River and leads to the trails.

From the bridge we saw a mom and a cub in the river below!

Along the trail we also saw two moose in the meadow! What a treat to see these elusive creatures!

Moose in the meadow along the trail | Brooks Lodge

We spent a lot of time enjoying the view from both the Brooks and Riffles platforms as well.

Photos from our first day at the falls | Brooks Lodge

On our second day, we headed out in the morning after breakfast to the platforms and watched the bears for a while. We then went back to camp, had lunch, and met our guide for our half-day fishing and photography tour. We spent four hours in the river right amongst all the bears. These photos are some of my favorite, as nothing is quite like being eye level with the bears!

We would frequently see bear coming into the river from the bushes. Just as we found a spot to fish we would have to move as bear would be entering the water nearby. What a surreal experience!

On our third day, we took the Valley of 10,000 Smokes Tour, which is an all-day trip. We took the bus out to the Ranger Station, listened to a talk about the area from a ranger, ate a lunch provided by Brooks, and set out on a ranger guided hike. The views here are phenomenal and this tour is not to be missed!

At the end of the tour, as we approached Brooks Camp, the driver offers to drop anyone off at the trailhead. Mike and I got off as well as a few other people, for our last chance to view the bears at the falls.

On our way back, we had the most beautiful sunset while on the bridge. What a way to cap off our time here.

Staying at Brooks Lodge is our top national park experience to date. There is no where else like it in the world! Seeing the brown bears in their natural habitat is an epic experience. Mike learned a lot about fly fishing in the Brooks River and I learned a lot about photographing wildlife as we enjoyed partaking in our favorite hobbies side by side.