Bear viewing in Alaska in early July

[Hitchens97]

So going to be doing Denali late June, back to Anchorage July 1, and on a boat July 3rd to 10th.

 

Trying to work out what my best shot at seeing bears is at that time.

 

Here are my options (add if you think I'm missing one)

 

- Hopefully see one in Denali

- Flightseeing from Anchorage - options Katmai, Lake Clark, Chinitna Bay, Redoubt Bay Lodge

- On one of the cruise stops (we stop at Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan) - perhaps Admiralty Island or Chichagof Island in Juneau

Not sure I have time to make it down to Homer. Also given I'm sure it varies season to season and day to day, how late can I leave it to book?

[mapleleaves]

I've taken several shuttle trips into Denali and have seen bears each visit. They might be 50 ft away or just dots on the hillside. The fewest sightings were 2... we saw a lone adult then an adult with 2 cubs. My trips are lateJuly and August.

 

You're a bit early for the peak time in Ketchikan which is the most popular location for cruisers to take bear viewing excursions. Anan is the favored spot there and peak starts the first week in July. It's dependent on the salmon run so it could be a week earlier or a week later. Info on the Ketchikan viewing locations are in this link;

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/bear-viewing-in-alaska.html

 

the Alaska Fish and Game site has info on bear viewing locations also. Look to the bottom of the pg. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewing.landmammals&species=bears#anchor

 

If you have the time and $$, there are trips available from Anchorage such as these:

http://www.flyrusts.com/bear-viewing/index.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=RFS%20Bing%20Search&utm_term=rust's%20flying%20service&utm_content=Rust's%20Flying%20Service%20Brand

 

And of course the overnight trips at Silver Salmon Lodge or Homestead Lodge to name 2.

 

Good luck !

[Bearvet]

We were in Ketchikan this year on July 4 and booked a floatplane trip to Anan Creek with Carlin Air. It was the highlight of our trip! The "official" season opened on July 5, so we did not need to worry about permits. There were 6 of us on the plane and only 2-4 others there during our time - we practically had the place to ourselves!! We watched one bear for a while and then he gave up. With no bears to look at, we focused on all of the eagles! Then we had a lot of bear action - a mother and 2 cubs (1 was swept downstream and separated from its mother - happily they were reunited after an hour), a huge male that came within 6 feet of us and others. We could go to the blind as often and as long as we wanted.

 

While we didn't see 20 bears at once, we saw amazing activity! It was an incredible experience!

[jfslcruise]

We saw bears during a walk through Mendenhall Glacier in the later hours.  We had taken a whale watching excursion and were dropped off at the park right after all the buses had left to take people back to their ships.  The ranger said we would have a good chance of seeing them come down to feed.  We were on a trail bridge maybe 20' above the river and a mother and cub came out of the woods to feed on the salmon.