Brooks Camp Campground — Katmai Bay National Park

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$23 / night

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Water

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Nature

Brooks Camp Campground is located near King Salmon in Katmai National Park & Preserve, featuring terrain with rivers, forests, and open spaces. Weather in the area can range from highs around 60°F to lows near 30°F. Visitors can explore nearby attractions such as the Brooks Falls, known for bear viewing, and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a volcanic landscape.

Description

Overview:

Katmai National Monument was established in 1918 to protect the volcanically devastated region surrounding Mount Katmai and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Today, Katmai National Park and Preserve remains an active volcanic landscape, but it also protects 9,000 years of human history as well as important habitat for salmon and the thousands of brown bears that feed on them. Reservations for both Brooks Camp and Fures Cabin become available for reservations each year on January 5. Brooks Camp Campground: With its wildlife viewing opportunities, access to Naknek Lake and stunning views of nearby mountains, the Brooks Camp Campground is considered by many to be one of the top campgrounds in North America. Camping at Brooks Camp is only permitted within the designated campground. Campers arriving without a reservation, especially in July when the campground is usually full, must be prepared to backcountry camp outside of the Brooks Camp Developed Area (see Backcountry/Wilderness Camping below). Backcountry/Wilderness Camping: More than 4 million acres of Katmai are open to backcountry/wilderness camping. Backcountry camping is not permitted within the Brooks Camp Developed Area (the area within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Brooks Falls) year-round or within the core Hallo Bay meadows from April 1 through October 31. No permits are required for backcountry camping. Fure's Cabin: Fure's Cabin, a beautifully constructed one-room house, is a public use cabin. Now a refuge for kayakers, canoers and hikers, the cabin was once the home of trapper, miner and famed Naknek local Roy Fure. The cabin is located on the north side of the Bay of Islands in Naknek Lake. There is anchorage and limited beach access. Primary heat at the cabin is wood. This cabin is not a substitute for the Brooks Camp Campground. Fure's Cabin is over 20 miles by water from Brooks Camp and no public transportation is available. GPS: 58 degrees 40'10.19"N, 155 degrees 25'51.02"W Katmai email: http://www.nps.gov/katm/contacts.htm

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Location

Brooks Camp Campground — Katmai Bay National Park is located in Alaska

Directions

Katmai National Park & Preserve headquarters is in King Salmon, about 290 air miles southwest of Anchorage. Katmai is almost exclusively accessed by plane or boat. Regularly scheduled commercial flights to King Salmon (AKN) are available from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) via PenAir, Ravn Alaska, and Alaska Airlines. Fure's Cabin is over 20 miles by water from Brooks Camp and no public transportation is available.

Address

PO Box 7
King salmon, AK 99613

Coordinates

58.6694972 N
155.430838889 W

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Connectivity

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Boat-In
Sites accessible by watercraft.

Site Types

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For Campers

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General Info

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3 Reviews

Guests frequently mentioned the roomy, well-separated sites and excellent facilities including clean restrooms and secure food storage. Many noted the challenging reservation process and high costs, but found the unique bear-viewing experience worthwhile.

Dan X.

Ranger

Reviewed Jan. 5, 2021

Campground could have been on a pile of trash and it'd still be worth it

Fortunately the campground was lovely in addition to the BEARS. Flew from Florida to Seattle to Anchorage to King Salmon .. and then took a little puddle jumper to Brooks Camp. A long and expensive trip, but worth it for the bears (and I got my money shot of a bear named Lefty catching a fish at the top of Brooks falls!)

Campsites are a small hike from the lakeshore, but wagons are provided. There is a food and gear building at the center of camp & electric fences circling camp. Sites are well separated from others and roomy. The lodge has filling and tasty meals (especially considering how remote the location is) and a decent selection of beers.

Met surprise bears a handful of times on the trails and was not mauled, whoo!

There is one hike out of the campground that was super overgrown but beautiful if you're down with some pathfinding.

Month of VisitJuly

(5) View All

Rubi V.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 4, 2018

Amazing place, once in a lifetime experience!

Beautiful place, they have clean bathrooms and enough space for the tents. It has an electric fence for avoiding the bears to enter. You can walk to the lunge (about 1/2 km) for having prepared food and even a bath if you pay for using the hot water. They also have spaces for making fire and cook your own food, which by the way, can be kept in a separate place to avoid bear encounters at your own tent.

SwitchbackKids

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 27, 2017

One of a kind experience; Nothing quite like it in the National Parks

If you are a national parks enthusiast, or even remotely interested in them, you’ve probably heard of this spot in Alaska where you can witness bears grabbing salmon straight out of a waterfall. This is Brooks Camp, in Katmai National Park.

To camp at Brooks Camp is very tricky. Sites are available for booking about a year and a half in advance of an average summer visit, on January 5th of the year before you will be visiting. They usually fill up in about 5 minutes. This is because people will reserve and put down deposits for several weeks’ worth of camping, before they know when they’ll be visiting. Then, when they finalize their plans, they’ll cancel spots, sometimes at the last minute.

We talked to several rangers who confirmed this phenomenon. We crossed our fingers, and set a backup plan (there is backcountry camping allowed if you hike out a bit from the developed areas of the park) and hoped for the best, refreshing the recreation.gov page daily.

Sure enough, only two weeks before we’d arrive, two spots opened up (costs are per person) on our selected days and we snagged them.

Camping here was unique and wonderful. (Of course, this was probably heightened by the stress of uncertainty). The campsites were enclosed in an electric fence, there were provided wooden food caches and nice covered picnic areas, and the sites were perfectly cozy.

It’s not a cheap trip (you have to first fly to King’s Salmon then bush plane to Brooks Camp) but it is certainly an unforgettable one. It’s not an exaggeration that the bears are everywhere. We could have stood on that viewing platform at Brooks Falls for days.

You can read much more about our two days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Katmai)

Month of VisitJuly

(4) View All

Frequently Asked Questions

Are fires allowed at Brooks Camp Campground — Katmai Bay National Park?

Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at Brooks Camp Campground — Katmai Bay National Park, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.

Is there cell phone reception at Brooks Camp Campground — Katmai Bay National Park?

According to campers on TheDyrt.com, there is no coverage for AT&T, no coverage for T-Mobile, and no coverage for Verizon.

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