Brooks Camp

We are planning a day trip to Brooks Camp in July. After reading several articles about the area I am becoming concerned about safety when we are in a bear habitat. I know that nobody has been hurt there but the idea that we may be false-charged by a grizzly is bothering me. I%26#39;d appreciate hearing from anybody who has been there aand can give us an idea of what to expect. Thanks

Brooks Camp

I went down for a weekend and spent one night in a tent %26amp; the two days. The Brooks camp atmosphere is quite controled. First thing they do is give you a solid orientation on the local bears and proceedures, how they behave, how you should behave, where you can go and all.

Yes, the bears wander around and the Rnagers put out more efort to control the tourists than anything else - the bears do as bears do, pretty much what they wnat to do. They also give you plenty of chance to photopgraph and observe.

I would not hesitate to go or to take kids with me.

71

Brooks Camp

I grew up on Katmai (Literally! My dad worked for the National Park Service.) until I was 9 years old. I have returned to the area as an adult. I can tell you this: If you do as the rangers instruct, you will not be in any danger. The bears have more than enough fish to eat. If you run into a problem with a bear, 99.9% of the time it%26#39;s because you didn%26#39;t follow the rules. I feel safer there than I would on the streets of most major cities.

We went last September for three days and I would not hesitate to go back again. My wife was pretty apprehensive about this visit but once we got there, went through the saftey class, noted how the rangers directed traffic and made sure you did the right things, she quickly settled down and really enjoyed being there. As others have stated, as long as you abide by the rules you won%26#39;t have any problems with your safety. The biggest problem we had was getting stuck waiting to cross the foot bridge. One day we were stuck on the far side for about five hours waiting for a mother and her three cubs to wake up from their nap. They seemed to like one spot right by the bridge trail and did not want to move. Although we were ';stuck'; we spent five wonderful hours watching up to sixteen bears at a time and watching the mother suckle her young. Take lots of film/memory and enjoy the experience.

Forgot I still had these posted. Here%26#39;s some pictures I got of the bears last year. They start down at the bottom of this page an continue to the next http://jimages3.home.mchsi.com/index.htm?3

I hope this helps.

To all who repllied ,

Thanks you so much. The photos are great and from everything I can see Brooks Camp was the highlight of the trip. This will be our last trip by RV to Alaska and we want to make the most of it.

What about visiting Brooks Camp in the middle of August?

I would like to spend 2 or 3 nights with my family on a bear viewing tour, but I have read the best times at Brooks are July and September.

We have been told that the best time to visit Brooks Camp is in July and September. These are the times that the salmon run which is why the bears go there - to feed on the salmon. I don%26#39;t know whether they come to Brooks at other times or just when the salmon are running. I do know that my daughter visited another bear viewing spot in early July. There were no salmon and no bears.

My husband %26amp; I visited Brooks camp several years ago with our (at that time) almost 2 year old. We tent camped for 5 nights. It was a wonderful experience. Be smart, keep the goodies out of your tent, pay attention at orientation and you will have no problems. I%26#39;ve lived in Alaska 16 years and Katmai remains my favorite Alaska experience.

Doesn%26#39;t the campground at Brooks Falls have an electrified fence around it? Seems like I read or saw it somewhere. There is no other place to camp near there is there? As for Katmai in general, are there other campgrounds outside of Brooks Falls other than Hallo Bay Wilderness Camp?

We are going to camp in Brooks camp for 7 nights in July. We are thinking about camping out in the bush for a couple of those nights has anyone had any experience at doing this and does anyone have any ideas for over night hikes within the park? Thanks

trilogy