Fabio

after last august's wonderful trip to Glacier Bay, Denali, Kenai and Katmai, thanks to this forum and you fodorities, my 11 years old son is now insisting to come back next summer, 8/10 days between mid june and august, this time north of the arctic circle. We would fly Fairbanks to Barrow and have heard about Tundra Tours !!?? Our priority is wildlife viewing, even though we are aware that chances to see the polar bear are very few !!
Then Gates of the Arctic National Park.
Any suggestion ?? contacts ??
I have not fixed any lodging or flights, yet so we are open for alternatives

BudgetQueen

Barrow is worth a couple days, but so is Nome. I have been to Ft. Yukon, Anaktuvuk Pass, Bettles, Coldfoot, Wiseman. Wildlife is difficult in these areas and rare since the area is so vast.

Research the areas and determine what is of interest to you? It is more costly to get place to place since flights are necessary. I fly with Warbelows and have done several of their cargo runs, nice day trips for me.

AKGardenGate

It would depend on what your 11 year old would think about seeing a LOT of tundra. A lot of kids that age might think it was really boring. You might go days without seeing critters bigger than rabbits, depending on where you are. If you wanted to make science projects out of what the tundra ecosystems are about, that could be really informative and fun for him: geology, habitats, weather patterns, whatever. It sounds like a chance of a lifetime trip, but obviously it'd be a big investment--is this the right age for your son to see this special place, the Arctic?

On the other hand, your son might pick up how vastly different life is up there. I have a friend who lived in Barrow from birth to 4 years old. One of his few memories of the place is that the fire department was a bulldozer (to push snow onto a burning building or push the building over since there'd be no way to hose water onto a fire).

Fabio

this summer we saw a lot of grizzlies in Katmai. We would like to make at least an attempt for the polar bear. Usually people go to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada between mid-october and november but then he would miss school for at least 1 week, considering our long return trip from Europe !!

So the idea was to explore a bit of north Alaska in summer and try a tour from Barrow or somewhere in the area north of the arctic !

lonestarcars

Would like to see the bears at Katmi,need some lodging suggestions,can we take Emerald air tours from there?

Fabio

Emerald air is the perfect choice as it is rated to be the best company for Katmai bear trips. They are based in Homer, Kenai and fly daily from there, so you should plan at least 2 nights in Homer for your bear trip.
We booked with them but the trip was cancelled due to weather conditions and we found another alernative the next day with Bald Mountain, as Emerald was alrweady fully booked.
I also red some good reviews on Hallo Bay which also arrange 2-3 days trip for bear viewing. You may also consider this option. !

lonestarcars

Thanks,would you also consider Brooks River Falls for the platform viewing or just leave it with Emerald Air?

Fabio

It depends on when you will be there. As far as I know Brooks Falls is very popular end of june till end of july, during the salmon run. I read different reviews. Someone like it, although the view is just from one platform, some other consider it too much touristy and crowded on those platforms.
If you have the option to do both, then do them, but I would not take Brooks Fals instead of Emerald !!

Fabio

we were there end of august last year and went to Geographic Harbour, along the sea coast. You can check each company where they go depending on the different month and bear customs

www.emeraldairservice.com
www.baldmountainair.com
www.hallobay.com