Dave

Planning visit in August 2003 with 11 and 13 yr. old sons who love adventure. We want to for at least a couple hours view bears. Not just see them (we've done that on previous trips). Is there a way to do this without breaking the bank? We'd like to use an outfitter, but the ones we've looked into out of Homer to Katmai are over $500.00 per person which for four is too much for us. We plan to do Kenai Penninsula, Valdez, Wrangell/St. Elias, Denali loop over two weeks via rental car/ferry. Is there anywhere on this loop we could do this reasonably?

BigBear

Bears are very dangerous to people in their natural habitat. Do you really want to put your family's safety on the line to save a few bucks?

Cindy

Sounds like a hunting expedition to me.

John

The Brooks River viewing area is packed (with people, not necessarily bears) and August may or may not be the best time (often not, depends on fish runs.) $500 is cheap.

Frankly I'd recommend not worrying about bears and plan something cheaper for the "adventure" content of your trip. By all means get your family up in a light plane (or floatplane) - how about flightseeing over the Kenai Moose Range a day's fly-in fishing excursion to a remote lake? Halibut fishing out of Homer or rafting some place? August is a good time for Silver Salmon fishing all around the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound, and I can assure you that a 20 lb. Silver on 15 lb. line is just as much fun as hearing a thousand shutters going off as a bear wades into a river. Do one of the Kenai Fjords tours and see lots of critters.

You'll probably see bears in Denali and you might come upon some bears at various campgrounds or city dumps (I know, yuk, but it's true...) But spending $500 or more (or having to win a lottery for McNeil River) strikes me as less an adventure than a scam.

x

You want to see bears..go to the zoo.

ttt

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Connie

Dave,

We went to Alaska this summer and I really regret that we didn't splurge to see the bears.

We did see several grizzlies in Denali but you needed binocs to see them.

We kept expecting to see wildlife but never did except Denali and the Kenai Fjords Tour (which is a must do).

I would suggest that you spend the majority of your time on the Kenai Peninsula.

Molly

John's perception is interesting, I think. Is paying great sums of money to view creatures amid crowds of people intently clicking camera shutters a true wildlife experience?
I WAS planning on visiting the Anan Refuge next summer - thanks a lot, John! {LOL!}

pb

The cheapest place to see bears in Alaska is Hyder, Alaska. The rivers are full of brown and black bears fishing for salmon. They come out in the morning and late afternoon. We saw one bear with her cubs.Park rangers are there protecting them. I went all over Homer, Denali and Seward but, never saw one bear. The year before , we saw bears all over Canada as we drove to Hyder. It didn't cost anything to view the bears in Hyder.

dave

Thanks for (most of) the replies. I really wasn't planning on endangering my families lives, just was looking for ideas that didn't cost $2,100.00 for a couple of hours. If that's the going rate, so be it. I'm still open to suggestions though!!

P

Yes, do try the 8-hour shuttle to Eielson in Denali. It costs about $23 + per person. You will likely see at least a few bears.
We saw 2 when we toured in August. One VERY close and another about 1/4 mile away. Both were searching for berries and pretty much ignored us. We heard reports from people who went the day before and saw bears on the park road. The people on the bus behind us saw several alond a river in the park.
You won't see bears for a couple hours - but you will almost certainly see them for at least 15-20 minutes from a safe vantage point - and won't have to pay a fortune for the experience.