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King Salmon is located on the north bank of the Naknek River on the Alaska Peninsula, about 15 miles upriver from the fishing village of Naknek. King Salmon is a major air transportation point for Bristol Bay salmon. The Bristol Bay red salmon fishery is the largest in the world. King Salmon is also a departure point for the Katmai National Park and Preserve, which includes the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Brooks Camp, and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Fishing for all five species of salmon and rainbow trout are one of this area's top attractions. King Salmon airport is the summer hub for wilderness and fishing adventures in the area. Destination Northwest has several excellent fishing lodges set on the banks of the Naknek River to recommend where trophy rainbows, massive Chinook and sockeye salmon are plentiful.
Katmai National Monument was created in 1918 to preserve the famed Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a spectacular forty square mile, 100 to 700 foot deep ash flow deposited by Novarupta Volcano. A National Park & Preserve since 1980, today Katmai is still famous for volcanoes, but also for brown bears, pristine waterways with abundant fish, remote wilderness, and a rugged coastline.
Situated at the mouth of the Brooks River, along the shore of Naknek Lake (the largest lake within any unit of the National Park System), Brooks Camp attracts visitors of all kinds to view brown bears, enjoy world-class sportfishing, and learn about the long human history of the area. Also a starting point for many backcountry adventures, daily naturalist-led/concessioner-operated bus tours from Brooks Camp provide easy access to the geologic splendors of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, site of the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
Katmai looms so vast that the bulk of it must elude all but a very few persistent visitors. To boat its enormous lakes and their island-studded bays, to float its rushing waterways, to hike the wind-whipped passes of its imposing mountains, or to explore its Shelikof Strait coastline require great effort and logistical planning. We come to Katmai to sample but an edge of this enormity of raw natural forces, a sampling that itself constitutes a rare and endangered opportunity. nps.gov, Oct 2008
Kodiak Island is famous for huge Kodiak brown bears, world-class sport fishing, one of the largest commercial fishing ports in the nation, and the magnificent green that the island turns during the summer--which is why Kodiak is affectionately called Alaska's Emerald Isle.
The Kodiak Island Borough, with a population of 13,900 persons includes The City of Kodiak, seven villages, the U.S. Coast Guard Base, plus several remote camps and lodges. Although the main population center surrounds the City of Kodiak, there are also six small cities in the Kodiak Archipelago. Five are located on Kodiak Island and one is on Spruce Island. Each of the cities can be reached by aircraft or boat. The archipelago is a continuation of the Kenai Mountain Range, which begins on the Kenai Peninsula, 90 miles to the north. Lying in the Aleutian Trench, the archipelago has been strongly influenced by both volcanic and seismic activity along the "chain of fire."
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Cannery | | |
Eskimo Basket Weaver | | |
Brown Bears | | |
McNeil River in Katmai Nat'l Park | | |
Valley of a Thousand Smokes | | |
Kodiak Island Native | | |
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