🐻 Katmai National Park and Preserve – Alaska’s Wild Volcano & Bear Sanctuary
Katmai National Park and Preserve is a remote and rugged expanse in southwestern Alaska, encompassing over 4 million acres of diverse landscapes, including active volcanoes, vast tundra, and rich ecosystems. Established in 1918, the park was created to protect the area surrounding the 1912 Novarupta eruption, which formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Today, Katmai is renowned for its brown bear population and pristine wilderness.
🌋 Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is a dramatic landscape formed by the 1912 eruption of Novarupta, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. The eruption blanketed the valley with ash and pumice, creating a barren yet striking terrain. Over time, erosion has carved deep canyons through the ash deposits, revealing the valley’s dynamic geological history.
🐻 Brown Bears and Wildlife
Katmai is home to approximately 2,200 brown bears, one of the highest concentrations in the world. The bears are particularly active along the Brooks River, where they gather to feed on spawning salmon during the summer months. The park also hosts a variety of other wildlife, including moose, wolves, foxes, and numerous bird species.
🏞️ Geography and Landscape
Located on the Alaska Peninsula, Katmai features a diverse range of landscapes, from rugged coastlines along the Shelikof Strait to the mountainous Aleutian Range. The park includes numerous lakes, rivers, and wetlands, providing habitats for a wide array of flora and fauna. Its remote location offers visitors a chance to experience untouched wilderness.
📚 Learn More
Katmai National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve in southwest Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park and preserve encompass 4,093,077 acres (6,395.43 sq mi; 16,564.09 km2), which is between the sizes of Connecticut and New Jersey. Most of the national park is a designated wilderness area. The park is named after Mount Katmai, its centerpiece stratovolcano. The park is located on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island, with headquarters in nearby King Salmon, about 290 miles (470 km) southwest of Anchorage. The area was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the major 1912 volcanic eruption of Novarupta, which formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 40-square-mile (100 km2), 100-to-700-foot-deep (30 to 213 m) pyroclastic flow. The park includes as many as 18 individual volcanoes, seven of which have been active since 1900.
| Katmai National Park and Preserve | |
|---|---|
 The summit crater lake of Mount Katmai | |
  Location in Alaska  Location in North America | |
| Location | Lake and Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Kenai Peninsula, and Bristol Bay boroughs, Alaska, United States |
| Nearest city | King Salmon |
| Coordinates | 58°30′N 155°00′W / 58.5°N 155.0°W |
| Area | 4,093,077 acres (16,564.09 km2) |
| Established | December 2, 1980 |
| Visitors | 37,818 (in 2015 – latest count) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | nps |
  Map of Katmai National Park and Preserve  Map of Katmai National Park and surrounding area | |
Initially designated because of its volcanic history, the monument was left undeveloped and largely unvisited until the 1950s. The monument and surrounding lands became appreciated for their wide variety of wildlife, including an abundance of sockeye salmon and the brown bears that feed upon them. After a series of boundary expansions, the present national park and preserve were established in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.