• Activity Level: Mild to Moderate – requires some walking on uneven, unpaved terrain. The total walking is approximately 1.2 miles and trail is mostly flat and well maintained.
• Intimate two to three hour scenic flightseeing tour from Anchorage; flight times vary depending on weather and plane type.
• Box lunch upon arrival at Katmai National Park
• Katmai bear viewing at Brooks Falls – watch them catch jumping salmon!
• Wildlife watching on return flight for beluga whales, moose and Dall sheep

See our Youtube video with footage from Katmai and Lake Clark bear viewing experiences.

• A window seat and 2-way headset
• Detailed knowledge (and personality) of an Alaska bush pilot
• Rust’s meticulous attention to comfort and safety

Check in: Please check in at our Lake Hood Office 30 minutes prior to departure. For safety of weight and balance of the plane, we will need accurate weights of individuals or of the entire group.

Parking: There is free, although limited parking at the Rust Office. You will need to leave your car keys with the office. Rust’s also picks up from major hotels. You are welcome to leave baggage at the Rust office at no additional charge.

What to bring: Sunglasses, bug spray, camera and binoculars. Dress comfortably and in layers; Alaska weather can change dramatically. A sunny and warm day in Anchorage can turn windy, rainy, and cool in the National Park. Please bring prescription medications.

Other information: Katmai National Park is in a remote area accessible only by plane so many of the common expectations of “civilization” are not available. You should bring essential medications with you and not plan plane connections on the same day of this trip. Additionally, if visiting Katmai is extremely important to you, please allow time in your schedule for possible rescheduling of this trip. Rust’s flies through two mountain passes to reach Katmai and this trip does sometimes cancel due to weather.

Departing from Lake Hood, Anchorage, fly over Cook Inlet, the Alaska Range, remote islands, before landing on either Brooks or Naknek Lake in Katmai National Park and Preserve. Katmai is home to the world’s largest population of Alaska brown bears and the famed Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes – a forty square mile, 100 to 700-foot deep ash flow deposited by Novarupta Volcano in 1912. It should be mentioned that the smokes smoked out many years ago and the few smoking vents are only visible in a relatively inaccessible part of the park.