Katmai
Park
7-Day Bear Viewing
Adventure Having appeared in magazines and films around the
world, Katmai's brown bears are renowned Alaskan icons. The world's largest
run of sockeye salmon up the Naknek River creates an ideal feast for brown
bears - attracting more than 2,000 of the bruins to the lands of Katmai
National Park and Preserve. This is one of the world's premier brown bear
viewing trips.
From Anchorage We own and operated Denali Bus. Our daily tour bus service departs Anchorage at 7:00 a.m. and arrives in Denali around 12:00 noon, in time to catch connecting buses into the park or buses heading to lodges in Kantishna. Retuning to Anchorage we depart Denali at 1:00 p.m. picking up guest at local hotels and arrives back in Anchorage at 8:00 p.m.
Another option is the Alaska Railroad. The Denali Star Train, departs Anchorage at 8:15 a.m. and arrives in Denali at 3:45 p.m. If you're not on a tight budget the GoldStar first-class dome car upgrade for $80 is well worth the money. Returning from Denali the train departs at 12:15 p.m. and arrives in Anchorage at 8:00 p.m. Backcountry Safaris would be please to make reservation for you at no additional cost to you and answer all your alaska travel questions.
THE PACKAGE DEAL— Backcountry Safaris offers a roundtrip discount package. Denali Bus one-way and the Denali Star Train one-way. Our Denali transportation package offers you a little variety for your roundtrip travel to Denali National Park.
By Air — One more option if your time is very limited, is to charter a plane to or from Denali Park. This option is not for someone on a tight budget, but if your time in Alaska is limited this is an option you may want to consider. Gives us a call or drop us an email and we would be happy to discuss this option with you. There maybe some savings if your dates happen to coincide with others wanting the same service and if you're willing to share the plane with other folks. The cost of the charter is for the plane and not seat-fare so splitting this cost with others would bring the cost down per-person for everyone.
** The ride from Anchorage to the Denali National Park entrance takes about five hours by bus. The trip from the park entrance to lodges in Kantishna at the end of the park road may take an additional six hours, making for a long day of travel. The total trip can be completed in one day, but we suggest that visitors traveling to Kantishna break up their travel time and stay overnight at the park entrance before continuing on to the lodge the next day.
From Fairbanks Denali Star Train departs Fairbanks at 8:15 a.m. and arrives in Denali at 12:15 p.m. Returning departs Denali 3:45 p.m. and arrives back into Fairbanks at 8:00 p.m.
There is also air charter service as noted above. If you have interest in this please contact us.
Alaska Adventure Travel Specialist Backcountry Safaris P.O. Box 231121 • Anchorage, Alaska USA 99523 1-907-222-1632 or toll-free 1-877-812-2159
Alaska State Holidays: Alaska Day, Oct.18th and Seward's Day March 27
The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, about 2 cents an acre.
15 species of whales are found in Alaska waters.
Alaska has more than 80 potentially active volcanoes.
The flag of Alaska contains 8 gold stars representing the Big Dipper and the North Star on a field of blue.
Longest Day: Barrow the sun rises on May 10th, it don't set for nearly 3 months.
Shortest Day: Barrow when sun sets on November 18th, Barrow residents do not see the sun again for nearly two months.
What maybe the oldest documented site of human habitation in North America, the Mesa Site found in 1993 lies 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
There are more than 3,000 rivers in Alaska and over 3 million lakes.
The name of Alaska probably comes from Unalaska, an Aleut word derived from agunalaksh which translates the shores where the sea breaks its back.
The 90,000 Native people of Alaska make up roughly 15% of the state's population.
Almost half of Alaska (175 million acres) is classified as wetlands.
Highest Point: Mount McKinley, 20,320 ft
17 of the highest 20 mountains in the U.S. are in Alaska. It has 19 peaks over 14,000 feet.
Of the total 365 million acres of land that make up Alaska, less than one-twentieth of 1% is settled.
Alaska has numerous natural hot springs found across the state. Near Port Moller Hot Springs on the Alaska Peninsula, a village site has been occupied intermittently over the past 3000 years.
The largest gold nugget found in Alaska was discovered near Nome in 1903. It weighed 155 troy ounces and was 2 inches thick, 4 inches wide and 7 inches long.
It is estimated that there are 100,000 glaciers in Alaska covering 29,000 square miles or 5% of the state.
The estimated tidal shoreline of Alaska including inlets, islands and shoreline to head of tidewater is 47,300 miles.
The largest state in the union, Alaska is one-fifth the size of the Lower 48 and spans 2,400 miles east to west and 1,420 miles north to south.
On average 1,000 earthquakes registering 3.5 or more on the Richter scale occur in Alaska each year.
Most snowfall in 24 hours: 62 inches, at Thompson Pass near Valdez, Dec. 1955.
Most monthly snowfall: 297.9 inches, at Thompson Pass near Valdez, Feb. 1953.
Most snowfall in a season: 974.5 inches (over 81 feet), at Thompson Pass near Valdez, 1952-53.
Most precipitation in 24 hours: 15.2 inches, in Angoon, Oct. 12, 1982.
Most monthly precipitation: 70.99 inches at MacLeod Harbor (Montague Island), Nov. 1976.
Most annual precipitation: 332.29 inches at MacLeod Harbor (Montague Island), 1976.
Highest recorded temperature: 100¡F, at Ft. Yukon, June 27, 1915.
Lowest recorded temperature: -80¡F, at Prospect Creek Camp, Jan. 23, 1971.
Earthquakes: 9.2 on the Richter Scale on March 27th 1964 - the strongest ever recorded in North America
430 bird species have been sited in Alaska.
Over 50 species of wild fruit is found in Alaska including Low and Highbush Cranberries, Blueberries, Salmonberries, wild rose and strawberries.
Three species of bear are found in Alaska: the black, the brown/grizzly and the polar bear. Brown bears are the largest living omnivorous land mammals in the world.
The Arctic Circle is the latitude where the sun does not set for one day at summer solstice and does not rise for one day at winter solstice
noon, in time to catch connecting buses into the park or buses heading to lodges in Kantishna. Retuning to Anchorage we depart Denali at 1:00 p.m. picking up guest at local hotels and arrives back in Anchorage at 8:00 p.m.
** The ride from Anchorage to the Denali National Park entrance takes about five hours by bus. The trip from the park entrance to lodges in Kantishna at the end of the park road may take an additional six hours, making for a long day of travel. The total trip can be completed in one day, but we suggest that visitors traveling to Kantishna break up their travel time and stay overnight at the park entrance before continuing on to the lodge the next day.