When to Visit Brook falls

Best time for Bear-viewing at Brook Falls in Katmai National Park

This is certainly a loaded question, Brooks falls is a place unlike any other for bear viewing in Alaska. If your dream is to see bears catch fish on the falls this is it, there is no alternative. I personally have been to Brooks falls over 35 times in the past 6 years, being a fishing guide and King Salmon local has provided me with this wonderful opportunity & amazing insight as to when the best time for bear viewing at Brooks Falls takes place.

In short, the answer is Late June thru Mid September, but as simple as that may seem there are a few more factors to consider than just a blanket answer. So I will be covering each month in detail so that you may be able to decide when is the right time to visit for yourself.

Let’s talk about visiting Brooks Falls in June

June presents us with some unique opportunities and challenges as well. There is one basic ground rule that applies to finding bears in all of Alaska; The bears need food, if you can find a bear’s food source you will almost certainly find bears. Luckily for us, Salmon are pretty easy to find so regardless of where you choose to see bears in Alaska pick somewhere that has fish! You might be wondering what does that have to do with June at Brooks?

Well, the truth is there are no salmon…yet!

But not to worry they are short behind! I would recommend that if you are coming to Brooks Falls in June schedule your visit sometime after June 20th if possible. The reason that I recommend sometime after June 20th is that this is typically the earliest I have seen sockeye salmon start to arrive, as you can imagine when the salmon make their seasonal appearance the bears are close behind arriving at the Brooks river in pursuit of their favorite food!

The upside to visiting in June is that the crowds are relatively small compared to July and if you are visiting in the last 10 days or so of June you have a good chance of seeing bears along the Brooks river and in Brooks camp. You also could be the first one to see a bear for the year!

Visiting in July

July is peak bear viewing season in Katmai, it is also peak everything else, Salmon, float planes, commercial fishing, and peak crowds as well. This is not to say that visiting in July is a bad idea I just want to be honest about what to expect.

This first week of July is typically when we see the Sockeye salmon start to show up in big numbers, which as we discussed earlier the #1 factor for bears being at the Brooks river. With that being said the bears usually begin to arrive the week before as we mentioned in the June section.

There are a few important things to note about visiting in July in regards to what to expect as a visitor to the Brooks camp developed area.

First, the use of tripods on the main viewing platform is prohibited from June 15th to August 15th due to the limited space available on the main platform.
Secondly, depending on the number of people wanting to spend time on the main viewing platform they may limit your time to 30 minutes so that others may have a turn. I want to add a special note to this that no one has priority on the platform. You do not need to be a Brooks lodge guest to access the platform.
Lastly, in regard to your time on the main platform, you may re-enter the queue as many times as you have time for while you are at brooks camp. We find that even tho you are limited to 30-minute blocks during peak times, alternating from the Main platform, rejoining the queue, and standing at the lower riffles platform should give anyone ample time bear-viewing at the falls. *The NPS website says they impose a 1-hour time limit but that is not what we have experienced over the last 2 years.

You can read more about Brooks camp here at the NPS website just be aware it does appear some of the information may be outdated, you can always reach out to me and I will give you the most up-to-date information I have.

Visiting Brooks Camp in August

August might actually be the best-kept secret about when to visit Brooks Falls; I can’t say this has always been true, but in the last 6 years we have been regularly visiting Brooks Falls, August offers what we believe to be the best of what is available at Brooks camp.

In my experience, there is still often 80-90% of the bears still at the falls in August as there is in July, and by mid-August, about 50% of the crowds or less. Out of the 5 or so times I visited last August (2022), we had unlimited time at the main viewing platform. Although we did share the platform with about 30 other guests, there was some elbow room and no need to leave the platform other than to have some lunch!

Once we start to reach the last 5 days or so of August, the bears start to spread out and spend less time at the falls. That isn’t to say there aren’t bears at the falls; there just aren’t as many because the salmon have stopped jumping and have reached their spawning grounds.

So what about September

When I visited Brooks last fall in September, I want to say I possibly saw more bears than any other time I have been to Brooks Camp with one important note. Only a few of the bears I saw were at the Falls. I was there on a fishing trip for myself before closing up for the season, and I saw bears all the way from Brooks Lake to the lower bridge, but very few were at the Falls. It is just an important thing to note; now that being said, if you want to see Big Fat Bears, this is the month!

Some important notes about visiting in September.

Brooks Lodge closes on September 18th, which means no more services, no food, and no lodging.
The NPS services end on September 17th, so there is no visitors center. Only some limited services may continue until the 30th.
Transportation also becomes sparse or non-existent. Katmai Expeditions ends service to Brooks Camp on September 20th, Katmai Air ceases seat fares in September when Brooks Lodge closes & Katmai Water Taxi starts to combine departure and return times based on how many guests they have traveling to Brooks Camp that day.

The last thing I want to note about visiting in September is that it is the month we receive the most rain on average, according to NOAA. It is also the month that we typically see our first consistent freezing temperatures overnight, so keep that in mind if you intend to camp at Brooks.

Well, there you have it: a complete guide on when to visit Brooks Falls

I hope that helps you in planning your visit to Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park; I hope to continue to be your go-to resource for all things Katmai, Brooks Falls, and Fishing related. If you would like to read our complete guide to visiting the town of King Salmon, the gateway to Katmai National Park, you can do that here!