I moved to King Salmon, Alaska in 2017 with my family and to be perfectly honest there just isn’t enough information out there about visiting this small town. Maybe you are planning a fishing trip or maybe a bear-viewing trip to Katmai National park and Brooks falls whether this is your first bit of research or the last I think you will find it helpful in planning your trip!

In either case, I want to help you gather all the information you need to make your trip to King Salmon and the Katmai Area a success. I have put together this complete guide to visiting King Salmon so that you should have the answers to most of your questions by the time you are done reading.

A little about King Salmon:

King Salmon is a popular destination for fishing due to its location within Bristol Bay, which is home to some of the best salmon fishing in the world (Literally the reason we moved here!). King Salmon is also the gateway to Katmai national park and the world-famous Brooks Falls the #1 bear-viewing destination in the world.

How to get to King Salmon Alaska

The truth is there really is only one option to get to the town of King Salmon & the Katmai Area, and it is to fly, and King Salmon sits about 280 miles southwest of Anchorage. There are no roads or ferries that lead to King Salmon or Katmai National Park.

The only major carrier that flies to King Salmon is Alaska Airlines, & their partner Horizon Air; between the two of them, they satisfy most of the demand for flying in and out of King Salmon. Round-trip flights on Alaska Air typically are around $400 per person round trip, depending on when you book. You can check the price of the flights on Google flights here or directly on Alaska air.

There are a few other small carriers. Our recommendation would be to fly with Alaska Airlines. We have made the journey multiple times every year, and Alaska Air is convenient and consistent.

When to Visit King Salmon

Deciding when to visit can be a difficult decision so I’ve included an infographic that shows what is available as far as fishing and bear viewing.

Fishing season for much of the Bristol Bay region begins June 8th with salmon beginning to arrive shortly thereafter, Once the sockeye salmon begin to arrive in Late June into early July the bears are close behind. Check out our chart on the best months for fishing and bear viewing.

June - If you are planning on visiting in June you want to plan for sometime after June 8th if you are coming for fishing, As the part of the Naknek river that holds trout is closed until then.

If you are planning on June for bear-viewing I would recommend sometime after June 20th as the salmon will just be starting to arrive in the Naknek around the 15th of June and the bears are following the Salmon which will begin to arrive at Brooks falls around June 20th.

July - July is the peak month for the small town of King Salmon, this is when the sockeye salmon run is running at its peak & there are so many bears at Brooks Falls that it is easy to lose count of how many you have seen. Any dates between June 20th and September 20th are excellent for bear viewing in Katmai. Peak Sockeye Salmon & King Salmon fishing is between July 1st and the 31st with sockeye being the better target until about the 20th of July and then Kings until the Chinook fishery closes on July 31st.

August - Is quite possibly the best of all the months if you don’t mind trading sockeye salmon for silver salmon. I would argue that August might be the best month because the truth is there are still bears in August but with about half of the crowds. You can expect more time on the main viewing platform and a little more elbow room!

September - Is also a very popular time to want to visit but I would caution that much of King Salmon begins to close down as we approach the end of the fishing and bear-viewing season. We typically close Aug 31st but we make exceptions for the first week of September if we take your booking before the season starts. Most of the Brooks service providers cease operations sometime around the 20th of September and /or combine flights and reduce water taxi departures.

Lodging in King Salmon

As you can imagine, hotels in King Salmon are rather limited. With the short season and the huge influx of visitors, we do our best to accommodate everyone, but booking early is never a bad idea.

It was in 2020 that we realized that even with all of the existing lodging in King Salmon, it just wasn’t enough. We knew we wanted to provide visitors with another option. I will list the different lodging options that exist in King Salmon so you can decide which might be the best fit for you.

Katmai B&B

Katmai B&B has a maximum capacity of 6 guests and a 2:1 staff-to-guest ratio for a custom and unique experience. Here are some things you can expect when you stay at Katmai B&B.

• Trip planning services (If you need help planning your trip, we can help you do that at no additional cost)

• Daily continental-style daily breakfast

• Coffee bar and snacks Available all day

• Daily transportation into King Salmon and exclusive transportation to Brooks Camp are available through our sister business, Katmai Expeditions.

• In-house fishing guide service

• Free unlimited Wifi

• Private Facebook group & telegram channel for 24/7 customer support

  You can read more about what we offer at Katmai B&B.

Bear trail cabins

Bear Trail Cabins has six rustic cabins located approximately 2 miles away from the center of King Salmon, although there isn't much of a town to speak of. Additionally, Bear Trail Cabins provides a fenced campground for those who prefer camping. (Rates are approximately $320 per night per cabin + bed tax.) Here are some things you can expect when you stay with us.

• Trip planning services (If you need help planning your trip, we can help you at no additional cost.)

• Daily transportation into King Salmon and exclusive transportation to Brooks Camp are available through our sister business, Katmai Expeditions.

• In-house fishing guide service

• Free unlimited Wifi

Antlers Inn is in town next to the only grocery store. They also run the sockeye cabins across the street. (Rates approx $350 per night + bed tax)

King Salmon Suites is just a little further than Bear Trail Cabins. (Rates not listed on their website + bed tax)

King Salmon Lodge is about 5 miles from King Salmon and is the most expensive lodging. (Rates approx $390 per night for single occupancy, and it goes up from there)

There are also some Airbnbs, although they are not clear on what support they offer, if any.

Things to do in King Salmon

So I should probably start with that King Salmon is a very small rural Alaskan town in what is known as “the Bush”. The official population of King Salmon is around 350 people so not exactly a metropolis. We moved to King Salmon for exactly that reason we wanted peaceful winters and fun-filled summers which is exactly what you will get when you visit!

Bear Viewing in Katmai

Katmai Expeditions is the newest offering from Katmai B&B! Katmai Expeditions solves the common problem of choosing which transportation mode to use. With our sea-worthy vessel and float planes at our disposal, you no longer need to choose or make multiple reservations with different operators.

As mentioned, King Salmon is the gateway to Katmai National Park. If you want to charter or purchase seat fares to Brooks Camp, I will list out the service providers below.

• Katmai Expeditions (833) 252-8262

  • Boat and Planes (personalized service)

• Katmai Air (907) 243-5448

  • Float Plane only

• Branch River Air (907) 246-3437

  • Float Plane only

• Trygg Air (907) 350-8675

  • Float Plane only

• Katmai Water taxi (907) 246-4654

  • Boat only

Fishing in King Salmon & Katmai

Fishing in King Salmon is something that is on many people’s bucket lists, and the entire Bristol bay region is abundant with wild salmon. If you have the time strongly consider spending some time on the river even if it’s only half a day out on the water fishing or wildlife viewing is most certainly worth it. There are two guide services in town one of them Katmai Fishing Guides is our other business read more about our fishing program here.

• Katmai Fishing Guides (844) 762-5393

• Morrison guide service (907) 439-4726

Dining In King Salmon

Unsurprisingly there aren’t very many dining options in King Salmon, which at this point you probably could have guessed. I’ll get right to the point on this one.

You can eat at Sockeye Saloon the newer of the two restaurants they have good food, all things considered. One thing to note is it can be very busy, especially in July and sometimes the wait time can get a little wonky but hey there isn’t really anywhere you need to be! The other option is Eddies Fireplace inn also known as EFI it is more of a local watering hole but still an atmosphere that some enjoy!

Both restaurants are within walking distance (Literally across the street from each other.) So if you feel like switching it up from one night to the next it will be hardly an inconvenience.

Right next door to Eddies is the Alaska Commercial Store (grocery store) be prepared for some sticker shock but they will have most of what you need don’t expect them to have everything you are used to but they will have enough it just might be a little expensive.

Weather in King Salmon

The weather in King Salmon and Katmai can be somewhat unpredictable. Statistically, June is the least rainy summer month, and September is the rainiest according to NOAA. We typically average temperatures in the Mid-’50s for most of the summer, we find that long pants a t-shirt, and then a hoodie or sweater is adequate for us with our rain gear close at hand.

For footwear, I would recommend wearing something waterproof because it’s no fun to walk around in wet shoes at Brooks or anywhere for that matter!

If you are visiting in September especially if it is later in the month you may want to bring additional layers as temperatures can regularly dip below freezing in the mornings.

Are there bugs?

Alaska is known for its bugs, and it is true we do have lots of bugs. In King salmon, we have several different types of mosquitos, white socks, horseflies, and gnats.

We suggest bringing a head net like this one and it will keep 95% of the bugs off your face. I also recommend some bug spray like OFF deep woods or if you can find some 100% DEET is the most effective. If it’s not too hot or you don’t mind being in a thick long-sleeve or hoodie those are the most effective at keeping the bugs from biting your arms, but you’ll still want something for your hands and face!

Thank you!

That should pretty much cover everything you would want to know about visiting King Salmon. If you find this guide helpful we would really appreciate it if you could share it so that we can start to overcome the lack of information available to travelers about visiting King Salmon!

Thank you,

Steven Benjamin