Overview

Get a general sense Katmai and its activities and geography.

Plan Around Overview

A good stop is not just something to read about. Once it belongs on the day, move into a saved trip and build the route around it.

Add to trip View park guide

Use this detail page to confirm that the stop is worth it, then carry that decision into a trip draft while the park context is still fresh.

Overview Details

The centerpiece of massive, 7,383-square-mile Katmai National Park is the still-active Mount Katmai stratovolcano and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 40-mile-long ash flow deposited by an eruption in 1912. In addition to the opportunity to explore this blasted landscape and more than a dozen volcanos, glaciers, and wilderness, visitors who venture into the roadless back country to backpack, kayak and canoe may encounter some of Katmai's thousands of brown bears. Bears and humans alike have long come to rivers like the Alagnak for their bounty of migrating salmon and other fish. The park visitor center is located in the town of King Salmon, but the main hub of activity within Katmai is at Brooks Camp, located on Naknek Lake (the largest in the national parks system) and home to a visitor center, campground and lodge. The camp is accessible only by boat or floatplane and provides ample opportunities for bear-watching. Ranger-led bus tours to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes depart from Brooks Camp, where canoes and kayaks can also be rented for following the 80-mile Savonoski Loop water trail. Date Formed: December 2, 1980 Area: 3,674,529.68 acres Website: [www.nps.gov/katm](http://www.nps.gov/katm)

Difficulty

Open

Distance

N/A

Estimated time

N/A

Region

Learn About the Park