Photo Credit: Smokey Bay Air

Homer Bear Viewing Tours

Homer is one of the most popular launching points for bear viewing adventures in Alaska. Situated on the shore of Cook Inlet, it's a quick plane ride to some of Alaska's prime bear viewing spots. And Homer itself is easy to get to. It's a scenic 5-hour drive from Anchorage or a quick 30-minute flight by jet.

A group watches bears on the beach

A group watches bears on the beach with Alaska Bear Adventures

Where can you go bear viewing from Homer?

Brooks Falls

Many of the most famous shots of bears pouncing for salmon swimming up waterfalls were taken at Brooks River Falls, in Katmai National Park. The world's largest salmon run floods this river and draws many bears at a time in early June. At the peak of the salmon run, you might see large males jaw spar and compete for the best fishing spots. After checking in with the rangers for a briefing on bear etiquette, it's about a mile walk to the viewing platform.

When to Go? Peak Season is July and September during the salmon runs.

Katmai National Park Coast & Wilderness

While Brooks Falls is the most popular spot in this park to see bears, it’s not the only one; other areas (like Hallo Bay, Geographic Harbor, and Moraine Creek) also offer stellar viewing experiences. They’re just more remote. You may have to hike a few miles, and you won’t see as many bears in one spot as you will at Brooks. The tradeoff? You’ll be completely removed from the crowds and get the chance to watch bears in their natural environment.

In late May and June, you might see them feeding on sedge grass and digging for clams, while from July to September, you may witness them feeding on salmon.

When to Go : June - September

Lake Clark National Park

There are several locations to view bears in this 4-million-acre park. In Chinitna Bay and Silver Salmon Creek, you’ll land on the beach and walk to see the bears. At Crescent Lake, you’ll likely view them from a boat while they fish from shore.

When to Go: Mid-May - September

How To Get to the Bears

Another choice you have is how you'll get to the bears. From Homer you can choose a floatplane which lands on the water, a wheel plane which lands on the beach, or a helicopter which can land on a beach or in large grassy areas. Helicopters also have an advantage of 180 degree views from the large front window, the ability to cruise at lower altitudes, and an overall smoother ride.

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Bear Viewing Tours

Multi-Day Bear Viewing Lodges

Exclu­sive wilder­ness immersion. See bears from camp and from daily walks with naturalist guides.

Season: Jun 01 to Sep 05 $6995 (+ internal air) 6 Days / 5 Nights

In the best way pos­si­ble. you’re out­num­bered by bears dur­ing your stay at this pri­vate fly-in wilder­ness camp. Fly by char­tered plane from Homer to Alas­ka Bear Camp on a 5‑night, 6‑day all-inclu­sive pack­age. This deluxe back­coun­try camp accom­mo­dates just 14 guests in some of the best bear habi­tat in the world. In con­trast to day trips cater­ing to dozens of vis­i­tors at a time, Bear Camp offers a rare and exclu­sive wilder­ness immersion.

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Float & Wheel Plane Bear Viewing Tours

Season: May 15 - Sept 15 $685+ 3 hrs -11 hrs

Spend sev­er­al hours or a full day watch­ing bears in the wild on a quin­tes­sen­tial Alaskan adven­ture with a fam­i­ly-run com­pa­ny. Start with a scenic flight out of Homer over Kachemak Bay and into Kat­mai or Lake Clark Nation­al Park. Once you land, your pilot/​guide will take you to an opti­mal spot to watch and pho­to­graph these mag­nif­i­cent crea­tures in their nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment, hunt­ing, play­ing, and relax­ing. Spend any­where from 1.5 to 9 hours on the  ...more

Season: May 27 - Sept 8 $1495+ 8 hrs

See Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears in the wild on a float­plane trip to Kat­mai Nation­al Park. Vis­it Brooks Falls or join a guid­ed tour to oth­er remote loca­tions with­in the park. Both trips pro­vide 5 hours on the ground with the bears. Found­ed in 1991, Emer­ald Air Service’s mis­sion is to increase the under­stand­ing and appre­ci­a­tion of the unique ecosys­tem that sup­ports bears.

Season: Year Round $895 Bear Viewing, $630+ Flightseeing 45 min - 5 hrs

Watch bears dig­ging for clams, wan­der­ing the sedge grass, or nurs­ing their young – all in a short flight from Homer to Kat­mai or Lake Clark Nation­al Park. Smokey Bay’s bear tours last about five hours total — includ­ing flights and about three hours on the ground. On any giv­en day there will always be a morn­ing out­ing (leav­ing at 8 a.m. at the lat­est) and pos­si­bly one that leaves around 2 p.m.

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Helicopter Bear Viewing Tours

Season: June 1 - Sept 15 $1699 per person 4 - 8 hrs

For many Alaskan trav­el­ers, bears are the ulti­mate high­light. Pair a mag­nif­i­cent sight­ing with a gor­geous heli­copter flight­see­ing ride and you’ll have an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence. On this unique tour from Homer, you’ll take a heli­copter ride out into one of Alaska’s gor­geous nation­al parks to wit­ness these spec­tac­u­lar crea­tures in the wild.

Season: May 1 – Sept 30 $1499 4 hrs

A scenic 25-minute heli­copter flight from Homer lands you in the bear-view­ing par­adise of Lake Clark Nation­al Park. You’ll land on a beach, where an expert guide from Bear Moun­tain Lodge will take you in a 4WD vehi­cle to watch bears as they feed on salmon, sedge grass­es, wild berries, or clams.

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