Tailor made holidays to see Grizzly Bears fishing for Salmon in Canada or Alaska

As wildlife and natural history specialists, ask us to tailor make the perfect holiday for you, we have some options for specialist guided wildlife escorted tours as well as a fabulous range of lodges for bespoke holidays. Contact us on 01728 748209 or send an enquiry

One of the greatest wildlife spectacles of the world has to be watching Grizzly Bears fishing for Salmon on the McNeil River in Alaska.  To be one of the lucky visitors with a prime view you need to book early as there is such a demand for permits that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has set up a lottery to allocate them.

The Grizzly Bear gets it's name from the grizzled or 'bearded' fur, not as some would think from a horrible personality!  They are a subspecies of the Brown Bear, which live in the uplands of western North America including Canada and Alaska. They are thought to descend from the bears which crossed from Russia 100,000 years ago.  Grizzly Bears are normally solitary and active but in coastal areas and along streams, lakes and rivers they are found in good numbers, particularly during the salmon spawn season.

It is an adventure to get to the McNeil River Sanctuary, which is in south west Alaska and home to the largest concentration of Grizzly Bears, as many as 144 have been seen on the river in the salmon season.  There are five species of this fish in the refuge but it's the chum salmon that is the bear's favourite!  They head up the river to spawn from July to mid-August.  During June there are a smaller number of bears hunting the sockeye (red) salmon in Mikfik Creek.  Between 7 June and 25 August, no more than 10 visitors are allowed at the viewing sites at any one time, each visitor gets to spend four days with the bears, so it makes the journey worthwhile!

Getting there you take a float plane flight as there are no roads and camp under the stars in the wilderness, having reached the point in the river by a 4 mile round hike.  You will have to cross mud flats and creeks and it could be wet, cold and windy - but once you get there the experience is worth it! Your international flight is into Anchorage then the float plane to King Salmon takes about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Also in the sanctuary you may see other Alaskan wildlife including moose, sea otters and beavers.  There are large seabird colonies and more rarely seen are caribou, wolves and wolverines. Remember that Grizzly Bears are dangerous but strict rules are in place at the sanctuary and you are accompanied by armed guards at all times.

One of the best places in Canada to see fantastic wildlife including bears is Knight Inlet.  Just 100 miles flying northwest of Vancouver, you can include this in a tailor made holiday in Western Canada.  Knight Inlet Lodge is surrounded by spectacular scenery and the 'great bear rainforest' and floats on the ocean.  There are a maximum of 36 guests in the lodge at any one time.  Meals prepared here often include crab, salmon and prawns harvested from the glacier fed waters of the inlet itself. There is no road access, you arrive by float plane from the Campbell River (Vancouver Island).

Other wildlife you can see along the Pacific Coastline and Fjords include many species of whales, dolphins and porpoises and plentiful birdlife. 

Glendale Cove is home to one of the largest congregations of Grizzly Bears in British Columbia and there can be up to 50 bears within 10 km around the lodge.  The busiest time here is in the Fall when the salmon are returning to the river.  In late April the bears return here from their hibernation and this is the time you may see tiny cubs emerging!  In summer the bears feed on the heavy berry crops in the area then in September they move to the river where the salmon come to spawn.

Get in touch and we can tailor make a holiday to Canada or Alaska to include bear watching and other wildlife.