Prince of Wales Bear Viewing

Meet Alaska's True Anglers: Black Bears!

This tour is sold out for 2024

Begin your Ketchikan-based adventure by boarding your bush plane for a brief flight into Prince of Wales, the heart of Alaska’s black bear country.  Once you land and disembark, you’ll learn from your pilot and guide all about these magnificent beasts as you watch them at home in their natural habitat, fishing for the salmon spawning at Dog Salmon Creek as they fatten themselves up for the upcoming winter.

Your cruise excursion adventure begins here...

Day 1

From Ketchikan head westward towards Prince of Wales Island, the third-largest island in the United States. On this 20-minute flight, see the islands and waterways that make up this portion of the inside Passage as your pilot narrates the journey. After you touch down in Polk Inlet, a long finger of saltwater where Dog Salmon Creek meets the sea, meet your personal Alaska bear guide.

Travel approximately one mile down a United States Forest Service road to a trailhead where you will be safely escorted down the trail to the Dog Salmon Creek Bear Viewing platform. It is in this creek where four species of salmon come to spawn, driving bears to the area. Along the trail, your guide will point out the flora, fauna, berries, and trees as well as any wildlife you may encounter.

The platform offers a prime vantage point to see Alaska’s real fisherman – the bears. Watch the true champions of nature – five species of salmon battling in the last part of their life, to arrive upstream to spawn. They are fighting not just with the swift current but also the bears. See the black bears that are fattening up for winter plunge into the rushing water, jaws wide to eat the wild salmon. Besides bears feeding, you may also see Bald Eagles and ravens feeding on salmon scraps left over by the bears.

Amenities, nearby adventures and more...

  • Meet and greet at the cruise terminal
  • Roundtrip flight over the Inside Passage
  • Service of an experienced naturalist guide

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I would highly recommend Alaska Private Touring to plan an Alaskan vacation. I worked with Ibi, and she was very knowledgable and did a fantastic job accommodating our requests and modifying our itinerary to create the ideal trip for our family. Everything was totally seamless, and our trip was an absolute dream.... Read more  

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