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Katmai
is famous for volcanoes, brown bears, fish, and rugged wilderness and
is also the site of the Brooks River National Historic Landmark with North
America's highest concentration of prehistoric human dwellings (about
900).
Katmai National Monument was created to preserve the famed Valley of Ten
Thousand Smokes, a spectacular forty square mile, 100 to 700 foot deep,
pyroclastic ash flow deposited by Novarupta Volcano.
There are at least
fourteen volcanoes in Katmai considered "active", none of which
are currently erupting.
Brown bear and salmon
are very active in Katmai. The number of brown bears has grown to more
than 2,000. During the peak of the world's largest sockeye salmon run
each July, and during return of the "spawned out" salmon in
September, forty to sixty bears congregate in Brooks Camp along the Brooks
River and the Naknek Lake and Brooks Lake shorelines. Brown bears along
the 480 mile Katmai Coast also enjoy clams, crabs, and an occasional whale
carcass.
A rich variety of
other wildlife is found in the Park as well.
There is plenty room
for great diversity of wildlife in Katmai which encompasses millions of
acres of pristine wilderness, with wild rivers and streams, rugged coastlines,
broad green glacial hewn valleys, active glaciers and volcanoes, and Naknek
Lake.
.Operating Hours &
Seasons
The park is open year-round.
National Park Service and concessioner services are offered at Brooks
Camp from June 1 through September 17. Backcountry activities are also
best during this time. Prime bear viewing months at Brooks Camp are July
and September, although a few bears may be in the area at any time between
late May and December.
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