In September, I visited Katmai National Park in southern Alaska to view and photograph brown bears. Katmai is one of the 10 least visited national parks.  You can not drive to Katmai.  The only way to get there is by float plane, such as one seen below.   

I joined Russ Nordstrand (his website is backcountryjourneys.com) and the rest of our photography participants in King Salmon, which is the nearest town that we flew in from.  We camped 3 nights at the Brooks Camp...inside an electric fence to help keep these wondering bears out.  The bears here are known as brown bears. All grizzly bears are brown bears, but not all brown bears are grizzly bears. Grizzly bears and brown bears are the same species (Ursus arctos), but grizzly bears are considered to be a separate subspecies.  Even though grizzlies are considered to be a subspecies of brown bear, the difference between a grizzly bear and a brown bear is fairly arbitrary. In North America, brown bears are generally considered to be those of the species that have access to coastal food resources like salmon. Grizzly bears live further inland and typically do not have access to marine-derived food resources. Because of the abundance of salmon here, this is why they are among some of the largest brown bears in the world.  Besides habitat and diet, there are physical differences between brown and grizzly bears. Large male brown bears in Katmai can routinely weigh over 1,000 pounds while feasting in the fall. In contrast, grizzly bears in a place like Yellowstone or Glacier National Park weigh far less on average. There have been no documented cases of grizzly bears weighing over 900 pounds in Yellowstone.  These are among some of largest brown bears in the world. Only the Kodiak subspecies of the brown bears and polar bears are larger.  

Brooks Falls is one of the best places in the world to watch brown bears because of the salmon that collect here.  July and September are by far the best months for viewing these bears in the Brooks Falls area. In the fall, Coho and Sockeye Salmon heavily populate the area below Brooks Falls during spawning season while some of these salmon attempt to jump to get above Brooks Falls.  

One method to catching the salmon is to try to grab one from the top of the falls.  

Another method is to hang out at the bottom of the falls and wait for one to swim up next to the bears, such as this time. Here is one video that I captured using that method:

It should be noted that most of these images were taken from viewing platforms with gates that prevent the bears from posing a danger to humans.  Others were captured while being at least 50 yards away using a telephoto lens. Sometimes, you can view bears in their lighter, more playful moments.

You can check out the webcam at Brooks Falls here, which is live during daylight hours.  Come November, the bears will be in more in hibernation mode, but you still should be able to see some bears at the falls for a few more weeks. 

While the brown bears are the star at Katmai, the scenery is pretty nice, too.  Below are couple landscape shots close to sunset along the shores of Naknek Lake.