Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

During my visit to Alaska last summer, I had such high hopes to see the bears fishing during the salmon run, which occurs every year between June and August. Rust's Bear Viewing tours offers a great full day trip including round trip plane rides to the remote Katmai National Park and observation of the bears fishing in the Brooks River Falls from a safe distance. 

However, as I've stated in my previous posts (here and here), the weather did not cooperate with my plans. On our last day especially, many of our activities were cancelled due to high winds including the helicopter glacier tour and dog sledding, the Portage glacier tour, and most of the local flights to the Katmai National Park.

Luckily, the concierge where we stayed had a great recommendation to visit the nearby Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Somehow this turned out perfect because the weather seemed to get stuck in the mountains, allowing us to wander around the conservation center completely dry.

While it costs a pretty penny to see the bears in their natural habit, visiting the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center costs only $15 per person, and kids get in free. The center is a 200-acre facility that rehabilitates orphaned and injured animals, and also provides a home for those that cannot be returned to the wild. 

This place is seriously cool, providing an up close viewing of these awesome creatures, including a black bear, two brown bears, several large moose, bison, a lynx, a wolf, and more. Personally, I find that the bears are my spirit animal. See all of the featured animals on the center's website. You can also donate to support their important work.

If you make your way to Alaska, you can't miss the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

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