Where is the best place to see bears?

[lucy1234]

Where is the best place to see bears? We are in early Aug 2010. We will stop at Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan.

See bears is in our "must do" list. So we don't want to take a tour and are

disappointed.

Right now we are think about this tour in Ketchikan

Rain Forest -- Wildlife Sanctuary & Eagle Center

Do you have any suggestion?

[Budget Queen]

Where is the best place to see bears? We are in early Aug 2010. We will stop at Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan.

See bears is in our "must do" list. So we don't want to take a tour and are

disappointed.

Right now we are think about this tour in Ketchikan

Rain Forest -- Wildlife Sanctuary & Eagle Center

Do you have any suggestion?

 

The tour you are looking at currently, isn't a "good" option. The success rate is no where near most of the tours.

 

IF you truely want the "best" then my only suggestion would be Anan. A fly in out of Ketchikan. If bear viewing is your only priority, this is it.

[lucy1234]

Thanks. I will think about it again.

[im4golf]

Does anybody know a cheap way to do the arctic cirlce tour from Fairbanks. Every tour that I've seen is very expensive. What about coupons? Thanks for your reply

[Budget Queen]

Does anybody know a cheap way to do the arctic cirlce tour from Fairbanks. Every tour that I've seen is very expensive. What about coupons? Thanks for your reply

 

What are you looking for?? For this area- I'm not interested in "cheap" since my time is valuable on these extended tours. I highly recommend the fly/van tours, since they are extremely well run, and are guided. I would never consider any of the round trip road trips, just way too much time seeing trees and more trees. A few minutes with a photo at the "sign" then heading back, for more trees and more trees. I have done several round trip fly ins as well and do have preferred areas over the usual tour area of Ft. Yukon.

[BrendiniOne]

Where is the best place to see bears? We are in early Aug 2010. We will stop at Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan.

See bears is in our "must do" list. So we don't want to take a tour and are

disappointed.

Right now we are think about this tour in Ketchikan

Rain Forest -- Wildlife Sanctuary & Eagle Center

Do you have any suggestion?

 

Lucy,

 

We did that tour last summer. It was okay, but not memorable. We saw no bears...but we did see trees they had clawed and some bear poop : )

[Twinkd]

Hi there - we were in Alaska in the first week of August this year and went Bear Watching with Island Wings out of Ketchikan. We flew out to Traitors Cove and we saw 6 bears. It was amazing - we were on a platform for a while overlooking a waterfall where the bears were fishing for Salmon then we went to a bridge and looked down at the bears walking up the stream.

 

While we were there another tour party arrived and they were very loud and talking lots so did not see any bears. You need to be very quiet when you are waiting for them to come out or else they get scared away and dont come out.

 

Would highly recommend Michelle from Island Wings. You will have a great time. BUT, there is never any guarantees of seeing bear!! I DO guarantee, though that you will have a good time.:)

[PennyAgain]

I try to avoid bears myself. But have seen them on nearly every visit to Alaska. I have seen bears near the visitor's center at Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and that costs nothing.

 

I have watched bears watching tourists who never saw the bears!

 

Paying money to see bears is no promise you will do so.

[im4golf]

what about taking a wild adventure cruise from skagway? Do you think we would see bears, whales etc. Please let me know what you think.

[alpal1993]

Saw one bear on the road on our way up to CarcrossWe were doing the jeep adventure out of. Skagway.Going to Kodiak on this trip and I am pretty disappointed as we will not have enough time to go on any of the Bear viewing tours .Most tours are not in our price range at this time anyway..

What are the chances of seeing a bear going from Anchorage to Alyeska.

We did see 2 bears at the wildlife preserve on our way to Seward.

[bottom-dragger]

What are the chances of seeing a bear going from Anchorage to Alyeska..

 

uh, other than the anchorage zoo, none. you have a good chance at seeing dall sheep. but a bear along the highway corridor?? nada. maybe a bare alaskan but those aren't hallmark moments.

[PennyAgain]

I have seen bears around Girdwood (Alyeska is in the town of Girdwood) but I know that area fairly well and was hiking an old gold miner's trail. Chances are that you won't see bears wandering around on your own.

 

What would you do if you found one?

 

I have also seen bears around Portage Glacier, some only a few minutes walk from the parking lot.

[alpal1993]

I have seen bears around Girdwood (Alyeska is in the town of Girdwood) but I know that area fairly well and was hiking an old gold miner's trail. Chances are that you won't see bears wandering around on your own.

 

What would you do if you found one?

 

I have also seen bears around Portage Glacier, some only a few minutes walk from the parking lot.

 

Just asking we are not the type to go off the beaten path so I guess we will not see any bears this trip.

What would I do if I saw a bear, while walking by ourselves-S...my pants and hide behind my husband.

[candydane]

We'll be on the Golden Princess: 9/6 in Juneau, 9/7 in Skagway, & 9/9 in Ketchikan.

 

Is September too late in the season? If not, which port would you recommend?

 

Thanks.

[Assateague Island Princes]

alpal - your response to PennyAgain's comment was priceless!!! Made me laugh out loud:D! I'd probably do the same thing, after I got over being frozen in awe of seeing one of those guys up close and personal!

[alpal1993]

alpal - your response to PennyAgain's comment was priceless!!! Made me laugh out loud:D! I'd probably do the same thing, after I got over being frozen in awe of seeing one of those guys up close and personal!

 

Love ya! I guess there isn't too much room for humor on these boards

[Budget Queen]

We'll be on the Golden Princess: 9/6 in Juneau, 9/7 in Skagway, & 9/9 in Ketchikan.

 

Is September too late in the season? If not, which port would you recommend?

 

Thanks.

 

Your touring opportunities would be out of Ketchikan and Juneau with fly ins for bear watching. Ketchikan- Neets Bay and Traitor's Cove- blacks. Juneau- Pack Creek- browns.

[Budget Queen]

what about taking a wild adventure cruise from skagway? Do you think we would see bears, whales etc. Please let me know what you think.

 

Think you will see bears/whales??? Nope.

[candydane]

Your touring opportunities would be out of Ketchikan and Juneau with fly ins for bear watching. Ketchikan- Neets Bay and Traitor's Cove- blacks. Juneau- Pack Creek- browns.

Thank you.

 

Are our chances of bears the same at both places or is one more likely than the other? Are either physically less challenging to get to the viewing area from the landing place?

[Budget Queen]

Thank you.

 

Are our chances of bears the same at both places or is one more likely than the other? Are either physically less challenging to get to the viewing area from the landing place?

 

All three have good sighing stats, with Neets probably the "3rd". All require walking.

 

Significant difference as noted above, is it's browns at Pack Creek and blacks at the other two. Many times, people are more "impressed" by browns.

[candydane]

Thanks. All this information will help me decide which excursion to take.

[Rocklady]

Last year we took Dyea Dave (van/train combo) out of Skagway and ended up seeing bears right outside the window of the van (6 - 15 feet maybe??) He cannot guarantee sightings but we saw plenty of skat on the way up to Carcross and spotted the bears (yes, more than one sighting) on the way back to Fraser. The other small tour operator out of Skagway just cruised past the bears hidden in the gully and those folks missed the lumbering giants. (They come to the side of the road to eat the yellow flowers)