King Salmon

A former military base during World War II, today King Salmon is a community of 409 residents located on the north bank of beautiful Naknek River. Located 284 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, King Salmon is a service center and the gateway to Katmai National Park with a healthy percentage of government and transportation employees. The wide open, often treeless landscape that surrounds King Salmon gives it a quiet, edge-of-the-world appeal. While inaccessible by road, during the summer months King Salmon can also be reached by jet service from Anchorage ‑ a perk of having been established as an Air Force Base during World War II.

Most visitors pass through King Salmon on their way to Katmai National Park and Preserve. Renowned for the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, the moon-like landscape of which is the result of the Mount Katmai eruption, the 4.2-million-acre national park is also one of the most popular places in Alaska for bear viewing. Throughout the summer visitors fly into the park, many on day trips from Anchorage, to watch giant brown bears snag salmon mid-air in Brooks River from an observation tower just 30 yards away. The outstanding fishing at Brooks Camp and at wilderness fishing lodges scattered throughout the park attracts sport anglers from around the world.

King Salmon is also the gateway to the numerous fly-in fishing and adventure camps and lodges on the Alaska Peninsula as well as wildlife viewing expeditions headed to Becharof National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge and McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. Within town, information about all the parks along with displays and a small video room is available at the King Salmon Visitor Center next to the terminal that is staffed by both the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff. Other than the parks, the most interesting tour in the area is by road to the village of Naknek, the site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon run from mid-June to the end of July.