Epic Travel → North America → Alaska → King Salmon

Location: Bristol Bay Watershed, Northern Alaskan Peninsula, Alaska

Red Tape/Notes: None.

What’s Nearby? Northern Katmai National Park, Becharof Lake, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

At the north of the Alaskan peninsula, 284 miles southwest of Anchorage in the Bristol Bay watershed, is King Salmon, the home of Katmai National Park and Preserve. I imagine its name came from the fact that this is prime salmon fishing country, which is why we were here. Because King Salmon wasn’t quite remote enough, we stayed at Rapids Camp Lodge, seven miles upriver from King Salmon. King Salmon has its own small airport, but we didn’t use it for our arrival. Instead, we started off in classic Alaska style: Rapids Camp Lodge sent a 10 passenger float plane to collect us in Anchorage and fly us directly to the lodge. This allowed us to have amazing views as we traveled south, flying over Hallo and Amalik Bays and Augustine Island.

From the lodge, any number of fishing spots can be reached via their fleet of float planes (to be fair, you don’t have to fish – they’re take you for wildlife viewing and other activities too), but you can also hop directly into a boat and go out fishing on the Naknek river. The lodge is peaceful and remote, the food is amazing, and the fishing is sublime.

Arriving at Rapids Camp Lodge!

Epic Travel → North America → Alaska → King Salmon