We had an amazing 2 days at Brooks Lodge. Yes, the rooms can be noisy, only have bunks and are best described as 'spartan'. But they were also clean, warm & had plenty of hot water. Food was plentiful & tasty, and where else in the world would you get to watch bears wander through your camp at breakfast? Lodge staff were friendly & accommodating, making sure we got where we needed to be on time. All the rangers were approachable, knowledgeable and happily shared information about the bears & their behaviour.

Within minutes of arriving at the bridge we were instructed to quickly climb up on the landing because of an approaching bear. Seconds later she leap with a huge belly splash into the water in front of us. Amazing! The walk to the falls was short & not too scary. We stood for hours watching more than 12 bears fish, fight, chase and nap. We left for dinner early before 6pm & then rushed back to the falls. We didn't want to miss a thing! Amazingly only a few people came back after dinner. Brave the cold, & make the most of your time here at this wonderful location.

We continued watching until 10pm when the platform closed. As we tried to return across the bridge we had a bear jam, but this time without any rangers around. Eventually our fishing bear wandered far enough away so that we could cross safely. We definitely recommend the 10,000 Smokes day trip - an easy 3 -4 mile hike with excellent scenery. Our drivers & ranger were fabulous. All in all, come to Brooks for the bears - they are the stars.

As everyone has already said, the cabins at Brooks Lodge are the "bear" essentials. Also, the food is buffet, not much to choose from and about $20. Some people complain about the food being overyly priced but I have had worse right in Anchorage. For the price and how remote this place is, it is not bad. This is my second time coming to Katmai at Brooks Lodge. We come for the bears. We came in late June last year but this year we arrived in Katmai in the middle of July. This is a much better time to come since the Salmon are running better. There were approx. 19 bears at the upper falls and about a dozen at the lower river. What was different this year was the amount of mosquitoes vs "white sox". There were no mosquitoes to speak of this year but there were millions of "white sox" flies that are much worse than mosquitoes. They get into clother where you would swear it is inpossible to get in to. They leave nasty bites and itch like crazy for about a week. I recommend just coming for the day and not staying over night. You can leave Anchorage in the early morning (Katmailand) and arrive in Salmon King. From there, a shuttle will take you to the float plane. A 20-30 min flight will ocurr to get you to Brooks lodge. You will take a brief 10 briefing/video and you are ready to go. Be prepared to wait about 1 hour to get onto the platform of the upper falls. A ranger will take your name and then come and get you so you can spend time on the last upper falls platform. You will be able to spend 1 hour watching or taking photos of these amazing grizzlies. This year we were fortunate to see a female at the lower river with 2 brand new babies. If you want to see bears like you see on TV, go to Katmai at Brooks Lodge.

First of all Brooks "Lodge" is a camping cabin very similar to those at a KOA, but some are connected. The ones that are connected have paper thin walls and it sounds like a bomb is exploding whenever a neighbor flushes the toilet. These rooms run about $800 a night for two people.

Pros: Location, wonderful rangers who are very friendly and knowledgeble.
Decent food for a high price at the cafeteria.
Amazing photography opportunites at the falls.

Cons: Walls paper thin.
Price
Lack of communication and concern on the part of the management.

We bought a package deal that included round-trip airfare from Anchorage. The staff came to get us at 1:00 to board our flight on the float plane to Anchorage. The weather was sunny and clear, without wind. We were flown to KIng Salmon. In King Salmon we sat in the shuttle bus waiting to be transported about a mile or so to the airport for our 2:50 p.m. flight to Anchorage. There were nine of us on the bus. All of us were on the 2:50 flight. The bus driver sat in the bus as if he was waiting for another flight from Katmai for about twenty minutes. Finally one of the passengers asked him if he realized we needed to be at the airport soon for our 2:50 flight. He said no, he had no idea what time our flights were. He then drove us to the airport. The airport was crowded, and we were hurried through lines because our flight left in twenty minutes. Our luggage was taken and we got on the flight.

Unfortunately my luggage did not make it to Anchorage, and we had a three-hour drive to the place we were staying. We were told by the airline that we could go ahead and rent our car and they would send our luggage to us later that night. We went ahead and left the airport, assuming this was true. Later when we called to check on the status of the luggage, we were told it would not be transported to us because it was our fault it was lost. We did not check in for our flight on time. We explained what Katmai Air had done, but that did not help. I had a lot of gear in the luggage and all of my clothing. I needed it desperately for my early morning fishing trip the next morning.

Needless to say, I did not get my luggage before I had to leave for the guided fishing trip. I was without the warm hat and warm clothing I had purchased at Brooks Camp for this fishing trip. I called Aaron of Katmai Air and I called the management. They simply made lame excuses and couldn't have cared less. I asked for a refund for the hat and warm clothing, since the luggage issue was the fault of the shuttle bus driver and lack of communication on Katmai's part, but I got nothing but a large credit card bill. I had to buy extra clothing due to this lack of communication on their part. I will not use their services again.

Where else can you hang out at the viewing platform, any hour of the day or night, to see these great creatures? The issue at Brooks Lodge isn't about the lodge or the meals, it's about the bears.

There's no question about it: Brooks Lodge has a monopoly on food and accomodations at this location. Are the proprietors are simply reflecting the costs of their business, which is operating in the middle of nowhere, accessible by air and surrounded by bears? Are they taking advantage of the monopoly? Who knows!

For the traveler, value depends on how much you want to see these bears. There are lots of places in the world where you might see a bear, and many of them are less pricey than this one. If cost is an issue, go somewhere else.

We took advantage of an early-season special to reduce the price of our stay at Brooks Lodge. The salmon hadn't arrived, so the bears were not fishing. They were on the move however, and we saw bears every day we were at Brooks Lodge. Now that we've seen the facility, we're glad not to have been there during the high season, with people jockeying for photos and lining up for a spot on the platform.

We were pleased with the whole Brooks Lodge experience, but recommend it only to people who are intent on seeing these bears at this location.