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Hallo Glacier and surrounding peaks.

You’ll presumably prefer seeing bears in fully wild settings – preferably ones with a spectacular waterfall, bushes covered with bright red elderberries, fields of flowers, rugged shoreline cliffs and crashing surf, or tall, glacier-sculpted mountains. An ideal viewing area offers several sites which together have a wide range of attractive backgrounds, allowing you to produce an equally wide range of great photos. What you may not want in view, much less in your pictures, are buildings, vehicles or other people (except perhaps for family and friends). Before you decide on a particular viewing site, compare what each has to offer compared to competing sites. This information is available in Bear Viewing in Alaska. Also, this website and its sister sites (see multi-colored MENU bar near the top of the page).

Another great way to preview scenery is by logging on to Google Earth. googlearth.com). As soon as you download the software, you can Earth using images generated by satellite recon and other sources. You can visit each view area in virtual reality, examining it from many angles. These images aren’t sharp enough to show what each viewing site looks like; bit they can give you an idea of whether you will be able to see major geographic features such as mountains (possibly volcanos), rivers, waterfalls, lakes, or the ocean at or near the viewing site.

(8) GOVERNMENTAL RECOMMENDATIONS

RESTRICTIONS & REQUIREMENTS

Each National Park or other public land administered by a federal or state agency is likely to have regulations and rules limiting how people are allowed behave, for instance while watching bears. Check the web and write for brochures; or phone the appropriate agency for information. To check for recent changes in regulations or rules in any National Park, ask for a copy of its annual Compendium. Some viewing areas are accessible by anyone. Others, such as McNeil Falls on the Alaska Peninsula, or Cache Creek on Admiralty Island, are closed to anyone without a permit. Permits are issued by lottery, several months before the viewing season. Consult Bear Viewing Vendors

for information on these sites and lotteries. For an alphabetical listing of sites across North America, look at the top of the Homepage, on the far right, then click on “Viewing Sites.” Or, to find sites listed by region, instead click on Regions and Gateway Communities. Once you locate the region that interests you (e.g., Alaska Peninsula), click on the brown button for that region. From that point on, smaller scale maps and text will lead you to specific sites. Once you pick a site, read the site description, which should include information on any required permits or fees.

(9) IS VIEWING THE ONLY THING TO DO IN THE AREA?

Once you have a general idea of which sites could meet your viewing needs, it’s time to consider other activities in each area – something other members of your party can enjoy while you watch bears, or which the whole party can share before or after bear viewing. Detailed information about alternative forms of recreational opportunity near your preferred viewing sites can also be found on the website Bear Viewing Vendors

. Follow the same directions given above for Government Regulations -- except that once you have found a gateway community for your preferred site, look at the list of products and services available from local businesses, then click on Activities Other Than Bear Viewing.

For example, if your base of operations is the Kenai Peninsula or some parts of the Southeast Panhandle, there is other terrestrial wildlife to watch such as wild sheep and goats, moose or caribou, wolves or coyotes, eagles and a wide range of song birds. Or take a boat tour to see orcas (killer whales), humpback (baleen) whales, porpoise, Stellar sea lions, seals, sea otters, and diversity of sea birds. Enjoy world-class fishing for huge trout, gigantic king salmon, or gargantuan halibut. Boat or fly a few miles out of town and you can see glaciers, ice fields, volcanos, and other spectacular scenery. Or, visit historical sites such as ancient Native villages, old Russian Orthodox churches, or defunct gold or copper mines. Last, but far from least, are gift shops featuring smoked or frozen fish, artworks and crafts actually produced by Alaskan Natives, or native Alaskans. If frontier adventures don’t interest some members of the family, they might find a suitable art show, concert, or other cultural event.

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Now that you have a better idea of how to select viewing sites to assure that they meet your needs, let’s turn to a list of sites by clicking here

You might also want to visit the Bear Viewing Association website Bear Viewing Vendors

. It explains how to avoid pitfalls in selecting a guide, tour company, transportation (e.g., air or water taxi), lodge, etc.. Then it provides information about the most popular vendors of each kind for each viewing area. Vendors also provides information on other goods and services viewers are likely to need (e.g., bear spray and local photo supplies).

(7) SCENERY