Vendors HOMEPAGE

Equipment and Supplies
For guidance on identifying your need for any of these product,s or on choosing among brands, click on the button.

Bear deterrents
Bear-resistant food storage
Protective clothing
Photo gear & supplies
Telecommunications (satphones, ELTs, etc.)
Camping gear & supplies
Miscellaneous gear & supplies
Light-weight durable (e.g., freeze dried) food
Books and videos
Alaskan or bear memorabilia

Some of these products may not be available where you live. If so, one way of getting them is by mail- or email-order. To facilitate that, the abovelinks shunt you to businesses that serve broad regions, such as the entire state of Alaska or all of North America.

Another option is to obtain those products in a “gateway” community near your viewing site -- which can be essential if supplies or equipment purchased elsewhere are in delayed luggage that might not reach you in time for your viewing trip. Other products (e.g., pepper spray) are best obtained in a local community.

Services

Travel to and from a viewing area (e.g., air or boat taxi)
There are many places where you can accidentally see a bear, for instance while driving or hiking through Yellowstone or Glacier National Parks within the contiguous United States, Jasper National Park in Canada, or Denali National Park in Alaska. However, nearly all prime viewing sites in coastal Canada, Alaska and Siberia are located in such remote areas that reaching them requires a boat or airplane, as well as expertise in operating those craft under local conditions. To get a ride, you may have to join a tour, pay a seat-fare, or charter the entire vehicle.

Transportation in the vicinity of a viewing site
Once you reach a viewing area, you will likely have to travel some distance to a site where you can actually see bears at photographic range. That may require hiking. Or you might want to travel in a skiff or in a non-motorized vehicle such as a canoe, kayak, or raft. Our pages list
reliable brands and models, as well as businesses that sell or rent these craft.

Viewing Guides
If you are not an expert on bear safety in viewing situations, you should either limit your adventures to low-risk bears and conditions; or book the services of a guide with this expertise. This is the best way to assure a first class experience even if chance brings you into conflict with a bear. Some guides limit their services to helping you during your adventure. However, others are happy -- for a small fee -- to assist you in planning your trip, selecting a viewing site, and obtaining wilderness transportation, lodging, meals, permits, etc.

Tour companies
If you instead start off by picking a tour company, it can help you meet most of those same needs. Indeed, most tour companies have their own staff guides, transportation and possibly lodging. However, bear safety expertise may not be the criterion a tour company uses to hire guides. They may do fine under normal conditions, but lack the training and experience to cope with a crisis confrontation with a bear.

Lodging
Overnight stays require some form of lodging, whether relaxing in a motel, “roughing it” in a wilderness lodge, or camping out. (Anyone camping in bear country should supplement their usual list of gear and supplies with bear-proof food containers, intruder alarms and an electric fence.) Our listings can help you find lodging that fits your viewing schedule and other needs.

* Other forms of recreation
(Watching other wildlife, sightseeing cultural events, museums, fishing, etc.)
Information on these opportunities is listed by gateway community or by viewing site
(see the menu at the top of this page)..

Wilderness transportation, guides, tour companies, lodging, and some forms of other recreation can be booked long-distance. However, there are some services and products which you might find yourself needing only once your trip is underway. This might include:
* Automotive services (If your auto breaks down, you don’t want to get burned by a
dishonest or incompetent mechanic; we endorse only those who’ve been recommended by customers -- and mention a few we’d never again patronize.

* Photographic services
* Computing services
* Legal services
* Emergency help

If you find yourself needing one of these services, you don’t want to spend half-a-day and a fortune in quarters calling around or an even bigger fortune for taxi cabs running around looking for what you need. And you don’t want to have to guess which providers are reliable. Most of your questions can be answered simply by reading this website.

Two ways to find viewing sites and vendor information on this website

* By Region and Gateway Community: Start with a region that you want to visit (e.g., Kenai Peninsula); select a local community (e.g., Soldotna), then study the list of nearby viewing sites (e.g., Wolverine Creek, Chinitna Bay). If one of those sites appeals to you, follow links to vendors whose products or services you might need (e.g., Lodging). To start, click on the following title-bar:

* By Viewing Site: If you already know which site you want to visit (e.g., McNeil Falls), check the list for nearby (gateway) communities) from which you can economically access the site, then follow links to local vendors (e.g., Viewing Guides).

Where available, our blogs provide customer satisfaction comments for each business, to help you target those businesses which can best serve your needs. We will not continue to list any vendor or product that consistently receives bad reviews. However, the fact that a particular vendor or product is not listed does not mean it received bad reviews; it may simply have never been listed, perhaps by choice of the vendor/producer.

Among the businesses we do list, some sponsor our research and production of educational materials, including this website. Without their financial or in-kind contributions, this project would have been far less successful.

Before you begin checking through the list of vendors, you might want to read the book Bear Viewing in Alaska for advice on how to select a viewing site, guide, tour company, wilderness lodging, or transportation, etc. Getting the right service or product for a fair price is easiest if you know the full range of options available to you, as well as the pitfalls of each and how to avoid them. Being well-informed can minimize your risk of being conned.

Pages on this Site

Brown bear yearlings at play.

(c) 2002 S. Stringham

Bear Viewing Vendors
Businesses Providing Essential
Products or Services for Bear Viewing
and Other Wilderness Adventures

Links to Bear Viewing Association websites

Bear Viewing Association Websites (c) 2006 WildWatch