Exclusive Pack Creek Bear Viewing from Juneau in Juneau booking from $1083.47

Exclusive Pack Creek Bear Viewing from Juneau

Overview

Embark on an unforgettable Alaskan wilderness adventure on this small-group day trip to the Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area, a protected wildlife location with the highest concentration of brown bears in the world! From Juneau, join your guide on a scenic floatplane ride over Alaska’s Inside Passage and Tongass National Forest to Windfall Island. Then, kayak to the mouth of Pack Creek on Admiralty Island and witness Brown bears in their natural habitat – truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

*Kayaking is weather dependent. Kayaking is not included May 15th - June 15th and September 1st - 10th, guests will fly directly to Pack Creek Bear Sanctuary during this time.

The Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area requires a permit to visit, and for the first time since 1997, the National Forest Service has awarded these exclusive and limited visitation permits to tour operators. Book this tour to make sure you don’t miss out on the amazing chance to enter the viewing area.

City: Juneau

Mon 23 Dec

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Starting at $1083.47

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Mon 23 Dec

Starting at $1083.47

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Certified guide

National Park fees

All necessary equipment

Rain gear, jackets and rubber boots provided - please advise supplier of sizing

Lunch, Hearty Snacks, and water

Round-trip transportation via van and floatplane

Additional Info

Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
You must include the following in the comments section when booking: raingear & shoe sizes for each passenger, (for adult men and women, S-XXL and youth, S-L) and any pertinent medical information
Maximum weight per person is 250 pounds (113 kilograms)
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Minimum age is 12 years
There is a $50 non-refundable booking fee once this trip is reserved. This is non-refundable for any reason, including weather cancellations
Bear sightings are not guaranteed. This is wild Alaska!
Trips in May 15th - June 15th and September 1st - 10th will NOT include kayaking. Guests will fly directly to the Pack Creek Bear Sanctuary.
Due to the inherent risks involved in this type of tour, pregnant guests are not permitted to participate.
The Pack Creek Bear Viewing Area is a wilderness area with no facilities, restrooms, or shelter on site. All garbage and waste must be packed out.
This trip operates in all weather conditions (barring unsafe conditions, to be determined by ABAK) – please stress to your clients the importance of dressing appropriately.
RELEASE OF LIABILITY/ASSUMPTION OF RISK FORM: Every participant on the trip must sign a Release of Liability/Assumption of Risk form at the start of the trip.
Our kayaks can accommodate a maximum torso (waist-chest) diameter of 55 inches (140cm). Maximum weight limit is 600lbs (272kg) for double kayaks. People taller than 6’2″ (188cm) find operating the rudder challenging, as the pedals only adjust to a certain maximum distance; however, people as tall as 6’8″ have been able to paddle our kayaks
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons

What To Expect

Above & Beyond Alaska

Our warehouse location is available for luggage storage, bathrooms, and resources.

Pack Creek on Admiralty Island

The Pack Creek Bear Sanctuary on Admiralty Island is home to the densest concentration of brown bears in the world. Come join us for exploring this "Fortress of the Bears" in remote wild Alaska.

Cancellation Policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (16)

Grumbly

Sep 2021

Booked twice with Above and Beyond Alaska. Company is excellent: organized, prompt, friendly, and professional. My first trip was kayaking with whales, which was AMAZING!!! (I left a review.) This bear trip was Ok. That is based on my expectations, and how the day played out. Of course, animals are unpredictable. This was a kayak trip, too, but I learned when I artived that day that kayaking was cancelled. Heard a couple reasons why, though still unsure. I conveyed that such info should have been provided much sooner. Met at their location, geared up, and headed to the float plane. Kristan, pleasant, personable and knowledgeable, was our fearless leader, another member, Mallory, joining us. First time on a tiny float plane, the ride was pretty cool. Flight about 25 minutes. Arrived on Admiralty Island. As everywhere in Alaska the scenery is stunning. A short hike to Pack Creek. There is a viewing area, with some logs to sit. Either a park ranger or someone from fish and wildlife there to make sure humans behave, and not lure the bears closer with peanut butter. Across the way, bears. No fence or barrier. We saw a mom and 2 cubs, each initially napping. An older female also arrived and caught a salmon, so saw her in action. The other 3 bears ultimately awoke, stirring a bit. Possibly a fifth bear far down the creek, but by then it could have been the older female, as grass is high and she could have made her way there. (Some thought it a male. Dunno.) We returned to the beach to lunch, then a 3 mile roundtrip, ankle-breaking (lots of rocks, roots, branches) moderate hike to another creek with a twenty foot viewing platform. Great view. No bears. My expectations were different and probably unrealistic, expecting to see active bears fairly up close, and maybe wrestling one :-) At Pack Creek the mother and cubs were at least 100 yards away, the older female a bit closer when fishing for salmon. At the other creek with the tower, if Yogi and Boo Boo strolled by they would be closer. Unfortunately, they were prowling another area for picnic baskets that day. At other places such as Brooks Falls and Lake Clark, bears can stroll right by folks (insert frightened emoji). That is more of what I expected. Depending upon what is important for guests, many may find this trip a treat overall. Wasn’t quite the adventure for me, and of course it is very pricey.

Response from Host

Sep 2021

Thank you Greg for taking the time to write a review. We appreciate you leaving this feedback and providing us an opportunity to respond. We apologize that this tour did not meet your expectations. The kayak portion of this tour was cancelled due to weather. The forecast for this date was calling for deteriorating marine conditions. The time that would have been spent kayaking was replaced with additional bear viewing time at Pack Creek. We assess weather on every trip and this weather decision was made the day prior to the tour, all guests received the notification. Safety is our number one priority with our company. We are happy to hear you enjoyed the scenery and the floatplane experience. Pack Creek Brown Bear Sanctuary is a regulated bear viewing area and the Forest Service only allows a limited number of visitors per day. There are designated viewing platforms in the sanctuary in order to limit our impact and presence while in their habitat. Most of the bear viewing happens from the safety of the viewing areas, at a distance. However, on occasion we can get closer views of bears while we are walking along the beach or on the trail to the viewing tower. All visitors entering Pack Creek have to follow these same guidelines. Based on your description of how many bears you saw, it sounds like that was a great day in Pack Creek. Wildlife is unpredictable and it is an amazing day when you see 5 bears, especially a mom and her cubs. Thank you for joining us for this adventure and our Paddle with Whales Kayaking Adventure. Please know that your feedback is of tremendous value as we continue to strive to offer customer service and wilderness adventures of the highest quality and caliber. Please feel free to get in touch with any other questions, comments or concerns. Thanks again for coming out with us and we hope you had a wonderful time in Juneau.

Melissa S

Jul 2021

I get wildlife is unpredictable and you can’t guarantee bears but let’s face it, it’s an expensive tour and when you get off the plane and one of the first thing the ranger says to you is “none of the groups have had any bear citing the past few days, maybe you guys will have better luck today,” it kind of makes you wonder. The sea plane ride was about the best part of the day. Admiralty island was scenic like much of Alaska. We did not see any wildlife except a bald Eagle and a deer. No bears all day. The guide was okay. At the end of the day, even if I had seen 1 or 2 bears, I don’t think it was worth the money. You fly on a plane, sit on a bunch of logs and wait for bears … if you’re lucky, maybe you see a couple. I actually saw bears and wildlife on my day trip to Tracy Arm with another tour company - a lot less money and much more wildlife. The company also says they offer no transportation to pick up guests. I took trip with this company the day prior and had to shell out $70 bucks just to get a taxi to and from their office. I was annoyed when the guide of this trip offered to drop off some of the other group members and pick them up for a tour the next day when my group was left to find a taxi - unprofessional in my opinion. Would overall not recommend this tour based on my experience.

Response from Host

Jul 2021

Thank you Melissa for taking the time to write a review. We appreciate you leaving this feedback and providing us an opportunity to address your concerns. We apologize that this tour did meet your expectations. Wildlife is very unpredictable and never guaranteed, as stated on our website. The best time to view bears is when the salmon are running or they have a solid food source. This is either in May to early June when they are clamming and foraging at the low tide, or when the salmon start running in early July. Unfortunately, salmon were late to arrive in Pack Creek this season and there was a lull from early July to mid July. Mother Nature can be unpredictable. We are finally seeing salmon arrive into the creek and the bear sightings should increase for the remainder of the season. Your trip was the first trip to not see bears this season. When there are not bear sightings on a trip, we immediately inform all future clients going on the Pack Creek tour with us during that same week and give them the option to either cancel or continue with the trip. To date, 100% of our clients who were informed about the lack of bear viewing have proceeded to go on tour with us because they were excited about an adventure that includes a scenic float plane ride to Admiralty Island and a remote wilderness experience. We apologize that the transportation did not meet your standards. We did not operate tours in 2020 due to COVID-19 and with the pandemic still ongoing, we had to make changes to our services provided for the 2021 season to ensure we opened cautiously and safely. One of those changes was our complimentary transportation pick up service. For the 2021 season only, we are requiring all trips to meet at our main office location in order to conduct temperature checks and have a COVID-19 waiver signed before participating in the tour. Once at our office location, we do provide transport to the various locations where we operate our tours. In addition, we offer complimentary transportation after the tour back to all major hotels in the Mendenhall Valley and in downtown Juneau. Before booking any tour with us, it is stated on our website and on the individual trip pages that the meeting location is our main office. In addition, the confirmation and reminder emails that you received clearly state the meeting location is at our office. Please know that your feedback is of tremendous value as we continue to strive to offer customer service and wilderness adventures of the highest quality and caliber. Please feel free to get in touch with any other questions, comments or concerns. Thanks again for coming out with us and we hope you had a wonderful time in Juneau.

nomadic_nil

Jun 2021

Pack creek tour was the highlight of our Alaska trip. We had an amazing time on the island. We saw 7 bears. We saw a mama bear with two of her cubs from ten feet distance- what an amazing experience. Crew was awesome- they took great care of us. We never felt unsafe given the number of bears in the area. If you can, I will highly recommend this tour for any Juneau bound travelers.

Response from Host

Jun 2021

Such an amazing trip out to Pack Creek! Thank you for for joining us and thank you for sharing!

Exclusive Pack Creek Bear Viewing from Juneau

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