Wilderness

leave only footprints . .

NPS

A land of unpredictable contrasts, Katmai is known for its plentiful wildlife, harsh weather, dramatic geologic processes, and remoteness. The Katmai Wilderness is a dynamic, remote, and challenging land of spectacular scenic beauty.

This wilderness encompasses 3.4 million acres on the Alaska Peninsula, stretching from the Bristol Bay lowlands to the volcanic heartland of the Aleutian Range to the coastline of the Pacific Ocean. The Katmai Wilderness contains fascinating scientific, geologic, cultural, and biological features.

Katmai has 15 active volcanoes that pierce the sky, forming a dramatic piece of the Circum-Pacific “Ring of Fire” that rises nearly 7,000 feet from the Pacific Ocean. Within this wilderness is the site of the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century and whose size, scope, and influence play a key role in the ongoing study of past, present, and future volcanology. This vast landscape also contains many pristine large lakes and rivers. Multi-lake watersheds extend from the heart of rugged mountains to expansive tundra. A productive sockeye salmon run draws more than 2,000 brown bears to feast in Katmai’s streams and rivers. The Katmai Wilderness preserves a 9,000-year-old record of human adaptation to this changing environment and ecology that continues today.

 

Katmai's Wilderness Character

All of Alaska’s National Park Service wilderness was designated in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created a more human-centric lens for wilderness stewardship than that which is found outside the state. However, the agency’s primary mandate is the same across all federal lands: to preserve wilderness character. The holistic concept of wilderness character protects the biophysical environment, personal experiences, and symbolic meanings that collectively distinguish wilderness from general backcountry and front country areas. Unique social, cultural, and ecological benefits of wilderness are rooted in wilderness character preservation.

Though national parks are protected lands, the wilderness designation further protects them from development. There are five tangible qualities that collectively comprise the Katmai wilderness: (1) natural, (2) untrammeled, (3) undeveloped, (4) provides solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation, and (5) other features of value. Learn more about each of these qualities.

 

The spiral of life . .

NPS

Wilderness in Katmai

3.4 million acres (80%) of Katmai is designated as wilderness. This immense landscape includes active volcanoes draped with glaciers and mountains from part of the Aleutian Range. Stretching to the north and east of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes are massive, glacier-shrouded peaks, some of which are adorned with jewel-like lakes.

The Katmai Wilderness boasts 491 miles of marine coastline, one of the longest coastlines of any national park. Today, large populations of marine mammals, including Steller sea lions, seals, sea otters, and orcas swim in the waters off the coast. The lifeblood of Katmai is the Bristol Bay salmon run. All five species of Pacific salmon—king, sockeye, silver, pink and chum—thrive in fresh and coastal waters.

The Katmai wilderness is rich in cultural and historic significance. The wilderness preserves ancestral and contact era sites representing 9,000 years of human history, which has cultural and historic value to several groups of Alaska Native people who trace their ancestral home to the parklands. Evidence of native sod house villages, subsistence camps, and hunting blinds/drive lines are found throughout the Katmai wilderness. While most of the ancestral sod house village sites have returned to natural vegetation, scattered occurrences remain of wooden structures that are associated with historic Russian Orthodox Alutiit-Sugpiat villages and early Euro-American industry sites.

 

Katmai's wilderness offers amazing opportunities to discover and explore.

NPS/ Anela Ramos

Visiting Katmai’s Wilderness

Opportunities are limitless to explore the wide open and expansive landscape within Katmai's wilderness, and for much of the year few visitors are there. Its remoteness and isolation contribute to solitude and discovery, away from the ties that bind humans to modern life. Roaming through Katmai’s mostly trailless wilderness affords visitors a broad spectrum of challenges as well as rewards for those willing to step into a wild landscape that tests mental and physical endurance.

The Katmai wilderness is a place where senses can be heightened and sharpened and visitors become more aware of their surroundings, as there are few reminders and distractions from the modern world. The technology of modern life—digital devices such as cell phones and computers—are shed, as no infrastructure services exist to support them. Although visitors may hear the whine of an occasional airplane or motorboat, in much of the wilderness, natural sounds and natural silence abound.

In the Katmai wilderness, the risks of exploring the remote backcountry are high. A fall into the Lethe River has claimed more than one life. Megafauna such as brown bears and moose far outnumber visitors. Blinding ash storms happen not only in the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, but in any place within the park where volcanic ash lies exposed. Fierce winds known as williwaws blow the unconglomerated ash into blinding clouds of particulates, stinging the eyes and throats of those caught in the gale. A walk across the floor of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes can leave one feeling uncomfortably exposed and insignificant. Water in the many rivers and streams is fast and cold, making crossings hazardous. Weather changes constantly—a hot windless day on the coast can turn quickly into sideways rain and winds more than 45 miles per hour. Some backcountry visitors choose to take this challenge on, foregoing a guide and trusting their skills and instincts in the wilderness. Most visitors, however, choose a more structured type of experience, hiring commercial outfitters to help guide them in their wilderness exploration. Visit the backcountry camping and hiking pages for more information.