Alaska Cruise and Bear Excursion Adventures

Powerful and primal, bears are the ultimate symbol of the Alaskan backcountry. If you are lucky enough to see a bear in the wild, it’s an extraordinary – and humbling - experience. Each year, thousands of visitors come to Alaska hoping to see a bear. Many of them choose to do so on an Alaska cruise and bear excursion that includes bear viewing in Denali National Park!

When Is Cruise Season In Alaska?

Cruise season in Alaska runs from late April to early October. This window also coincides with the best time to see bears in Alaska! However, mid-June through mid-July is the peak cruise season, mainly because of good weather and longer days. This, of course, means more tourists and fewer accommodations on Alaskan cruise ships. If you are planning your trip during this time, make sure you book early to reserve your spot!

If you want to avoid the crowds, May and September are the “shoulder” seasons in Alaska, with better deals and fewer crowds. Cruise prices during these two months are often lower, perhaps by a couple of hundred dollars per person. And if you’re interested in a “cruise tour,” you can save up to 20 percent on the cost of this combined adventure!

An Adventure By Land And By Sea

Many visitors to Alaska want to do it all – they are interested in Alaska cruises and bear excursions as well as bear viewing in Denali National Park. But Alaska is so vast, how is it possible to do both in a single trip? Simple – you can book a cruise tour! A cruise tour is a land tour of interior destinations before or after a cruise. Most major cruise lines offer this option to their guests. So while you might see bears from the deck of your cruise ship, you’ll also have the opportunity to visit destinations such as Anchorage, Talkeetna, Fairbanks, and the Kenai Peninsula. You can even go bear viewing in Denali National Park!

From July through early September bears appear near the mouth of streams and rivers to feast on spawning salmon, which makes it easy to see them from the deck of a cruise ship as you travel along Alaska’s waterways! This salmon run from the ocean to the upper reaches of Alaska's rivers is a lure for much of Alaska's wildlife on the coast and a reliable (but not guaranteed) time for bear viewing opportunities. Sightings are more frequent when bears are actively searching for food, at dawn and just before dusk. Pro tip: Don't forget your binoculars and long camera lens, especially if you plan to search for bears from the deck of a ship.

Top Spots For Alaska Cruise Bear Excursions

Alaska has the world's highest concentration of brown, black, and polar bears in the world. So it is no wonder bear viewing is a popular visitor attraction. When and where to see bears in Alaska is a priority for many cruise passengers who may only get to make the journey to this amazing state once in their lifetime.

Alaska cruise bear excursions offer travelers many opportunities to see coastal brown bears as well as grizzly bears when they combine a cruise with several days in Alaska’s northwest interior. But even if you are unable to extend your vacation, you still have plenty of chances to see bears in Alaska’s southeastern cruise ports, like Juneau.

Waterfall Creek Bear Viewing In Juneau

Alaska’s capital city is just a short floatplane flight away from Admiralty Island, sometimes referred to as “the fortress of the bears” due to its high concentration of coastal brown bears. If your cruise ship has pulled into port at Juneau, you can hire a guide to fly you over to the Island for a Waterfall Creek bear viewing tour! Bears gather at the mouth of this creek, where you can watch them feeding on salmon during the annual salmon run.

Alternatively, you can visit the Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area on your Alaska cruise bear excursion. Pack Creek is located on the eastern shore of Admiralty Island, near Waterfall Creek. The island is home to more than 1,600 brown bears - one of the highest concentrations in Southeast Alaska. This protected habitat allows visitors a chance to view and photograph bears with minimal impact.

Bear Viewing In Denali National Park

One of the most popular cruise tour options for Alaska visitors is a cruise through the Inside Passage to see coastal bears, followed by bear viewing in Denali National Park. This usually includes a short plane ride from your last port of call to Fairbanks, and then a bus trip through the incredible Alaskan wilderness to Denali State Park. Once you are there, your best chance to see bears lies between mile 20 and 60 of the Park Road. This unpaved road travels the entire distance of the park, but there is one caveat – the road is closed to cars! Instead, you will have to ride the Park Bus or travel on a bus chartered by your tour company. Alternatively, you could bike the full distance of the road – but if you have a limited window of time to spend at the park, that may not be your best option.

Both the Interior grizzly bear and black bear can be spotted in Denali National Park on Alaska cruise bear excursions. Grizzlies or black bears may be spotted digging up roots and eating sedges, chasing down small critters, or ambling across wide-open tundra. Even though the park is a huge, protected wilderness, seeing a massive grizzly grazing on the tundra or sauntering across the road in front of your bus is truly a sight to behold.

An Incredible Vacation Package To Remember

Only in Alaska can you float through the state’s serene glacial waters on a cruise ship, go bear viewing in Denali National Park, or experience Waterfall Creek Bear Viewing after an exciting floatplane ride to Admiralty Island! Even though the state is huge, cruise tours offer visitors a unique way to sample a little bit of everything that Alaska has to offer. Enjoy luxurious cruise accommodations, back-country bushwhacking, and your own private tour through Denali National Park in search of bears. By land, by sea, or by air – Alaska delivers adventure for everyone!