Lake Clark National Park

🧭

Remoteness

Top hazard

💵

Entrance fee

🌋

2 active

Volcanoes

🛣️

Zero

Roads to park

🐻

2 sites

Bear viewing

📷

None

Live cameras

⚠️Remoteness & SafetySelf-sufficiency required▾

🧭 NPS's own framing: thorough preparation is what separates "the adventure of a lifetime" from tragedy. Help may be days away, there's no cell service, and flight pickups can be delayed by weather — pack extra food and fuel. Hazards include high winds and large waves on the lakes, unbridged river crossings, aviation risk (most visitors arrive by small plane), shared bear habitat, and dense brush requiring bushwhacking. NPS safety info ↗

Quick Stats

Established1980

Mount Redoubt10,197 ft

Mount Iliamna10,016 ft

Main HubPort Alsworth

🛩️Access & EntryNo entrance fee▾

✈️ NPS is direct: "Lake Clark is not on the road system and travel takes place primarily by small plane." Port Alsworth, the main hub, has "no grocery stores" and is not connected to any road system. Most visitors arrive on wheeled small planes at one of two gravel airstrips; floatplanes also land in Hardenburg Bay. Air taxis depart from Anchorage (~120 air mi), Homer (~65 air mi), and Kenai/Soldotna, roughly 1–1.5 hours flight time. NPS directions ↗

Entry Fees

Entrance PassNot required

Camping / BackpackingFree

Public Use CabinsSeparate reservation fee

🐻Bear Viewing & Volcanoes2 sites · 2 volcanoes▾

Bear Viewing2▾

Chinitna BayPremier brown bear viewing — bears feed on sedges in salt marshes and clams in tidal flats; private flightseeing/boat access only

Silver Salmon Creek~25 mi southeast of Chinitna Bay, similar tidal-flat bear viewing; private operators only, not NPS-run

Volcanoes2▾

Mount Redoubt10,197 ft active stratovolcano, erupted at least 30 times in the last 10,000 years, most recently 1989 and 2009

Mount Iliamna10,016 ft stratovolcano, no confirmed eruptions in recorded history but persistent fumaroles and seismic activity

🪵Dick Proenneke's CabinNational Historic Site▾

📖 Richard "Dick" Proenneke arrived at Twin Lakes in 1968 at age 51 and hand-built his 11×15 ft log cabin that first summer, living there roughly 31 years and documenting his life — the basis for the book "One Man's Wilderness" and the PBS documentary "Alone in the Wilderness." Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007; he willed the cabin to NPS. Open for self-guided tours daily 10am–4pm in summer, with rangers on-site. NPS cabin history ↗

🏕CampingNo permit required▾

⛺ No developed drive-in campground exists — the park isn't on the road system. Backcountry permits for camping and hiking are not required, though bear-resistant food canisters ARE required for overnight trips (loaned free at the Port Alsworth ranger station). Visitors are strongly encouraged, though not required, to file an itinerary with the visitor center. NPS backcountry info ↗

📍Landmarks5 stops▾

Key Locations5 stops▾

Port AlsworthMain hub village, ranger station, visitor center

Lake ClarkGlacially-fed, turquoise, the park's namesake

Twin LakesHome to Dick Proenneke's cabin

Tanalian Falls~4 mile round-trip trail from Port Alsworth, 30-ft waterfall over ancient lava rock4 mi RT

Chinitna BaySee Bear Viewing above

Park Contact Information

📞 Phone: (907) 644-3626 · Mailing Address: 1 Park Place, PO Box 227, Port Alsworth, AK 99653 · Official NPS contact page ↗