Join Backcountry Journeys for one of the most exciting brown bear photography experiences in Alaska.

The Great Alaskan Bear Safari is designed around one simple goal: putting you in the best possible place to photograph wild Alaskan brown bears each day.

Rather than being tied to a single location, we use floatplanes and specially equipped bush planes with tundra tires to access an enormous range of bear habitat across the Alaska Peninsula. Depending on weather, bear activity, salmon movements, and local conditions, our guides and pilots will determine the best destination for each day's photography.

Over the course of the workshop, potential destinations may include Katmai National Park, Lake Clark National Park, Brooks Falls, the Douglas River area, and remote locations throughout the Bristol Bay watershed, home to the largest sockeye salmon run in the world.

And where there are salmon, there are bears.

Years of guiding, scouting, and studying Alaska's brown bears have helped us develop an incredible network of photography locations. Some offer bears fishing for salmon, others provide opportunities to photograph bears along coastal flats, rivers, beaches, or open tundra.

We also have opportunities to visit some of Alaska's most iconic bear destinations, including Brooks Falls, when conditions and logistics align. At other times, a remote river, coastal area, or lesser-known bear concentration may provide an even better photographic experience.

Few visitors ever experience the range of country accessible on this trip. Flying deep into the Alaska wilderness is part of the adventure, and the journey itself provides a remarkable perspective on one of North America's wildest landscapes.

Back at our accommodations, you'll enjoy comfortable lodging, modern amenities, and great meals between days in the field.

With nearly a decade of experience leading wilderness and lodge-based bear photography trips throughout Alaska, our team understands both bear behavior and the unique logistical challenges of photographing in this environment. Your safety comes first, and our professional photography guides will work with you throughout the trip to help you anticipate behavior, improve compositions, and capture exceptional images of these magnificent animals.

This is much more than a visit to a single bear-viewing location. It's an Alaska-wide bear photography adventure, built around flexibility, experience, and going where the opportunities are best.

Join us for the Great Alaskan Bear Safari and experience wild Alaska from an entirely different perspective.​​​​​​​