Grizzly Bears
Grizzly Bear viewing safaris have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially in British Columbia’s coastal regions bordering the Great Bear Rainforest. Nowhere else are grizzly bears seen so prominently as on BC’s coastal mainland when they descend from the mountains to the rivers during the salmon spawning season.
Witness one of nature’s most thrilling spectacles by watching grizzly bears feed on salmon during the salmon spawning season in late summer/ early fall.
Please find a list of locations below where Grizzly Bear viewing Safaris take place from:
Full-Day Grizzly Bear Expedition to Bute Inlet
Duration: 7-8 hours
Season: September to Mid-October
Transportation: Boat
This full-day Grizzly Bear viewing tour departing from Campbell River on Vancouver Island is a trip of a lifetime and will let you observe grizzly bears in the spectacular wilderness of the remote Bute Inlet at the southern tip of the Great Bear Rainforest. The area is renowned as one of the best places to see Grizzly Bears in their natural habitat.
The tour starts with a 2-hour adventure by boat through some of the most spectacular coastal scenery to reach the Orford Valley, located on BC’s mainland coast. Towering mountain peaks and glacial fjords mark the scenery. When you reach Bute Inlet, you are welcomed to the traditional territory of the Homalco First Nations by indigenous Homalco guides who will host this part of the tour and share their insight into their culture and stewardship role. You will explore the Orford River valley from secure and specially designed bear viewing platforms, situated along the river for maximum bear observation.
Here, you’ll have a rare chance to witness grizzly bears feasting on spawning salmon in the Orford River. Spend three hours in the river valley at different bear viewing platforms observing the grizzly bears before embarking on your return trip. Enjoy a boxed lunch after your tour and a comfortable cruise back through the majestic Bute Inlet and the picturesque Discovery Islands aboard the heated, covered boat.
Full-Day Grizzly Bear Expedition from Telegraph Cove to Knight Inlet
Duration: 8-9 hours
Season: Mid-May to October
Transportation: Boat
Telegraph Cove is a small hidden cove off Johnstone Strait on the Northeastern end of Vancouver Island, about one hour driving time south of Port Hardy. It is a community of about 20 inhabitants and was a former fishing and cannery village. Today the village is famous for the Orca rubbing beaches at Robson Bight.
Journey into the Knight Inlet to see Grizzly Bears. Leave onboard a covered vessel with knowledgeable, experienced, naturalist/certified bear guides. Enjoy a light breakfast while navigating through Broughton Archipelago, a maze of largely uninhabited islands and islets, rocks and reefs that effectively choke off the mouth of the mighty Knight Inlet. 200 years later in 1992, it was designated as BC’s largest marine park.
With 15 years of exploring the hidden habitat of the Knight Inlet grizzly bears, guides gained the knowledge of where the bears are in any given season, meaning a fantastic bear viewing experience for you.
A healthy lunch is also included with this tour.
Full-Day Grizzly Bear Expedition as part of a Multi-Night stay at Knight Inlet Lodge
Duration: 7-9 hours
Season: Mid-August to Mid-October
Transportation: Boat (option for Float Plane to Lodge)
Located 80 kilometers north of Campbell River, BC, lies the wild and remote area of the Great Bear Rainforest known as Knight Inlet. As the longest fjord on the B.C. coast, Knight Inlet offers visitors spectacular coastal scenery with glacial fjords set against the backdrop of dramatic mountain peaks. It’s a place of immense beauty where the calm of the temperate rainforest meets the power of thundering glacier-fed waterfalls.
Knight Inlet Lodge is a floating 4-star lodge tucked into remote Glendale Cove, a protected anchorages in the inlet, and the starting point for spectacular wilderness excursions into grizzly bear territory. Packages range from two-nights accommodation to 4-6 night packages.
Depending on the time of year, grizzly bears are observed from the boat or from viewing stands. In spring and summer, tours are enjoyed from the comfort and safety of the boat to get close to the shore (50 meters) for a good view of the bears feeding. In late August, viewing stands enable visitors to get a closer view although sometimes tours continue by boat as well. Guest safety is of utmost importance during any viewing program. All tours strive to see the bears in their natural environment without having a negative impact on them.
Half-Day Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition as part of a Multi-Night stay at Sonora Resort
Duration: 4-5 hours
Season: Mid-August to Mid-October
Transportation: Boat (option for Float Plane to Lodge)
Grizzly bear viewing tours are one of the many outstanding adventures activities offered at the luxury 5-star Sonora Resort located off the coast of Vancouver Island. Guests at the all-inclusive resort (part of the Relais & Châteaux Hotel group) will enjoy not only the spectacular pristine setting of the resort with luxurious accommodations and an extraordinary level of comfort, but also a variety of eco-tours and activities include bear viewing tours, whale watching and wildlife marine tours, and salmon fishing.
Bear-viewing tours takes place in the Orford River in Bute Inlet where grizzly bears are observed as they descend on the Orford River during the salmon spawning season. An experienced Homalco First Nations guide will welcome and guide you, first by vehicle, through beautiful moss-covered rainforests to various viewing platforms set up on the banks of the river. Throughout the tour, guides will share their knowledge about the bears, salmon, and the rich culture of the Homalco people and their ties to the land.
Multi-Night Package to Great Bear Rainforest Lodge
Duration: 4 or 7 nights
Season: Mid-May to Mid-October
Transportation: Boat (option for Float Plane to Lodge)
This tour departs from Port Hardy, the largest community in the Northern part of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy is the northernmost point of the Island Highway (Hwy 19), site of the regional airport and the starting point for the BC Ferries Inside Passage route to Prince Rupert.
Right at the doorsteps of the town you enter remote coastal wilderness, rain forests with abundant wildlife. Join professional naturalists in search of black bears, grizzly bears, and other coastal wildlife.
Discover the Great Bear Rainforest in the central coast of BC on a world-class wildlife viewing adventure. During this 4 or 7-nights package, savor the rare gift of close observation of grizzly bear living in their natural habitat. Be treated to wilderness-gourmet cuisine and soft beds at night at the remote floating Great Bear Lodge, located 50 air miles from Port Hardy, British Columbia.
Scheduled departures are offered from May to October, leaving by seaplane from Port Hardy
Morning and afternoon bear viewing sessions guided by a wildlife biologist, interpretive walks or boat excursions are included.
The port city of Prince Rupert in Northern BC is an important hub for BC Ferries sailings to Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands as well as Alaska Marine Highway Ferries thru the famous Inside Passage to Alaska.
Situated amidst some of British Columbia’s most spectacularly untouched coastal wilderness, Prince Rupert is supremely located to provide visitors with access to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary either by a short boat trip or floatplane.
Full-Day Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition from Prince Rupert to the Khutzeymateen Valley
Duration: 7 hours
Season: Mid-May to July
Transportation: Boat
Board on a cruise to the famous Khutzeymateen “Valley of the Grizzly” to see grizzly bears in their natural environment. While travelling North through Chatham Sound, be fascinated with stories about the historic native villages and watch for porpoises, seals, sea lions, bald eagles, and blue herons as you learn first-hand about this diverse marine environment. Experience the pristine wilderness of the Khutzeymateen Valley, home to one of the highest concentrations of grizzly bears in North America. Tour includes light lunch.
Half-Day Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition from Prince Rupert to the Khutzeymateen Valley
Duration: 4 hours
Season: Mid-May to July
Transportation: Float Plane
Other: Needs 6 passengers minimum
Take off from Prince Rupert and fly through mountain passes to the Khutzeymateen. Landing at the lodge, you will dress warmly in flotation suits and head straight out on the boat in search of grizzly bears, bald eagles, seals and waterfalls. The tour includes an orientation by the BC Parks K’tzim-a-deen Rangers at the Visitor Centre in the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary where you learn about Tshimshian culture and history, and how the sanctuary is managed.
Multi-Night Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition from Prince Rupert to the Khutzeymateen Floating Wilderness Lodge
Duration: 3 nights
Season: May to September
Transportation: Float Plane
Climb into a floatplane and take off from Prince Rupert, BC for a 20-minute flight over the mountains and inlets to the Khutzeymateen. Spend 3 nights at the Khutzeymateen Lodge right inside the park. No roads, no towns … just wilderness and wildlife. The days are filled with searching for grizzly bears in the lush Khutzeymateen Inlet and estuary with bald eagles, seabirds and seals.
5-6 hours are spent every day exploring and bear viewing.
At the lodge you can relax by the fire, take out a kayak or paddle board, have a wood-fired sauna or fish off the dock – fishing gear is provided, you just need a tidal waters fishing licence.
The tour package includes:
- Floatplane flights to and from Prince Rupert, BC
- 3 nights at the lodge. Private cozy bedrooms with views of the ocean and the rainforest
- All meals, snacks and drinks (wine and beer are served with dinner) while at the lodge
- Twice daily boat trips
Full-Day Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition from Port McNeill
Duration: 8-9 hours
Season: End of May to October
Transportation: Boat
Port McNeill is only 43 scenic kilometre south of Port Hardy. The charming small town is known as the gateway to the myriad of scenic islands, protected spaces and mazy waterways of the Broughton Archipelago, Port McNeill is a great stepping-stone to outdoor adventure. Vancouver Island North’s second-largest community proudly co-exists with the rich natural resources of land and sea.
Departing by small boat from Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, this full day excursion offers the opportunity to visit the Great Bear Rainforest on traditional territories with Indigenous guides, in search for grizzly bears. As every season and day is different, the route will be adjusted to give the best and optimal grizzly viewing experience, travelling to places such as Knight Inlet, Bond Sound, Thompson Sound, or Hoeya Sound.
Following grizzly bear viewing and a catered lunch, you will head into the Broughton Archipelago and Blackfish Sound. Here you might encounter the gentle giants of the Pacific: migrating humpback whales.
The excursion includes boat transportation, Naturalist Aboriginal guides, breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks
Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing at Fish Creek
Duration: at leisure
Season: Mid-July to September
Transportation: Drive In
Travelling in Northern British Columbia all the way to the small towns of Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK at the southern frontier to Alaska is an adventure considered by many as one of the best-kept secrets in Western Canada.
Past Hyder, at Fish Creek, enjoy a unique natural spectacle taking place from mid-July to September. Observe both black and grizzly bears in their natural habitat, fishing for chum and pink salmon that return to fresh waters of the creek to spawn.
Complete your day by advancing even further and deeper into the alpine wilderness, past numerous former gold and silver mines, until you reach the mighty Salmon Glacier, whose glittering ice masses will simply take your breath away.
Half-Day Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition at Redoubt Bay
Duration: 6 hours
Season: July to August
Transportation: Float Plane
Located 70 miles southwest of Anchorage near the beautiful entrance of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Redoubt Bay is home to one of the most concentrated and viewable bear populations in the state of Alaska. This guided, fly-out Alaska bear watching trip takes you to Redoubt Bay Lodge, a small rustic handmade lodge situated in a 171,000-acre critical habitat area.
After a scenic flight from Anchorage, your trip begins with bear viewing from a covered pontoon boat. Your experienced naturalist guides you through the chain of Big River Lakes, host to sockeye and Coho salmon runs and popular feeding site for resident bear.
The tour includes a homemade lunch in the cozy, rustic Redoubt Bay Lodge.
Full-Day Tour Grizzly Bear Expedition at Lake Clark National Park
Duration: 11 hours
Season: Mid-July to Mid-September
Transportation: Float Plane
Experience Alaska’s wilderness landscape in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, situated at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. Over four million acres, the Park encompasses volcanoes, jagged mountains, glaciers, wild rivers, waterfalls and diverse Alaska wildlife populations.
After an hour and ten-minute stunning flightseeing tour via floatplane from Anchorage to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, your expert pilot will land at Redoubt Mountain Lodge, located on the incredible blue Crescent Lake. Upon arrival you’ll meet your knowledgeable bear viewing guide who will escort you by covered pontoon boat to lakeside areas where bears feed on spawning wild Alaska salmon.
You’ll never forget your visit to one of America’s most inaccessible national parks!
The tour includes a homemade lunch in the rustic lodge located in Lake Clark National Park.
