McNeil River is arguably the best spot in the world to watch brown bears. The river is very difficult to reach. Only 150 to 250 permits a year are issued to the area; a lottery decides the winners.

The rain and the expense are soon forgotten when a thousand-pound boar grizzly lumbers by usually a mere 23 metre away. Or when a sow and her two rambunctious cubs show up to snag a few fish.

You also will appreciate the scenic sanctuary, lying in the shadow of Augustine Volcano. But the bears are the true attracting at McNeil River. Three factors account for what is possibly the greatest concentration of brown bears on Earth: good salmon runs, an excellent fishing are where low falls and rapids slow the migrating salmon, and the lack of other excellent fishing areas nearby.