(#8) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Bears and Stunning Coastal Scenery in Lake Clark

We set off on our Alaskan adventure early one Saturday morning in June, aiming to visit the eight national parks scattered across the largest state in America.

As we reach the final leg of our trip, we’re feeling grateful, exhausted, thrilled, and reflective as we take off on our last adventure before flying home. After three incredible weeks exploring Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords, Wrangell-St. Elias, Kobuk Valley, Gates of the Arctic, Katmai, and Denali National Parks, we head to park #8 of 8 with a trip to Lake Clark.

This diary-style travelogue—a 7-part blog series—shares all the adventures from our trip of a lifetime. Join us as we recap the unforgettable journey… 21 days, 8 national parks, and 1 Great Alaskan Road Trip!

(#1) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Goodbye Service, Hello Adventure in Glacier Bay
(#2) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Dog Sledding, Ice Climbing, & Sea Kayaking in Kenai Fjords
(#3) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Exploring America’s Largest National Park
(#4-5) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: ‘Alone’ in Gates of the Arctic & Kobuk Valley
(#6) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Camping with Bears in Katmai Nat’l Park
(#7) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Bus Tours, Scenic Hikes, and Denali's 30% Club
(#8) Alaska Road Trip Diaries: Stunning Coastal Scenery and Bears in Lake Clark Nat’l Park

Planning your own Alaskan adventure? Get our complete itinerary and Alaska Travel Guide here!

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Day 21: Lake Clark National Park

Well, we made it through a night of car camping… at the airport, ha!

With an early flight to Lake Clark, no campgrounds nearby, and hotel prices starting at $400 a night, we decided to keep it easy and car camp in a garage near the airport. It certainly wasn’t our best night of sleep, and actually was definitively our worst night of the trip, but we did manage a few hours of rest, and either way, our adventure for the day was sure to wake us up.

We’re headed by plane to our 8th and final national park in Alaska: Lake Clark National Park!

It’s just a short drive to our pilot’s office, where we check in and meet our group for the day. There are four of us plus our pilot in a 7-seat aircraft, then we’ll meet up with a second group of eight for a tour on the ground once we arrive.

As we board the small plane, all four of us choose window seats on the right-hand side because our pilot tells us that’s where we’ll have the best views for the flight. The plane spends just a few minutes taxiing through the airport before taking off, and once it does, Jonathan and I exchange a look with the biggest grin on our faces.

We’re in the air headed toward Lake Clark and SO close to completing our goal of seeing all eight of Alaska’s national parks in one trip!

Flying over Anchorage as we depart, we head toward Cook Inlet in the direction of the Aleutian and Alaska Mountain Ranges. Our pilot tells us Cook Inlet is one of the best places in Alaska to spot beluga whales. “On the way back,” he says, “we’ll look for them and fly directly over the areas where I’ve seen them before.”

We keep low to the ground as we fly over a myriad of snaking rivers, the smallest of which look like bare family trees painted on the green ground.

Snaking rivers throughout Lake Clark reminding us of genealogical family trees.

As we get closer to the mountains, the weather seems to turn as clouds obscure our view. Our pilot isn’t concerned, but he does want to adjust the plane to increase our visibility, and we ascend to a higher elevation. We’re flying through the clouds for a moment, each window surrounded by thick fog.

Our lack of view doesn’t last long as we rise above the clouds and the skyline reappears, with a gorgeous sunrise now visible to our left. We’re flying feet above an opaque sheet of white until we get closer to the highest point of the Aleutian Range, and the clouds dissipate.

The plane hugs the jagged, snow-capped range, and we follow the coast toward Lake Clark. Our pilot points out glaciers, volcanoes, and the names of various mountains we’re seeing, and then he says, “Welcome to Lake Clark National Park.”

We’ve officially made it to our final national park of the trip!!! We’re ecstatic, but our celebrations are subdued as we can’t take our eyes off the view outside.

It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

We’re flying even closer to the mountains, now seeing the intersection of the Aleutian and Alaska Ranges so that mountain peaks are visible almost everywhere you look. Plus, we’re following the coast more directly, so we have an overhead view of the bright teal water contrasting with its beige shoreline and green mountainside forests. With our faces as close to the windows as they can get, we notice long, skinny waterfalls running down the steep cliffs.

Lake Clark is enchanting, and we’re not even on the ground yet.

Our pilot informs us we’re only 10 minutes from landing, and then he points to his left and says, “There’s a brown bear galloping along the beach.” As one who prefers an aisle seat on commercial airlines, I don’t think I had a proper appreciation for a bird’s eye view until this very moment. Watching a brown bear gallop along the beach is one of the most mesmerizing things to see from the sky!

As we circle around to the beach runway we’ll use to land, we get a perfect, tilted view of another bear lying on the shore. He must notice our arrival because he sits up as we fly overhead and officially welcomes us to Lake Clark National Park.

Landing on the beach, we exit our plane and walk inside the lodge that will host us while we're on the ground. We watch a quick national park welcome video before boarding a green bus, which the lodge's owners have outfitted for traversing sand and rivers throughout the park.

After just five minutes of driving along the beach, we spot a sow and her yearling cub digging for clams on a sandbar. We get off the bus and walk to the shoreline for pictures and a closer look.

This is what we hoped to see in Lake Clark National Park.

Lake Clark is known for its wildlife, particularly its population of coastal brown bears. Chinitna Bay, where we landed at the southern end of Lake Clark, is also known for its stunning coastal scenery, which includes the beaches, towering cliffs, and lush greenery we saw on our flight here. Visitors to Chinitna Bay often have the opportunity to witness bears fishing and digging for clams.

It’s amazing to watch the sow and her cub digging for clams just moments after arriving in the park. The latter is putting in plenty of effort to follow mom’s lead for food.

After many minutes, our guide corrals the group as he tells us there are more bears to find, and we hop back on the bus for our next viewpoint. Apparently, the sow and her cub want to join, and they cross the beach right in front of our bus, blocking our path until they move into the meadow we’re headed toward next.

A small way down the beach, we find one of the main viewing areas for Chinitna Bay. We’re overlooking the sedge meadow and see up to 27 bears grazing, relaxing, and playing in the large open field that’s cut down the middle by a shallow river.

We’re here for a while, turning around every so often to see bears wading through the water behind us. This is another place in Alaska where you get to watch bears in their natural habitat and observe safely without interfering. It’s captivating. We see the most adorable sets of triplet spring cubs following their mom into the meadow. We see twin yearlings playing and adults cooling off and fishing in the water. We watch a dozen+ bears lying in the plush grass for a nap in the sun.

We’re observing the highest concentration of bears we’ve ever seen and take turns calling out each new bear we spot entering or hanging out in the meadow!

When it’s time to make room for the next group to observe, we leave the main viewing area and make our way by bus to two short trails. These quick walks through a small forest lead to different overlooks along the sedge meadow.

Sow and cub digging for clams on the shores of Lake Clark National Park.

Coastal brown bear walking through the sedge meadow in Lake Clark.

Our time on the ground in Lake Clark goes quickly, and soon it’s time to reboard our plane and return to Anchorage.

The flight to Lake Clark was incredible, but somehow, the flight back to Anchorage is even more jaw-dropping. It’s probably the most stunning mountainous terrain I’ve ever seen. We’re now flying through the snow-capped mountain ranges we hugged on the way here. Peaks are soaring past the plane in all directions, and we can even more clearly see glaciers, waterfalls, and mountainside forests.

For lack of a better word… Wow.

It’s a good thing they say a picture is worth a thousand words because just… wow!!!! (Check out the top image above for a glimpse of what we’re seeing from the air.)

Getting close to Anchorage, we fly over Cook Inlet areas where our pilot spotted beluga whales during previous flights. Unfortunately, the tide is out and the water’s shallow, and we don’t see any whales or spouting. We make our final descent to Anchorage, and as we’re taxiing to the airport, our pilot shares with us a fun FYI. “It’s considered status to have a float plane on the Lake Hood Seaplane Base we’re passing, and right now, there’s a 14-year wait.” 😲

We’re back on solid ground now, so after thanking our pilot and hopping out of the plane into our car, we take a moment to celebrate. We just saw our eighth and final national park of the trip and experienced the last scheduled activity of our Great Alaskan Road Trip! 😱😍🥹

What. A. Trip!

We mark the moment with a flight of cider and two hot dogs courtesy of Double Shovel Cidery and Grizzly Bears Food Truck before considering another road trip local first: moving our flight up one night.

Since we don’t need the flex day we scheduled for tomorrow in case of a weather cancellation, we browse our options for an earlier return home. Turns out, it’s about $900 cheaper to fly home tonight, plus we won’t have to worry about accommodations for the night. (And we’ll get home 24 hours earlier on Saturday rather than Sunday. This sounds great considering we’re tiiiired and have to be back to reality by 8am Monday morning!)

It’s a long evening at the airport waiting to board our delayed redeye back to Dallas, so I grab out my phone and the notes I’ve been taking throughout this trip. I’m ready to go home, see Lincoln, and hang out with my mom, who’s been SO amazing taking care of Lincoln while we’re in Alaska. I’m also looking forward to my pillow (and a good night’s rest) and preparing for Part Two of our 2023 Travel Season.

At the same time, I’m feeling some natural sadness about the end of this epic undertaking and adventure that’s been full of so many firsts.

8 national parks.
Ice climbing.
Dog sledding.
River fishing.
Glacier hiking.
Three full weeks off.
Lots of unplugged and off-grid time.
No expectation to respond to emails, texts, or work requests.
Shared outhouses in a secluded town.
Freezing cold blue pool jumps.
Hours alone in one of the most remote national parks in the States.
Sea kayaking with a sea lion.
Bear jams.

This has been the most amazing 21 days, and we’re already thinking back fondly on one heck of a Great Alaskan Road Trip! Until next time…

The people we meet on the road

Similar to our Yellowstone winter trip, one of the best parts of this Great Alaskan Road Trip has been meeting other travelers and hearing their stories.

I find it fascinating to see how many different paths we can take to end up at the same place at the same time, like this summer in these remote areas of Alaska. And I love hearing about different ways of “doing life” and how people make decisions about things like careers, where to live, and ways to spend downtime.

This trip to Alaska opened our perspectives, similar to when you’re looking at the stars on a clear night and feeling a small part of something much bigger. Sometimes it feels unsettling as you’re reminded just how much is out there. But it can also be a pressure relief valve and something that expands you into new possibilities.

For example, during our first stop of the trip, we met a veterinary student who spends her summers traveling rather than interning like her classmates. Last year, she road-tripped the Pacific Coast. This year, she’s spending 3 months solo in Alaska. One of her adventures includes 12 days backpacking through Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic, two of the most remote national parks in the United States.

We also met a self-proclaimed former cubicle worker who left her job to take a seasonal opportunity in Alaska working on a boat in Kenai Fjords. (And she did this with no prior boat experience!) She now spends the rest of her year on a boat in Florida and is working towards her captain’s license. During her days off in Alaska, she travels to other parts of the state.

We actually met a lot of seasonal tour guides during our road trip. Many of them were students working the summer in Alaska, and when we asked “why” or “how,” their answers were pretty similar. They’d always wanted to live in Alaska, so they simply took to Google and applied for the first seasonal job that popped up. (Not kidding.)

On the other hand, we also met guides who take on seasonal work year-round and have destinations, parks, and outfitters they work at each winter, summer, etc. It’s their lifestyle and how they do what they love all year long.

That doesn’t mean that lifestyle is without tradeoffs, though. Our rafting guide from Wrangell-St. Elias guides multi-day rafting excursions all over the world, and while we were fascinated by his lifestyle, he reminded us that the grass can always look greener. He craves stability and told us how amazing it sounds to have a gym he could frequent at the same time every day.

It wasn’t just students or guides working in Alaska who had stories to share. We met quite a few young retirees, too. One couple had been financially planning since 2010 so they could travel full-time and were able to hit the road two years ago for full-time RV life.

We met a gentleman on a 7-month road trip. He started in California, driving up the coast and eventually through the Yukon. He’s been touring Alaska doing a mix of touristy things like national parks and local immersion experiences through a site called WorkAway. He’s not retired, he said, “I don’t like that word, I’m just done working… funemployed.”

We met many travelers on a mission to visit all 8 national parks, including one couple who will complete the parks this year after visits to Great Basin and Lassen Volcanic National Parks.

And we met a pilot who visited Coldfoot, Alaska for vacation 25 years prior, fell in love with the Arctic, and has been there ever since. Rather than recreating in the summer like many of us, she gets out to explore in the winter months, spending her time backpacking by snow machine or cross-country skiing.

It’s fascinating to me to hear what brought different travelers, locals, and guides to this place at this time.

This is probably one of my favorite things about traveling to more remote destinations, like Gardiner, MT in the winter or Gustavus, AK in the summer. These places that require a little extra planning and determination are particularly special places. Everyone has a story worth telling about what led them here and why!

What’s next? Rocky Mountain Road Trip

As mentioned in our 2023 Travel Season Post, the Great Alaskan Road Trip is Part One of our “Travel Season” this year.

Next, we head home and attempt to spoil my mom for a few days in an effort to thank her for spoiling Lincoln these past three weeks. 🙏🤗 (Thanks, Mom!!!!!)

Then we have about 10 days to unpack from Alaska and repack for Part Two of our 2023 Travel Season, a 2.5-Month Rocky Mountain Road Trip. Here’s what’s ahead.

We’ll drive from Dallas to Denver, CO to spend a week visiting friends. (We’re calling this our “social stop” because we’ll be meeting up with friends who live in Denver AND also seeing friends who are flying in while we’re there!)

Then, we’ll spend five days in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, taking these days off work and staying in the parks to explore as fully as possible.

After that, we’ll make our way to Calgary, where we’ll spend one month exploring the Canadian Rockies. On our list are bucket list places like Moraine Lake, Icefields Parkway, Lake Louise, and Jasper National Park. (This is going to be such a dreamy month! It’ll also be our first real attempt at switching from Airbnb to hotels for a longer-term stay.)

After making it as far north as Jasper National Park, we’ll turn around and head toward Glacier National Park back in the US for 10 days. From there, we’ll return to Yellowstone and the Tetons for almost three weeks of exploring with friends and family before making our way back to Dallas by way of Grand Junction and Albuquerque. (The latter of which we’re visiting to enjoy the Albuquerque Balloon Fest ON THE SAME DAY as the solar eclipse. 😍)

Once back in Dallas by the middle of October, we’ll start picking out our favorite photos from the season to add to our travel photo wall and start planning for 2024. :)

Alaska Travel Guide

Thank you so much for reading our Great Alaskan Road Trip series! If you’re planning your own Alaskan adventure, check out our Alaska Travel Guide.

Alaska is the trip of a lifetime, but we know first-hand that planning an Alaskan adventure can be a daunting task. That's why we’re sharing everything we learned to help you plan your Alaskan getaway... with a head start! Whether you have one day or 21 days... Whether you're cruising to, driving through, or flying between destinations... This 75-page guide (PDF) will help you make the most out of seeing Alaska’s most popular and breathtaking destinations!

View our Alaska Travel Guide here!

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