Alagnak Wild River
The headwaters of Alagnak Wild River lie within the rugged Aleutian Range of neighboring Katmai National Park and Preserve. Meandering west towards Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea, the Alagnak traverses the beautiful Alaska Peninsula, providing an unparalleled opportunity to experience the unique wilderness, wildlife, and cultural heritage of southwest Alaska.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Alagnak Wild River | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and January the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- King Salmon Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
Located next door to the King Salmon Airport, the King Salmon Visitor Center provides information on the many federal public lands of Southwest Alaska, particularly those in the Bristol Bay area.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Fish the Alagnak River
The Alagnak River is a premiere destination for sport fishing. Rainbow trout, char, grayling, and abundant salmon coupled with a wilderness landscape provide excellent fishing experiences for adventurous anglers.
Opens on the Park Service site - Raft or Kayak the Alagnak River
On the Alagnak, serenity and wildlife viewing opportunities abound for those lazily floating the river while Class III rapids offer exciting trips for rafters.
Opens on the Park Service site
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Alaska guidebooks
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Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 123 birds, 33 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsBald eagle · Boreal owl · Great horned owl · Merlin · Northern harrier · Northern hawk-owl · Northern saw-whet owl · Osprey · Rough-legged hawk · Sharp-shinned hawk · Short-eared owl · Snowy Owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican wigeon · Barrow's goldeneye · Bufflehead · Canada goose · Common goldeneye · Common loon · Common merganser · Eurasian wigeon · Greater scaup · Greater white-fronted goose · Green-winged teal · Harlequin duck · Hooded merganser · Horned grebe · Long-tailed Duck · Northern pintail · Pacific loon · Red-breasted merganser · Red-necked grebe · Red-throated loon · Sandhill crane · Tundra swan · cackling goose
Shorebirds & seabirdsArctic tern · Black-bellied plover · Bonaparte's gull · Fork-tailed storm-petrel · Glaucous gull · Glaucous-winged gull · Grey Phalarope · Hudsonian godwit · Lesser golden-plover · Lesser yellowlegs · Long-tailed jaeger · Mew gull · Pacific golden-plover · Parasitic jaeger · Red-necked phalarope · Ruddy turnstone · Semipalmated plover · Short-billed dowitcher · Wilson's snipe · spotted sandpiper
Gamebirds & dovesRock Ptarmigan · Spruce Grouse · Willow ptarmigan
WoodpeckersAmerican Three-toed Woodpecker · Downy woodpecker
Hummingbirds & swiftsRufous hummingbird
Also on the checklistAlder flycatcher · American dipper · American magpie · American robin · American tree sparrow · Bank swallow · Belted kingfisher · Black scoter · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-legged kittiwake · Blackpoll warbler · Brant · Brown creeper · Calidris minutilla · Canadian jay · Canvasback · Common raven · Common redpoll · Dark-eyed junco · Falco peregrinus · Fox sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned kinglet · Golden-crowned sparrow · Gray-cheeked thrush · Greater yellow-legs · Gyrfalcon · Hermit thrush · Hoary redpoll · Lapland longspur · Lincoln's sparrow · Mallard · Mckay's bunting · Northern goshawk · Northern shoveler · Northern shrike · Northern waterthrush · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Orange-crowned warbler · Pacific wren · Picoides villosus · Pine grosbeak · Pine siskin · Red-breasted nuthatch · Redhead · Ruby-crowned kinglet · Rusty blackbird · Savannah sparrow · Snow Bunting · Song sparrow · Surf scoter · Swainson's thrush · Tree swallow · Varied thrush · Violet-green swallow · Whimbrel · White-crowned sparrow · White-winged crossbill · Wilson's warbler · Yellow warbler · Yellow-rumped warbler · boreal chickadee
Small mammalsAmerican beaver · Arctic ground squirrel · Arctic hare · Brown lemming · Dusky shrew · Masked shrew · Meadow jumping mouse · Meadow vole · Muskrat · Northern bog lemming · Northern red-backed vole · Porcupine · Pygmy shrew · Red squirrel · Snowshoe hare · Tundra shrew · Tundra vole · collared lemming
Marine mammalsHarbor seal
PredatorsAmerican marten · Brown bear · Canada lynx · Ermine · Gray wolf · Least weasel · Mink · Northern river otter · Red fox · Wolverine
Hoofed mammalsCaribou · Moose
BatsLittle brown bat
Also on the checklistBeluga
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Questions people ask
Does Alagnak charge an entrance fee?
No. Alagnak is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Alagnak open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
How busy is Alagnak?
375 recreation visits in 2025, number 384 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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