Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
AK
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About Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is a land of stunning beauty. Volcanoes steam, salmon run, bears forage, and craggy mountains reflect in shimmering turquoise lakes. Here, too, local people and culture still depend on the land and water.
Venture into the park to become part of the wilderness.
Things To Do
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Flight Seeing at Lake Clark
Discover safely from a bird’s eye view. Volcanoes, coastline, mountain ranges, tundra, lakes, rivers, wildlife, and more! What will you see on your flight seeing trip?
Remote Base Camping
A camping trip into Lake Clark's trail-less wilderness can be a spectacular and rewarding experience. Thorough preparation and careful trip planning will help ensure you have a safe and meaningful trip. Here you will experience undeveloped wilderness, self-reliance, and solitude to an extent seldom found elsewhere.
Fly-In Bear Viewing Along the West Cook Inlet Coast
Learn where to go to see bears and become familiar with bear viewing best practices. Then watch the park's beautiful new 11 minute-long film, A Day on the Lake Clark National Park Coastline to get a feel for experience of being on the coast with bears.
Go Fishing on Lake Clark
Lake Clark provides excellent fishing opportunities for adventurous anglers. The park and preserve includes some of the most pristine fishery habitats in the National Park system. Fly or boat out from Port Alsworth onto Lake Clark, where incredible fishing awaits.
Go Fly Fishing at Tanalian Falls
Want to try fishing in Alaska? This scenic spot offers both the lure of possible grayling catches and opportunities to take stunning pictures
Explore How Salmon Are Sustaining Southwest Alaska Communities
The Kvichak watershed which is fed by Lake Clark and runs into Bristol Bay, is one of the world's most productive spawning and rearing habitats for sockeye salmon. Lake Clark protects clean cold water within these spawning grounds. The NPS works alongside subsistence users, councils, and the State of Alaska to steward these special waters which help sustain the economy and the culture of Alaska. Visit the Port Alsworth Visitor Center to learn more about this special resource.
Available Activities
Weather
Lake Clark has two distinct climate areas: the coast and the interior. The coast is wetter and experiences milder temperatures. The interior gets half to one fourth as much precipitation, but temperatures are hotter in summer and colder in winter.
Frost and snow can occur any time parkwide, but are most common from September to early June. Lakes here typically begins freezing in November and melting in April. Ice conditions dictate whether planes need floats or skis to land on lakes.
Getting There
Lake Clark is located on the Alaska Peninsula southwest of Anchorage and north of Katmai National Park. It is not on the road system; therefore, in order to get here you must travel either via plane or by boat. A one to two-hour flight from Anchorage, Kenai, or Homer will provide access to most points within Lake Clark.
Fixed-wing aircraft are allowed to land on all suitable lakes, rivers, beaches, gravel bars, and open ground in both the park and preserve unless the area is closed or otherwise restricted.
Plan Your Visit
Let Cairn help you plan the perfect trip to Lake Clark National Park & Preserve with AI-powered itineraries.
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Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
The park and preserve are open 24 hours per day, seven days per week year round. However, visitor services are limited Labor Day through Memorial Day. Seasonal and temporary closures are listed by location on the Operating Hours & Seasons page.