Katmai National Park and Preserve

Katmai National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in southern Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park covers 7,383 square miles (19,120 km), being roughly the size of Wales. Most of this is a designated wilderness area, including 5,288 square miles (13,700 km) of the park. The park is named after Mount Katmai, its centerpiece stratovolcano. Established in 1918, the park is located on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island, with headquarters in nearby King Salmon, about 290 miles (470 km) southwest of Anchorage. Originally, on September 24, 1918, the area was designated a national monument to protect the area around the major 1912 volcanic eruption of Novarupta,...