sargent creek

On or first night in Kodiak we drove to Sargent Creek and immediately spotted a brown bear meandering along the shore looking for food. The bear stayed for a long time and attracted quite an audience. Just great!

Arrived on a cruise ship for the day we rented a car from the airport. made left onto Rezanof Dr. Drove about 3 mins Pulled off the road onto a gravel viewing area there in the river was a huge male Kodiak bear We were far enough away to be safe but close enough to get great photos we watched for about 60 mins then went up the road to the java flats for coffee & sweets at the next viewing pull off We saw a female deer with a fawn walking in the river and eagles in the mud flats.

We brought our own poles and fished for salmon. Best time fishing I have had. I enjoyed more than deep sea fishing but I get sea sick.

Paying $700 for a commercial bear-viewing trip was not in our budget so we asked the locals in Kodiak where we could see wild Kodiak brown bears.They pointed us to a place 10 miles southwest of town on Rezanof Dr W. Where Sargent Creek and Russian Creek cross under Rezanof Dr W, there are small, gravel turn-offs where you can park and wait for wild bears to appear. It feels rather safe because you can stand on top of the piles of rocks, high above the creek, and watch the bears.This will require some patience and time but it is well worth it. We probably spent 4 hours per day for three days and we saw bears every day, sometimes more than once a day. The bears are extremely lively and active and put on quite a show. One bear was just all over the place - catching and eating salmon, frolicking along the creeks, and at one point, he even ran about 20mph through the water, splashing everywhere.For excellent sandwiches and coffee, you can drive 1/2 mile southwest to Java Flats at 11206 Rezanof Dr W. They have a drive-thru so you can easily take your food back to Sargent Creek or Russian Creek for more bear-viewing.Avoid slowing or stopping your car at the bridges over the creeks because it is unsafe and the police tend to wait there to warn people of this and sometimes they write tickets.Happy bear viewing! (be sure the check out the pics I took there.)