➤️ McNeil Falls

McNeil Falls is a waterfall on the McNeil River near Katmai National Park, Alaska. The river is famous for its large concentrations of brown bears and salmon. The salmon arrive mostly in July, having spent their lives in Kamishak Bay, and when they ascend the river to spawn it is an attraction to the largest concentration of brown bears anywhere on earth. Up to 144 brown bears have been identified at the river during a single summer with as many as 72 bears congregating in one place at a time. The river's entire 35 mile (55 km) length lies within the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, created in 1967 by the State of Alaska to protect the numerous Alaska brown bears who frequented the area. It also lies entirely within the Kenai Peninsula Borough boundaries. The McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge is part of a 3.8-million-acre (1,500,000 ha) piece of land that is protected from hunting; the rest of this is Katmai National Park.