If you want to boost your chances of seeing a brown bear in Alaska, head to Katmai National Park, home to over 2000 bears. The platforms at Brooks Camp and the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary allow visitors to approach them without risk. McNeil is renowned, not only for providing shelter to the greatest number of bears, but also for the striking moon-like landscape of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a reminder that you are surrounded by no less than fourteen dormant yet active volcanoes.