We were lucky enough to see a large brown bear catching salmon in the middle of the stream, and a black bear mother catching dinner for her two cubs (with the cubs watching from the nearby tree).  How cool was that!

The Russian Rivers Campground is located between the Russian River and the Kenai River.  That means double the salmon spawning rivers available for those hungry bears, and double bear territory (brown and black bears are seen on this river)!

We learned from some locals the best bet for viewing bears in the Russian River drainage is the fishing access trails off the “Grayling” parking area during the summer spawning runs of sockeye salmon. The trail follows along the river and tens of thousands of sockeye navigate the river each summer from mid-June through late August to spawn in the Russian Lakes. Bears frequent the stream banks to dip an easy meal from this relatively shallow river while many fisherman try to catch fish.