Katmai National Park & Preserve guide · 1 min read
Staying at Brooks Camp Campground and Lodge
Brooks Camp Campground is the only developed campground in Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Its sites sit on the shore of Naknek Lake, and the Brooks Camp Visitor Center is about three-tenths of a mile away. Eighteen sites hold up to 60 campers a night, and once the campground fills, campers share sites.
Campers can keep food and gear in caches, store fuel in a locker, and fill up with potable water on site. Vault toilets, cook shelters and fire rings add to the campground's offerings. An electric fence surrounds the grounds, and extra regulations govern both Brooks Camp as a whole and the campground itself.
Brooks Lodge is the sole lodge at Brooks Camp, and Katmailand, the National Park Service's authorized concessioner, runs it. The lodge looks out over the Brooks River and is the only one close enough to Brooks Falls to reach on foot. Each of its sixteen rooms holds between two and four guests. Guests eat buffet-style meals three times a day in the Brooks Lodge Dining Hall, and the property also has cabins and a gift shop.
Plan ahead, since both the lodge and the campground require reservations. Popular summer dates can fill within a few hours of the booking window opening. Lodge reservations go through katmailand.com, and because some guests cancel, rooms open up over time, so checking back periodically can help. When both are full, a few visitors occasionally camp in the backcountry outside the Brooks Camp Developed Area, a circle with a 1.5-mile radius centered on the Brooks Falls platform.
Compacted tent pads are found in two tent areas, and the paths to the picnic tables, cook shelters and fire rings are firm and gently sloped. The tables offer wheelchair clearance. Only the vault toilets can be reached without assistance.
