Katmai National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve in southwest Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park and preserve encompass , which is between the land areas of Connecticut and New Jersey. Most of the national park is a designated wilderness area. The park is named after Mount Katmai, its centerpiece stratovolcano. The park is located on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island, with headquarters in nearby King Salmon, about southwest of Anchorage. The area was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the major 1912 volcanic eruption of Novarupta, which formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a , pyroclastic flow. The park includes as many as 18 individual volcanoes, seven of which have been active since 1900.
Initially designated because of its volcanic history, the monument was left undeveloped and largely unvisited until the 1950s. The monument and surrounding lands became appreciated for their wide variety of wildlife, including an abundance of sockeye salmon and the brown bears that feed upon them. After a series of boundary expansions, the present national park and preserve were established in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Geography
Katmai occupies the Pacific Ocean side of the Alaska Peninsula, opposite Kodiak Island on the Shelikof Strait. The park's chief features are its coast, the Aleutian Range with a chain of fifteen volcanic mountains across the coastal southeastern part of the park, and a series of large lakes in the flatter western part of the park. The closest significant town to the park is King Salmon, where the park's headquarters is located, about down the Naknek River from the park entrance. The Alaska Peninsula Highway connects Naknek Lake near the entrance to King Salmon, continuing to the mouth of the river at Naknek. The road is not connected to the Alaska road system. Access to the park's interior is by boat on Naknek Lake. Another road runs from Brooks Camp to Three Forks, which overlooks the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The long coastline (however, see coastline paradox) is deeply indented, running from the entrance to the Cook Inlet at Kamishak Bay south to Cape Kubugakli. The mountains run from southwest to northeast, about inland.
The park abuts McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge on Kamishak Bay. The Alagnak River, designated a wild river, originates within the preserve at Kukaklek Lake. The Naknek River, which empties into Bristol Bay, originates within the park. The park adjoins Becharof National Wildlife Refuge to the south. Of the park and preserve's acres, are in the national park where all sport and subsistence hunting is prohibited. are preserve lands, where both sport and subsistence hunting are permitted. The most commonly hunted species in the preserve includes the brown bear, which has led to some problems about bear hunting due to small preserve population sizes and stalking bears to close limits.
The foundation rocks on the Alaska Peninsula are divided by the Bruin Bay Fault into fossiliferous sedimentary rocks of Jurassic and Cretaceous age to the east and metamorphic and igneous rocks to the west. The granite Aleutian Range batholith has intruded through these rocks. The majority of the higher mountains in the park are of volcanic origin. The park has been extensively altered by glaciation, both in the high lands where the mountains have been sculpted by glaciers, and in the lowlands where lakes have been excavated. Outwash plains and terminal moraines are also featured in the park. Soil types vary from rock or volcanic ash of varying depth to deep, wet soils overlain with peat. Although permafrost exists at higher elevations, it is not present in the lowlands.
Two physiographic provinces cover the park. The Aleutian Range province is composed of the Shelikof Strait coastline, about deep along the coast, the Aleutian Mountain zone, and the lake, or Hudsonian zone. Farther west the Nushagak-Bristol Bay Lowlands province is separated from the Aleutian zone by the Bruin Bay Fault, occupying a small corner of the park.Norris, Ch. 1
Volcanoes
The active volcanoes in the park are Mount Katmai, Novarupta, Trident Volcano, Mount Mageik, Mount Martin and Fourpeaked Mountain. Other volcanoes that have erupted in recent times in geological terms, but not in historical times, are Mount Douglas, Mount Griggs, Snowy Mountain, Mount Denison, Mount Kukak, Devils Desk, Mount Kaguyak, Mount Cerberus, Falling Mountain and Kejulik Volcano. Martin and Mageik produce steam that can be seen from King Salmon, while Trident was active in 1957–1965 and 1968.
The most significant volcanic event in historical times was the simultaneous eruption of Mount Katmai and Novarupta in June 1912. Novarupta's eruption produced a pyroclastic flow that covered a nearby valley with ash as much as thick. At the same time, the summit of Katmai collapsed into a caldera. As the valley deposits cooled, they emitted steam from fissures and fumaroles, earning the name "Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes". As heat has dissipated from the deposits the steam vents have subsided and the valley has been eroded. Streams have cut canyons as much as deep, but only wide. Katmai is a stratovolcano, in height, with a large summit caldera. Several glaciers originate from the mountain, and one in the caldera is one of the few to have formed in historical times. The caldera floor is about below the rim. The mountain stands on Jurassic sedimentary rocks, and its volcanic components are less than thick. Apart from the 1912 eruption, no significant activity has occurred in historical times. Novarupta is described as a Plinian pyroclastic vent with a plug dome, a diameter crater with a , diameter dome in the middle. Its only historical activity was the 1912 eruption.
Trident is a complex of three stratovolcanoes, the highest of which is tall, standing up to above their base. Trident has been intermittently active in historical times, primarily between 1953 and 1974. During that time about 0.7 cubic kilometers of material was erupted to form a new peak called Southwest Trident from the former site of a large fumarolic pit. Mount Martin is high, standing on a high ridge near Mount Mageik, partly overlapping the much older Alagogshak volcano. The summit has a diameter crater, containing fumaroles and sometimes a crater lake. A large lava flow extends from the mountain to fill the upper part of Angle Creek's valley with about five cubic kilometers of material. There have been no significant eruptions from Martin, but the summit emits steam and the volcano is the site of earthquake swarms. Mageik stands on the same sedimentary rocks as Martin. The composite structure has four vents, the highest at and three subsidiary vent cones. A small crater holds a lake and fumaroles on the highest cone's flank. Apart from steaming there has been no recent activity, but there was a large debris avalanche in 1912, probably associated with the eruption of Katmai, amounting to between 0.05 and 0.10 cubic kilometers in volume. Fourpeaked Mountain is a stratovolcano with a probable vent at the summit. Much of the mountain is covered by Fourpeaked Glacier. Fourpeaked Glacier produced phreatic eruptions in September 2006.
Mount Griggs is a stratovolcano near Novarupta, and somewhat to the northwest of the otherwise straight line of volcanoes in Katmai. The flat-topped mountain has three concentric craters, the largest wide. The mountain's geochemistry differs from its neighbors. Griggs has active sulfurous fumaroles. Snowy Mountain is a small volcano tall, with ten significant glaciers covering almost all of the mountain. Roughly a third to half of the mountain has been eroded by glacial action. The volcano has two vents about apart, and active fumaroles at the tallest summit. Mount Denison is a peak with four related vents at the head of three glaciers, the tallest point in the park. Mount Kukak is another ice-covered volcano, tall. It has a strong fumarole field near the summit. Devils Desk is a heavily eroded stratovolcano, high. Kaguyak is a stratovolcano truncated by a caldera, like Katmai. The highest peak is , with a diameter crater lake. There are two large domes within the caldera and two on the flanks. Mount Douglas is a stratovolcano, extensively eroded by ice, with a small acidic crater lake at its summit. Mount Steller is located between Kukak and Denison, with an unknown number of vents in ice-covered terrain. Kejulik is a eroded volcanic remnant. None of these volcanoes have exhibited significant behavior in historic times.
Climate According to the Köppen climate classification system, Katmai National Park and Preserve has a subarctic climate (Dfc) with cool summers and year around precipitation. Dfc climates are defined by their coldest month averaging below , 1–3 months averaging above , all months with average temperatures below and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Plant Hardiness zone at Brooks Falls at elevation is 3b with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of .
Ecosystems
Weather at Katmai is variable, though reliably rainy or drizzly. Summer high temperatures average about and winter lows are between . Fall is somewhat drier than the rest of the year, and warm days can occur year-round. Rainfall is heaviest near the coast, with up to , and lighter to the west. The park supports 29 mammal species, 137 bird species, 24 freshwater fish species and four anadromous fish species.
Mammal species that inhabit Katmai include snowshoe hare, moose, gray wolf, brown bear, coyote, beaver, Canada lynx, wolverine, river otter, American mink, Arctic and red fox species, weasel, porcupine, and marten. Marine mammals include the harbor seal, sea lion, sea otter, beluga whale, killer whale and gray whale. Caribou are occasionally within the park during winter seasons.
The most important fish in the park are sockeye salmon, which feed bears, bald eagles and others during their spawning runs in the park's rivers. Salmon enter the Naknek River drainage from Bristol Bay in June and July and spawn from August to October.
The park also supports a variety of plant communities. Common wildflowers that grow in the park include beachhead iris, nootka lupine, and woolly geranium.
Activities
Activities at Katmai include hiking, backpacking, camping, backcountry skiing, fishing, kayaking, boat tours, and interpretive programs.
Katmai is also well known for Alaskan brown bears and the sockeye salmon that attract both bears and people. Katmai contains the world's largest protected brown bear population, estimated to number about 2,200. Bears are especially likely to congregate at the Brooks Falls viewing platform when the salmon are spawning, and many well known photographs of Alaskan brown bears, such as Thomas Mangelsen's Catch of the Day, have been taken there. The salmon arrive early at the falls compared to other streams. Between 43 and 70 individual bears have been documented there in July and in the lower river in September. The coastal areas such as Hallo Bay, Kukak Bay, Kuliak Bay, Kaflia Bay, Geographic Harbor and Chiniak Bay also host very high population densities of bears year-round, due to the availability of clams and edible coastal sedge as well as salmon and other fish. Other hotspots include Swikshak Lagoon, American Creek, and in the preserve, Moraine Creek and Funnel Creek.