A landscape is alive underneath our feet, filled with creatures that remind us what it is to be wild.
Katmai was declared a national monument in 1918 to preserve the living laboratory of its cataclysmic 1912 volcanic eruption Novarupta, and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The monument boundaries were extended over the years, and in 1980 the area was designated a national park and preserve. Katmai's awe-inspiring natural powers confront us most visibly in its volcanics and its brown bears. Today, Katmai National Park and Preserve also protects 9,000 years of human history and important habitat for salmon and thousands of brown bears.