Things to do around King Salmon, Alaska

02.21.12

The King Salmon Aiport

To the visitor from a major metropolitan area, there’s really not a lot to do around King Salmon in terms of easy access tourist type activities… bring a book and some patience!

The core of King Salmon consists of the airport, 2 nearby bars/restaurants (most years), a couple of motels, a small grocery store, a visitor’s center, and a gift shop – almost all within walking distance of each other. And depending on the time of year, you might add some swarming bugs (be mentally prepared for a possible onslaught from mid-June to early September.)

The following should give you a better idea of area options for before or after your Alaska fishing trip.

KING SALMON – DINING

Eddie’s Fireplace Inn

• Located across the street from the airport
• Locally know as “Eddie’s” you can find good to average food in generally large portions
• Open year round, but service generally slow, so allow extra time
• Usually open at 7:30 am

Sockeye Saloon (formerly the King Ko)

• Very clean and completely renovated in 2018
• Located immediately next to the airport
• Tasty but pricey food and drink
• Small convenience store (in same building)
• Should be open at 9:00am for breakfast

King Salmon Lodge

• Located close to town, but not within walking distance
• Offers upscale dining and lounge

King Salmon’s grocery store

AC Value Center

• Located across the street from the airport and Sockeye Saloon, next to Eddie’s
• Grocery store, plus some prepared (mostly fried) food
• Prepare yourself for high, rural Alaska prices
• Consistently open at 7:30 am

KING SALMON – NIGHTLIFE

Eddie’s Fireplace Inn

• Sometimes quiet, sometimes rowdy bar
• Closes midnight or so

Sockeye Saloon

• Clean and refreshing bar

King Salmon Lodge

• Located close to town, but not within walking distance
• Offers upscale dining and lounge

KING SALMON – DAYTIME

It’s worth stopping by the Visitor Center

The Visitor Center

• Located immediately next to the airport
• Offers an excellent selection of good books and reference material. Definitely worth stopping in.

The Airport Gift Shop

• Located immediately next to the airport
• T-shirts to nice Native crafts

Stretching your legs

• Talk a walk on the road through or around town
• Be aware, but not paranoid, that bears are regularly spotted around town – ask your motel about local bear sightings and problems
• Potential for swarming bugs is VERY high mid-June through early September

Fishing

• The Naknek River runs right through town and offers excellent fishing for salmon and rainbow trout, but you’ll definitely need to hire a local fishing guide
• It is not practical to fish this large river on foot near town, and you can expect to see a fair amount of people and boat traffic
• Contact us for some Naknek River fishing guide recommendations
• King Salmon Creek is a little over a mile from town and is fishable without a boat

NAKNEK

About 15 miles down the “Alaska Peninsula Highway” you’ll find that this port town offers a few more amenities than King Salmon, but a taxi ride is the only practical way to get there (unless you rent or borrow a car).

• D&D’s is a local restaurant with excellent food and some of the best pizza we’ve ever had
• Use Redline Taxi 907.246.8294 to get there; expect to pay a seemingly ridiculous premium
• Naknek Trading is the grocery store with a larger and better selection than AC Value in King Salmon
• NAPA Auto Parts
• Naknek/Ace Hardware

KATMAI NATIONAL PARK

If you have the time before or after your Alaska fishing trip with us, you can fly into this incredible National Park for bear viewing, fishing or hiking.

• Brooks Camp offers world famous bear viewing but the reality is you’ll see plenty of bears while at our SAFARI camp
• Katmai Air offers daily float plane flights into Katmai NP
• Egli Air Haul, via wheel plane, can fly you into the Valley of 10,000 Smokes (site of the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century)

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