Our Kodiak logo carries Alaska's distressed bear above "Est. 1959," the year of statehood — the shared retro emblem of our Alaska places, drawn in worn black-and-white like an old crate stamp. Nowhere does the bear mean more than here: on Kodiak it is not a motif but a neighbor. What makes this one Kodiak is everything around it — the Emerald Isle green, the Russian bells, the king crab, and the biggest bears alive.
Today Kodiak is Alaska in concentrate — a seven-thousand-year Alutiiq homeland, the first capital of Russian Alaska, a top American fishing port, the Coast Guard's largest base, and bear country without apology. Its story runs from Sun'aq through Three Saints Bay and Paul's Harbor, ash and tsunami, to the harbor forest of masts. Wear a little of the Emerald Isle.
Why People Visit Kodiak Alaska
- Go bear viewing in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge — floatplane, boat, or guided hike to watch the biggest brown bears on Earth work a salmon stream.
- Walk the Russian layer downtown: the Baranov Museum in the c. 1808 Magazin, the Holy Resurrection church and Saint Herman's relics, and the Alutiiq Museum's 7,000-year story.
- Hike Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park — WWII gun emplacements in the spruce above the cliffs — and Pillar Mountain over town.
- Fish the famous water: charters for halibut and salmon, the Buskin River run, and the harbor's forest of masts.
- Ride out to Narrow Cape for the spaceport road, surf-watching, and buffalo on the hills.
- Ferry or floatplane to the wild edges — Shuyak Island's kayak country and Spruce Island's pilgrim trail.
