McNeil River

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The McNeil River is a river on the eastern drainage of the Alaska Peninsula near its base and conjunction with the Alaska mainland, at 59°073'N Latitude / 154°14' W Longitude. Its entire length of 35 miles (55 km) lies within the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, created in 1967 by the State of Alaska to protect the numerous Alaska brown bears who frequented the area. It also lies entirely within the Kenai Peninsula Borough boundaries.

More famous for its bear population than for the size of the river or the strength of its salmon runs, McNeil River has been featured on many television and film documentaries. So well-known has the area become as a bear-viewing area, that in 1973 the State of Alaska began limiting the number of summer visitors to ten per day during peak visitor months of June, July and August. The area has also been "wired" for webcam remote viewing for those unable to access the river in person.

Various groups have been formed to support keeping the area pristine and free from bear-hunting activity, despite the proximity of the Sanctuary to the adjacent Katmai National Park and Preserve. And while the bear population often wanders outside the protected zone their numbers have gradually continued to rise; summer visitors are often treated to 60 or more animals at one sighting.