Muir's Tours - Canada - Grizzlies

Grizzly Bear Watching - British Columbia

Many people think that the grizzly bear only feeds on salmon. Actually the bears come out of hibernation in March and start looking for food almost immediately. Low tide along the shoreline exposes grasses and other fresh shoots that are one of the first morsals of the year for the hungry grizzly bears. At low tide there are also crabs, eels, and other saltwater creatures. The bears roll rocks, sometimes quite large ones, to expose items to eat. Low tide offers many great opportunities to get close to the bears. Often our boats can get within 25 meters of a feeding bear. Onboard our boat or on a purpose made viewing platform you are safe even though you are in the bears natural habitat.  The kayaks and the kayak support boat have to stay a little further away.

From mid August to Mid October on mainland BC estuaries we enjoy watching bears feed on one of the many salmon streams that the bears regularly visit. Our main locations for bear watching on several river systems have platforms right along the salmon spawning areas and in other locations we watch from our boats. Being so close to the bear territories allows us to offer lower prices for you to see the bears, and the expertise of our guides allows us to guarantee you see the bears. 

3 Great Locations on the coastal rivers of mainland British Columbia, Canada

View the bears from a platform on the rivers edge

















or a boat or a kayak with our power boat acting as mother ship to support our qualified sea kayaking guides, who are out there with you.

To ensure all our guests are able to enjoy the experience, we need you to assess the suitability of it in relation to physical ability. 
Please read the following to ensure everyone in your party will be able to cope.

Our bear-viewing sessions are designed for anyone over 15 year of age who is moderately active, as we do not require that our guests walk great distances.  However our guests do need to be able to do some unaided walking and getting into and out of boats, so this type of experience is not suitable for people with limited mobility. 

In spring, our bear-viewing sessions are held in small boats.  We load into the boats from the docks, which requires stepping from the dock into a small boat. 

In fall, we walk from the lodge to the bus, which is approximately 60 metres along the docks.  The bus ride is on a very bumpy wilderness track.  Once we arrive at a viewing site, the clients will need to walk down a series of stairs to the viewing hide.  There are 10-20 steps at each site.  They are steep, but we go slowly and have handrails for support.  We do try to schedule a hike of some type each day for those who need extra activity.  Our guests are welcome to stay in the lodge at this time and enjoy our selection of natural history books.  As most of our movements are on uneven surfaces (from a plane to the dock, from one dock to another, up a ramp to the land, onto the bus, from the bus down the stairs), our clients do need to be able to walk some distance without the aid of a wheelchair. 


Location 1 - From Port Hardy / Floating Lodge based on the BC mainland coast

Price Indication Per Person                              Email for more detail (tell us how many days and your preferred dates)

4 day / 3 night package - Price Indication Per Person 2008: GBP1200 / USD2250 / CAD2390

Not included: Transportation to and from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.

Other Options at Location 1

Subject to availability we offer shorter stays.

Current Availability for August / September 2008

 2-night tour departures: Aug 20 & 29, Oct 4 - 24
 3-night tour departures: Aug 26, Sept 7 & 24, Oct 1, 6 - 24
 4-night tour departures: Aug 22, Sept 3 & 27, Oct 6 – 24                   Enquiry Form   


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Location 2 - From Campbell River / BC mainland coastal inlet

Price Indication Per Person                              Email for more detail (tell us how many days and your preferred dates)

1 day package - Price Indication Per Person 2008: CAD200

Not included: Transportation to and from Campbell River on Vancouver Island.                                                                                                        

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Location 3 - Bella Coola on the BC mainland coast

Price Indication Per Person                              Fixed Dates: Aug 11 - 16, Aug 16 - 21, Aug 21 - 26*, Aug 26 - 31

*This departure can be combined with our Orcas & The Inside Passage trip.

4 days + package - Price Indication Per Person 2008: USD3,495   Single Supp.: USD945 (available on a limited basis)

Deposit: USD500

Day 1: Arrive Bella Coola, BC
After our group flight from Vancouver to Bella Coola (booked by our local partners), we are met by our Expedition Leader and transferred to Tweedsmuir Lodge, a remote but very comfortable base for our wilderness explorations. Set in a river valley at the base of a massive 8,000-foot rock mountain in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, the views from the lodge are dramatic. The deck of the main lodge, as well as the porches and windows of each cabin, overlook a broad meadow that is a well-known bear sanctuary where grizzlies are often seen.


Day 2: Bella Coola River Float Trip & Helicopter Flightseeing
A slow drift down the Atnarko and Bella Coola rivers offers an ideal pace and proximity for wildlife viewing. During the summer, the rivers are crowded with spawning salmon that attract bald eagles and bears, and we may see both on the banks as we float past. The peaks of the Coast Range rise all around, their serrated ridgelines veined in snow and ice. This afternoon we are afforded a different perspective as we soar above them in a helicopter, dipping through passes where mountain goats are often spotted clinging to the granite above timberline. We fly over Hunlen Falls, Canada’s third highest, which offers yet another spectacle as it pours a thousand feet off a sheer rock precipice, its plume freefalling into spray over Lonesome Lake. If time allows, we may explore a secluded trail in Tweedsmuir Park to look for the rare cougar, gray wolves, bald eagles and other northern birdlife.

Day 3: In Search of Grizzlies
British Columbia is home to an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 grizzlies, among the highest bear concentrations in North America. The summer and early-fall salmon runs attract dozens of bears to this area, and though it is very likely we will see them during our other activities, we spend this entire day focused on these magnificent creatures. We take another float trip, pausing along the riverbanks to watch for bears. The floor of the temperate rainforest is covered with giant sword ferns, devil’s club and tangles of huckleberries, blueberries, raspberries, salmonberries and thimbleberries. Though they gorge on salmon, bears love berries, too, and this vegetation is a draw for them. Of course, grizzlies are unpredictable and we can never guarantee their appearance, but the Bella Coola Valley is so rich with their presence that we feel confident in our sightings.


Day 4: Native Cultures, Rainforest Exploration
Along with prolific wildlife and spectacular scenery, the Bella Coola Valley is home to a group of First Nations peoples, the Nuxalk, a vibrant culture present here for millennia and still thriving today. On a visit to the village of Bella Coola, we are introduced to the Nuxalk culture through local artisans, storytellers, drummers and singers. We’ll also take a walk to a newly discovered set of petroglyphs (ancient rock carvings) engraved along a forgotten trail through a tract of lowland rainforest.


Day 5: Tweedsmuir Park
Where lush coastal forests exist, moisture abounds, and due to the unpredictable weather experienced in the Bella Coola Valley, we are occasionally precluded from traveling by helicopter on our fl ightseeing excursion. We have arranged a “backup day” in case of bad weather on our proposed fl ying day. If we have been able to keep our regular itinerary, then we may hike a trail upriver on the Atnarko, where we may see eagles and bears fi shing for salmon, and other wildlife.


Day 6: Free Morning - Bella Coola / Home / Whale Watching ??
After free time this morning at the lodge, we travel back into town for our group flight back to Vancouver, where we catch our return flights home. Or maybe stay in the area to see the whales.


Note: This itinerary is meant as a guideline for the activities we have planned. The activities we are able to participate in, the exact itinerary, and the duration and order of the activities will be determined by weather, tides, permits and equipment availability and the guide's discretion.      

Enquiry Form     Email for current availability