We went to Brooks Lodge at the end of July with my parents when they came to Alaska to visit and we had a wonderful time! It was expensive, but it was so worth it! The rooms weren't great - 4 bunks beds and a bathroom, but it was clean and it didn't matter. It was comfortable and we could see the lake from our room. The room wasn't why we went. We went to see the bears and the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. The float plane ride was fun and not scary at all. It was fun to fly low where you could see everything on the ground. There were bears on the beach when our plane landed and we had to sit in the plane and wait for them to move! We saw bears on the waterfall fishing and the cutest little cubs with their mother! We took the tour to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. It was long, but very intersting and a great hike. The huge lava flow area was amazing to see. My dad and husband got a guide and went out in the boat and fly fished at Margo Creek one morning for a half day. They said it was awesome. People were fishing right on the Brooks River, too, and seemed to be very successful. I don't know how you couldn't be - there were fish in the river everywhere! You could stand on the bridge and see them in swarms in the water. We rented a kayak that afternoon and paddled around, too. The area is really beautiful. There were a lot of people that only stood there and watched the bears for 3 days straight. There was so much more to see and do. The park rangers walk to the native house was also very interesting and only took an hour and we hiked up the mountain behind the campground one afternoon and the view from the top was amazing. On the way back we went on Katmai Air's small plane back to Anchorage and it was the best flight! We flew right over some glaciers, through a beautiful valley and over some huge volcanoes (Illiamna and Augustine) and Illiamna was smoking! It was much nicer than going through King Salmon like we did on the way. We had the best time. We are still talking about it. I hope we get the chance to go back again.