Brooks Lodge Lottery 2027: Dates, Odds and What to Do if You Lose
The 2027 Brooks Lodge lottery is closed. The next application window, for the 2028 season, is scheduled for December 1 to December 30, 2026, confirmed on the operator's site. Brooks Lodge is the only lodging inside Brooks Camp, reached solely by floatplane from King Salmon or Anchorage. If you strike out, the NPS campground at Brooks Camp and single-day floatplane trips are both real alternatives. For the rest of an Alaska trip built around bears and water, see our Kenai Fjords kayaking itinerary.
Brooks Lodge Lottery 2027: What Happened to It
If you are searching for the 2027 Brooks Lodge lottery in the fall of 2026, you are too late. The operator's site states plainly that the application period for the 2027 lottery is closed. This page exists because that search still gets typed constantly, and the honest answer is to point you at what is actually open: the 2028 lottery, plus the ways to see Katmai's bears without a lodge room at all.
How the Brooks Lodge Lottery Works
Brooks Lodge is not booked first-come, first-served. You submit one application during the open window, and it is stamped with a sequential number in the order it arrived. After the window closes, a random draw sets the order applications are actually processed in, and the lodge works down that list, checking each applicant's preferred dates and assigning a room or a waitlist spot. Being flexible on dates is the one lever you control, since the lodge matches against exactly what you submitted rather than offering alternates. Katmailand does not publish an official acceptance rate, so treat any odds you see quoted elsewhere as guesswork and confirm current terms on their site before you apply.
Applying for the 2028 Season
The 2028 Brooks Lodge lottery application window is scheduled for December 1 through December 30, 2026, with a submission deadline of 5:00 p.m. Alaska time on the final day. Confirm these dates on Katmailand's own site before you apply, since a lottery-style system like this can shift by a few days between seasons.
Who Runs Brooks Lodge
Brooks Lodge is operated by Bristol Adventures under the Katmailand brand, and the National Park Service lists it as the only lodging option inside Brooks Camp. There is no second lodge and no overflow inventory: if the lottery does not work out, your options inside Brooks Camp itself are the NPS campground or a day visit. Bristol Adventures runs a small family of other Alaska lodges too, including Mission Lodge, Kulik Lodge and Grosvenor Lodge, and its site lists trips from those as another way to see Brooks Camp for a day without going through the lottery.
Getting to Brooks Camp
There is no road to Brooks Camp. Nearly everyone arrives by small floatplane, most commonly from King Salmon, the community closest to the park with a commercial airport, or on a longer flight direct from Anchorage. Build the floatplane leg into your trip planning and budget separately, since it is a separate booking from the lodge or campground reservation itself.
If You Don't Get the Lodge: Camping and Day Trips
The National Park Service runs a campground at Brooks Camp from June 1 to September 17 each year, separate from the lodge and not part of its lottery. Permits for the Brooks River Corridor go through recreation.gov. If camping is not for you either, day trips to Brooks Camp from Anchorage, King Salmon or Katmailand's sister lodges get you to the bear-viewing platforms and Brooks Falls without an overnight stay at all, and they run on a normal booking, not a lottery.
Have Us Plan the Katmai Leg
Tell us whether you want the lodge, the campground or a day trip and we will fit Katmai into the rest of your Alaska itinerary, floatplanes included. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.
Keep planning with Alaska Itinerary.
Brooks Lodge Lottery 2027: Dates, Odds and What to Do if You Lose FAQs
No. Katmailand's site states the 2027 application period is closed. The next window is for the 2028 season, scheduled for December 1 to December 30, 2026.
You submit one application during the open window. After it closes, a random draw sets the order applications are processed, and the lodge assigns rooms or waitlist spots against each applicant's stated dates in that order.
Katmailand does not publish an official acceptance rate. Being flexible with your dates is the main thing that improves your chances, since the lodge only matches what you submitted.
Yes. The National Park Service runs a campground at Brooks Camp from June 1 to September 17, separate from the lodge lottery, with permits for the Brooks River Corridor handled through recreation.gov.
By floatplane only. There is no road. Most flights leave from King Salmon, the closest community with a commercial airport, or from Anchorage.
Yes. Day trips to Brooks Camp from Anchorage, King Salmon or Katmailand's sister lodges are bookable directly, without going through the lodge lottery.
Yes. The worked day-by-day plan is Kenai Fjords Kayaking: 2-Day Seward & Exit Glacier Itinerary (2 Days), with the permits, the stays and the drive times already sorted. Tell us your dates and we will put it together for you and confirm what is genuinely open on those days. Asking is free: no card, no deposit, and nothing is held until you say yes.
