Kurile Lake

Kurile Lake - it lies in southern Kamchatka and has nothing to do with the island chain of a similar name - fills a caldera formed by an enormous eruption about eight thousand years ago, covering around seventy-seven square kilometres. It holds the largest spawning run of sockeye salmon in Eurasia, several million fish entering the lake and its tributaries from July, and that food supply draws brown bears in a concentration found almost nowhere else: over two hundred animals around a lake of that size, fishing in the shallows and along the streams, often in sight of each other and of the observation platforms. It is inside the South Kamchatka federal reserve, part of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO site. Visits are strictly controlled - permits, licensed operators, armed rangers accompanying every group, and fixed viewing points, because the density of bears makes casual movement genuinely unsafe.

What you actually see

• The sockeye run - the largest in Eurasia, several million fish from July.
• The bear concentration - over two hundred brown bears fishing around one lake.
• The caldera - about seventy-seven square kilometres from an eruption eight thousand years ago.
• The controlled access - permits, licensed operators and armed ranger escorts.

When to go

July to September, when salmon run and bears gather. Two to four days. Helicopter or a long overland approach, both through operators.

Honest expectations

Bear density here is the highest in Russia and rangers carry weapons for a reason - movement is restricted and instructions are not advisory. Permits and licensed operators are compulsory. Helicopter access is expensive and weather-dependent. Mosquitoes are severe.

Nearby

Ilyinsky volcano stands over the lake; Petropavlovsk is far to the north.