National Geographic Traveler - USA (2019-12 & 2020-01)

116 NATGEOTRAVEL.COM

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WHY GO NOW

Jump through

the Ring of Fire

HOW TO GO

Nat Geo Expeditions offers the

“Across the Bering Sea: From

Katmai to Kamchatka” cruise.

natgeoexpeditions.com/explore

A Kamchatka brown

bear searches

for salmon in the

peninsula’s Kronotsky

Nature Reserve.

No roads link the rest of Russia to the Kamchatka

Peninsula, the vast, thumb-shaped tail of the

Russian Far East. Extending into the sea between

the Japanese and Aleutian archipelagoes,

776-mile-long Kamchatka is part of the Ring

of Fire, the chain of volcanoes and seismically

active sites outlining the Pacific Ocean. Due to

the incredible density and diversity of volca-

noes, geothermal features, and wildlife found

here, six separate areas of the peninsula are

included within the Volcanoes of Kamchatka

World Heritage site.

Teeming with wildlife—including brown

bears weighing up to 1,500 pounds or more—

Kamchatka is an untamed, primordial place that,

until recent years, was visited only by ardent

adventurers. Now, thanks to an ongoing airport

expansion project in the peninsula’s capital city

and gateway, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, it’s

somewhat easier to make the trek to Russia’s

wild east. Getting around is more doable too

with adventure outfitters, such as 56th Parallel

and Explore Kamchatka, offering an increasing

number of tours: volcano hikes, bear-viewing

treks, heli-skiing, river rafting, and visits to

tundra reindeer camps and the awe-inspiring

Valley of the Geysers.

WHEN TO GO

AUG-SEP

VISIT

PENINSULA, RUSSIA

VOLCANIC WONDERS

KAMCHATKA

ADVENTURE

56

.^0

57

6 °

N

,^1

60

.^6
41

5 °

E

ASIA

PACIFIC

OCEAN

PACIFIC

OCEAN

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