Auk Village Campground closed after bear ransacks food box, tent

Two incidents in two days prompt US Forest Service to relocate campers while working with state Fish and Game officials to ‘deal with the perpetrator’

A ransacked bear box at Auk Village Campground on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (U.S. Forest Service photo)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Auk Village Campground is closed indefinitely due to a bear vandalizing a tent Wednesday while searching for food, following a visit on Tuesday when the bear ransacked a secured food box, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Tuesday’s visit at the campground about 15 miles north of downtown Juneau occurred while campers were sleeping, according to a post on the Forest Service’s Facebook page for the Tongass National Forest.

"It was spotted again today, vandalizing a tent and campsite in search of food," the post notes. The seven campers at Auk Village were relocated to Mendenhall Glacier Campground.

Auk Village Campground "will remain closed while the Forest Service works with Alaska Department of Fish & Game to deal with the perpetrator."

People with upcoming reservations have been notified about the closure and Forest Service officials are asking people not to walk off-leash dogs near the campsite.

Bears are frequent visitors to Forest Service campsites in Southeast Alaska, but closures due to disruptive incidents are rare, Paul Robbins, a Forest Service spokesperson, told the Juneau Independent on Wednesday afternoon.

"I believe the trigger for closing this time was the bear was trying to get into a tent," he said. "That's not normal activity for our bears in campsites."

Robbins said the incident shows the efforts bears will make to get food from campsites and the precautions people should take.

"Really the number one thing we want people to take away from this is not only that we're extremely focused on their safety, and that's why we close the campground, but also don't keep food in your tent (and) don't keep food outside of the bear containers because we want to avoid this food habit for bears," he said.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.