I grew up in Minnesota, live in Wisconsin, have camped a lot in those two states. I have seen a lot of black bears, some up close. I think the closest was about 20 feet away, that was a small one that ran really fast when he decided to leave our campsite.

But I am happy to look at brown bears only in photos.

I took this photo as I was leaving Waterton Park. I had my camera on maximum zoom and had no desire to get closer. I am not sure the distance, maybe 100 meters away? That camera has a pretty strong zoom.