Glacier Bay National Park
Glacier Bay National Park, Gustavus, AK
Southeast Alaska
A bay so young that ice filled it just two centuries ago, now a corridor of calving glaciers, breaching whales, and rainforest mountains at the edge of the Inside Passage.
Glacier Bay is one of the youngest landscapes you can visit. Only a couple of centuries ago the whole bay was buried under a wall of ice that has since pulled back more than sixty miles, one of the fastest glacial retreats ever recorded, leaving a long fjord that reaches deep among the mountains of Southeast Alaska. Ride a boat up the bay and you travel back through time, from mature rainforest near the mouth to bare, newly uncovered rock at the glacier faces, watching the land come back to life stage by stage.
At the head of the bay, tidewater glaciers still meet the sea, and their blue-white faces crack and thunder as slabs of ice calve into the water. The bay is famous for its wildlife too: humpback whales feed here in summer, orcas patrol the channels, sea otters raft in the kelp, and bears, mountain goats, and eagles work the shores. There are no roads in; the park is reached by boat or plane, which only adds to the feeling of entering a wilder, quieter world.
What Guests Love
- Watching tidewater glaciers calve into the sea
- Humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, and seals in the bay
- The lush rainforest mountains rising straight from the water
- A landscape that has emerged from the ice within living memory
Worth Knowing
- There are no roads into the park; most visitors arrive by tour boat, cruise ship, or small plane from Gustavus or Juneau
- The classic experience is a day boat tour up the bay to the glaciers; book ahead for the summer season
- Weather is cool, wet, and changeable in this coastal rainforest, so bring warm, waterproof layers
- Services cluster near Bartlett Cove and Gustavus; the rest of the park is deep wilderness
Details
Southeast Alaska
Learn about Glacier Bay National Park
A bay reborn from the ice
When explorers first recorded Glacier Bay, it barely existed, its entrance choked by a massive glacier. In the time since, that ice has retreated dramatically, opening the long bay seen today and creating a living laboratory of how life returns after the ice. Near the mouth stand tall spruce and hemlock forests; farther up, younger plants and bare ground show the land only recently freed, all within a single boat trip.
At the far reaches, active tidewater glaciers still flow down from the mountains to the water's edge. Boats and kayaks approach to watch and listen as the glaciers calve, a reminder that the forces that carved this bay are still at work today.
Whales, rainforest, and wilderness
The cold, rich waters of Glacier Bay draw abundant marine life, and a summer cruise up the bay is a wildlife show. Humpback whales lunge and breach as they feed, orcas cut through the passages, harbor seals rest on floating ice near the glaciers, and sea otters drift in the kelp beds. On the steep green shores, brown and black bears forage and mountain goats cling to the cliffs.
All of this sits within an enormous protected wilderness, part of a World Heritage site shared with neighboring parks in Alaska and Canada, one of the largest such areas on the planet. Whether seen from a tour boat, a kayak, or the forest trails near Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay offers a rare glimpse of a coast still shaped by ice and teeming with wild life.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Southeast Alaska
Bartlett Cove
Park headquarters
The park's main hub near Gustavus, with a lodge, forest and shore trails, and the departure point for boat tours up the bay.
Gustavus
About 10 miles
The small gateway community serving the park, reached by ferry or small plane, with lodging and access to the bay.
Juneau
About 50 miles by air or water
Alaska's capital and the main regional gateway, itself home to the road-accessible Mendenhall Glacier.