Glacier Bay National Park
Been Here Life List

Picture of Glacier Bay National Park

In the watery wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, you can witness a landscape at its literal moment of creation. When George Vancouver and his H.M.S. Discovery explored Southeast Alaska's coastline in 1794, Glacier Bay lay buried beneath a mile-thick sheet of ice extending all the way to its mouth at Icy Strait. But the ice has beaten a remarkably hasty retreat over the last two centuries, exhuming a raw, misty realm of steep-sided fjords and tidewater glaciers. Read More »

Glacier Bay National Park Highlights

Glacier Bay stands at farthest possible remove from the tiresome clamor of the modern world. So, at least for a little while, trade in your cell phone's jangle for the pop, crackle, and finally thunderous boom of a building-size berg calving into the sea from a vast river of ice.
Join Spirit Walker Expeditions for a multi-day sea kayaking trip into Glacier Bay to see whales and other marine animals, not to mention amazing terrain viewable from both the water and the shore.
Most of the fishing in Glacier Bay is saltwater; the park's water has excellent runs of silver, king, and pink salmon as well as Pacific halibut, the largest sport fish in Alaska.
Watch for the Steller sea lion as well as whales. With a lion-like roar, bulls weigh in at 1,800 pounds, are up to 11 feet long, and are plump from a diet of pollock, cod, herring, salmon, squid, and octopus.

By Travel Expert: Jeremy Pataky

Try a one-day kayaking adventure: rent a sea-touring kayak and strike out on your own or join a guided day kayaking trip. Bartlett Cove offers the novice kayaker a much protected rainforest environment in which to paddle and explore. Kayakers may traverse the shores of Lester Island and Point Gustavus, where they will have opportunities to spot seals, porpoise, sea otter, black bear, moose, bald eagles, and whales.
Backpacking in the park is a rewarding experience for those who are willing, and have the knowledge, to explore off-trail. Though Bartlett Cove has four maintained day-hike trails, the rest of the park is a glorious blank slate of wilderness and beach.
For an adventurous multi-day trip, kayak West Arm and Muir Inlet. The nearest tidewater glaciers to Bartlett Cove are about 50 to 65 miles away in the Muir and West Arms. Kayakers generally should allow five to eight days to paddle each way.

By Travel Expert: Karen Kefauver