Exploring Glacier Bay: Trip Planning Tips and Activities

Glacier Bay National Park covers 5,156 square miles of Alaska’s Inside Passage, one of the last wild coastlines along the Pacific Ocean. Temperate rainforest, dynamic glaciers, and alpine tundra define this area of Southeast Alaska and make Glacier Bay one of the most unique national parks in the United States.

Glacier Bay National Park, along with Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Tatshenshini-Alsek Park, and Kluane National Park and Reserve form a massive UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Podcast Episode Overview

I worked as a park ranger for the National Park Service in Glacier Bay and have so many amazing experiences to share about living in this part of Alaska! This national park has tidewater glaciers, massive mountains, and wildlife galore, so we’re excited to explore Glacier Bay with you!

In this episode of the Exploring the National Parks Podcast, we discuss:

Our special connection to this national park
The unique route you need to know about if you want to visit this park
The thing that makes Glacier Bay so cool
The best place to see humpback whales in this park
The incredible wildlife in this area
The best way to see this park
Our favorite spots in Glacier Bay
What you can expect with the weather in this area
The cool thing about the glaciers in this national park
What to do at Bartlett Cove
Our favorite trails in this national park
What you need to know if you plan to go fishing in Glacier Bay

We hope you love this episode and learning about all of the incredible sights that Glacier Bay has to offer! This park is truly phenomenal so we hope that everyone gets a chance to visit.

Listen to the Full Podcast Episode:

Getting to Glacier Bay National Park

There are two main ways to get to Glacier Bay: by air or by boat.

By air, you will most likely connect through Juneau, Alaska, to the small town of Gustavus. Alaska Airlines is an excellent option for connecting through Juneau to the Gustavus airport during the summer months.

After landing, the only road you can take driving from Gustavus to Bartlett Cove is about 10 miles. Some lodging options in Gustavus provide a shuttle that runs from the airport to your lodging, but you’ll want to make sure that you also have a way to get to Bartlett Cove.

You can also use the Alaska ferry system to arrive by boat after flying to Juneau. The ferry service runs frequently and is a fun way to get to the park!

By far and away, the most common way to get to Glacier Bay is by cruise ship, which makes Glacier Bay the most visited national park in Alaska. In 2023, over 700,000 people visited Glacier Bay National Park, and 90 percent of those park visitors came by cruise ship and never set foot on land.

Park Rangers board cruise ships to give programming, stamp national park passport books, and give everyone on the cruise ship the same feeling as though they visited Glacier Bay National Park.

While visiting Glacier Bay on a cruise is a cool way to see the park, our favorite way to experience Glacier Bay is by flying into Gustavus and staying in Glacier Bay Lodge at Bartlett Cove.

If you’re lucky enough to get to Bartlett Cove, you can book a smaller boat tour to go up-bay and see the tidewater glaciers, but you can also explore many other areas in the park!

Unlike cruise ships, the smaller boats are much closer to the water, allowing you to see marine mammals like steller sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, and whales on a more personal level.

Bartlett Cove and the Sitakaday Narrows by boat

I used to work at Bartlett Cove, and I have unforgettable memories here! The Glacier Bay National Park Visitor Center and the Visitor Information Station are both located in Bartlett Cove, making it the perfect place to stop and get additional information and to secure the permits you need before heading out on your adventures.

One of the coolest activities you can do is to kayak around Bartlett Cove. There are so many whales you won’t believe your eyes! Humpback whales, orcas, and porpoises liked to swim right alongside our kayaks.

Kayaking in Bartlett Cove is great for beginners, but if you are just learning how to kayak, don’t venture into the Sitakaday Narrows. The tides at Glacier Bay National Park rise and lower by 25 feet, over 20 feet higher than in other places like Olympic National Park. That creates some dangerous conditions for kayakers.

To help you plan your trip to Glacier Bay National Park, check out our post on 10 Things You Can’t Miss on Your First Visit to Glacier Bay.

To venture through the Sitakaday Narrows and head further up-bay, you’ll want to take the Day Boat run by the Glacier Bay Lodge. Having a local guide on a smaller boat with you makes seeing wildlife much easier!

As you venture up the bay, the boat will take you near South Marble Island, where you can often see puffins and sea lions.

A park ranger or the boat captain will point out all kinds of wildlife as you cruise up the bay, but be sure to bring your binoculars!

The West Arm – Where you’ll see all the glaciers!

The West Arm is the most popular boat tour route to see glaciers — all cruise ships and day tour boats take this path. By far and away, this stretch of Glacier Bay National Park is the highlight of any Alaska Cruise.

In the West Arm, you’ll see the inlets carved into u-shaped valleys by glaciers as they meet the Pacific Ocean. One of my favorite glaciers in the West Arm of Glacier Bay is Lamplugh Glacier, lovingly named “Lamplugh the Blue.”

Nearby, you’ll also get to see the beautiful and majestic Johns Hopkins Glacier. You often can’t get too close to Johns Hopkins Glacier to protect the many harbor seals that live in this area, but you’ll be able to see it from afar. Both of these glaciers are some of the most picturesque in Southeastern Alaska.

Johns Hopkins Glacier is up to 300 feet tall, and it will completely dwarf your boat! This tidewater glacier calves (breaks) into the ocean, creating many icebergs. Submarine calving is somewhat common here, which means the ice breaks off the glacier underwater and shoots up like a torpedo to the surface.

Further along, you’ll come across Margerie Glacier, the most famous glacier in Glacier Bay. Margerie Glacier often calves into the ocean, and often the boat captain will keep the boat here for a while so that you can see the glacier calve!

Grand Pacific Glacier is near Margerie Glacier, though you might not be as impressed by this one. The original glacier was a tidewater glacier credited with carving out the national park. In its present form, it’s cut off from the ocean because of landslides and thinning ice.

The journey up the West Arm only takes one day, which is a short trip to see some of the best places Glacier Bay National Park has to offer!

Back to Bartlett Cove for Hikes, Fishing, and Wildlife Viewing

Now that you’ve seen the water half of Glacier Bay, it’s time to see the land half! The wildlife of Glacier Bay is among the most abundant we’ve ever seen.

Returning to Bartlett Cove, you can see a ton of land mammals. Brown bears, black bears, and moose are so plentiful that you’re bound to see at least one.

Because the tides at Glacier Bay swing hugely, exploring tide pools is unlike any other national park. With each ebb and flow, you can find new sea stars and crustaceans.

At high tide, the Beardslee Islands just north of Bartlett Cove are accessible by kayak. It’s like a hidden land that only appears at certain times of the day!

The Bartlett River is a great place to see salmon spawning and go fishing. The Bartlett River Trail is one of my favorites for seeing wildlife, especially bears. Be warned: If you go fishing, you have to keep your catch within six feet of you at all times; otherwise, a bear may grab your fish!

There are a bunch of great hiking trails that start from Bartlett Cove: the Forest Trail, the Bartlett Lake Trail, and the Tlingit Trail.

The Tlingit Trail is a great place to see a traditional canoe and the Huna Tribal House, all in celebration of the Huna Tlingit who live in the Glacier Bay area. The Huna Tlingit were pushed out of Bartlett Cove by advancing glaciers in the late 1700s, but the area protected by Glacier Bay National Park is their ancestral homeland.

The land around Bartlett Cove is still rising after being crushed under the weight of glaciers during the Little Ice Age. We talk about this more in the Glacier Bay Fun Facts podcast episode!

We recommend spending two days exploring Bartlett Cove, and if you’d like to go salmon or halibut fishing, add one more day.

We hope you have a great time visiting Glacier Bay National Park. It’s one of our favorites, and we’d love to hear if you plan to visit!

Don’t forget to complete your task for this week! What wildlife are you most looking forward to seeing in Glacier Bay? Head over to the Dirt In My Shoes Facebook or Instagram page and let us know!

Podcast minute markers for trip planning

Getting to Glacier Bay (10:04)
Bartlett Cove and the Sitakaday Narrows (16:30)
The West Arm (27:42)
Hikes, Fishing, and Wildlife Viewing (40:00)

Links mentioned in this podcast episode:

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