Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Glacier Bay: Where the Ice Has Retreated 120 Kilometres in 250 Years

In 1750, Glacier Bay was a single massive glacier filling the entire inlet. By 1794 when George Vancouver charted the coastline, the ice had already retreated about 8 kilometres. By 1916, 105 kilometres. Today the main bay is open water reaching 65 kilometres into the mountains, with glacier arms branching off into side inlets. The speed of this retreat is among the most documented in any glaciated region on earth. In the innermost reaches of the bay, the land is still rebounding from the weight of the removed ice, rising at up to 38 millimetres per year – a measurable speed, and a rate that puts the timeline of the ice’s departure in visceral physical terms.

Getting There

Glacier Bay has no road access. The gateway is Gustavus, a small town of around 450 people, served by Alaska Airlines flights from Juneau at about 40 minutes. Round-trip flights from Juneau cost around USD 120 to 200. Juneau is reachable by air from Seattle and Anchorage, or by the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system from Bellingham, Washington – a three-day sailing through the Inside Passage.

Most visitors to Glacier Bay arrive by cruise ship, spending one day in the bay under a permit system that limits large vessels. These visitors never leave their ships. The independent visitor experience staying in Gustavus is entirely different from the cruise ship version.

The Day Boat Cruise

The park’s concessionaire runs a day-trip boat from Bartlett Cove in Gustavus that travels the full length of the bay to the tidewater glaciers. The trip takes about eight hours and covers approximately 200 km. Cost is around USD 200 to 220 per adult.

The boat passes through successive vegetation zones that reveal the timeline of the ice retreat: old-growth forest near Bartlett Cove (where ice left first), then scrub willow and alder at the middle bay, then bare glacial silt and rock near the glacier faces. A Park Service ranger narrates throughout.

Margerie Glacier, 21 km long and 1.6 km wide at its face, still advances in winter and calves ice throughout the season. Watching a section of ice face collapse into the bay is the defining experience of the cruise; calving events range from small falls to building-sized collapses that send waves rolling across the inlet.

Wildlife

Humpback whales feed in Glacier Bay from late spring through summer, and the bay offers some of the better viewing of humpback feeding behaviour anywhere on the Pacific coast – bubble-net feeding, where multiple whales cooperate to concentrate fish before lunging through the surface. The day boat positions specifically for this; the interpretive ranger identifies individual whales by their tail flukes.

Brown bears are commonly seen from the boat along shorelines. Sea otters were reintroduced in the 1980s after being hunted to local extinction and are often visible in the Beardslee Islands near Bartlett Cove. Steller sea lions, harbour seals hauling out on ice floes, mountain goats on rocky slopes, and eagles throughout.

Kayaking

Sea kayak rentals are available at Bartlett Cove. The Beardslee Islands archipelago near the bay entrance is suitable for beginner kayakers with camping. The upper bay near the glaciers requires cold-water paddling skills; water temperature is 4 to 6 degrees Celsius year-round and immersion is a serious risk. Free backcountry permits from the park; most backcountry camping involves being dropped off by the day boat.

Where to Stay

Glacier Bay Lodge at Bartlett Cove is the only accommodation within the park: 56 rooms in a lodge surrounded by old-growth forest, a 5-minute walk from the kayak beach and day boat dock. Rates run around USD 220 to 300 per night in summer. The halibut at the lodge restaurant is worth ordering.

Annie Mae Lodge in Gustavus is a well-regarded bed and breakfast with full breakfast, from around USD 180 per night.

When to Go

Peak season is June through August. May and September have better wildlife viewing and far fewer visitors. September in particular has good wildlife, lower accommodation prices, and the beginning of autumn colour.