Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Bartlett Cove

This is the only developed area in the park, which makes it a good place to get oriented before heading into the wider wilderness. Glacier Bay Lodge sits here alongside a visitor center and park headquarters. The trails pass through temperate rainforest of spruce and hemlock, and several short ones are easy to follow. The one-mile Forest Loop crosses forest and beach, and the Bartlett River Trail runs about four miles round trip. Rangers lead guided walks and talks, and the shoreline and intertidal zone invite exploring on foot. The area has a public dock and kayak rentals for getting out on the water, and visitors can also stay at the walk-in campground tucked into the trees beside the shore.

Glacier Bay

Most visitors experience Glacier Bay from the water, where tidewater glaciers that meet the sea are the main draw. Cruise ships and tour boats carry passengers up the inlets, while sea kayakers can launch from Bartlett Cove or be dropped off farther up near the ice. Wildlife viewing is a highlight, with humpback whales, harbor seals, Steller sea lions and sea otters, and coastal brown bears often feeding along the shoreline at low tide. Bartlett Cove is the only developed area, with a visitor center, kayak rentals, a lodge and several trails for hiking along the shore. The Fairweather Range rises here, with Mount Fairweather, the park's tallest peak, and its high summits feed glaciers that reach the sea. Glaciers here have advanced and retreated many times over the last 20,000 years, so the scenery keeps changing.

Outer Coast

Remote and seldom visited, this wilderness coast rewards those willing to take on the challenges of a wilderness expedition. The Fairweather Range dominates its shores, and Mount Fairweather, at 15,300 feet, rises less than twenty miles from the Gulf of Alaska. Intense glacial erosion has carved these mountains into a high, jagged palisade that divides the outer coast from the inner waters. During the Great Ice Ages the range blocked ice from flowing seaward, and during the Little Ice Age it was the main source of ice. Near the coast, the Alsek River splits into meandering channels across an 80 square mile delta called Dry Bay, where parts of the delta dry out at ebb tide. A scenic flight offers another way to take in the terrain from above.

Gustavus

A small coastal town serving as the main gateway to the park, set on a broad plain of glacial outwash that is still rising. Land that once sat in the tidal zone now stands high and dry, lifting more than an inch each year since the glaciers receded. Visitors reach the town by a 30-minute flight from Juneau or a four to six hour ferry ride. Bartlett Cove, about 10 miles away, is the park's only developed area, with a visitor center, several trails, and kayak rentals. The beach and Icy Strait shoreline invite walks, the Salmon River winds through town, and Four Corners is the hub of local life. The town has a grocery store, post office and several art galleries. Wildlife viewing and the intertidal life of Bartlett Cove round out the experience.