Glacier Bay
National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a marine wilderness park. Here there are opportunities for adventure, a living laboratory for observing the ebb and flow of glaciers, and a chance to study life as it returns in the wake of retreating ice. Amidst majestic scenery, Glacier Bay offers us now, and for all time, a connection to a powerful and wild landscape.

The park has snow-capped mountain ranges rising to over 15,000 feet, coastal beaches with protected coves, deep fjords, tidewater glaciers, coastal and estuarine waters, and freshwater lakes. These diverse land and seascapes host a mosaic of plant communities ranging from pioneer species in areas recently exposed by receding glaciers, to climax communities in older coastal and alpine ecosystems. These habitats support a variety of life including seabirds, marine and terrestrial mammals that provide ideal conditions for wildlife viewing and for research as we endeavor to learn more about the world around us.

Glacier Bay was proclaimed a National Monument on Feb. 25, 1925. Then established as a National Park and Preserve on Dec. 2, 1980. Boundary changes occurred April 18, 1939, March 31, 1955, and December 1, 1978. 2,770,000 acres of Glacier Bay was designated wilderness on Dec. 2, 1980. Biosphere Reserve status was designated in 1986 and designated a World Heritage Site in 1992.

ACREAGE

National Park: 3,224,794 acres (3,221,979 Federal, 2,815 Nonfederal) of which 601,600 are marine waters.
National Preserve: 58,406 acres (all Federal)
Wilderness area: 2,770,000 acres (2,716,730 land, 53,270 marine waters)

VISITATION

Total visitation in 1998 was 405,246. Of that total, 339,406 came on board cruise ships.

LOCATION

Southeast Alaska, about 65 air miles northwest of Juneau.

ADDRESS

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

P.O. Box 140
Gustavus, Alaska 99826-140

TELEPHONE

Headquarters: (907) 697-2230, Fax: (907) 697-2654

OPERATING HOURS, SEASONS  

Open year round. The Glacier Bay National Park Visitor Center is open from mid-May to mid-September.

CLIMATE, RECOMMENDED CLOTHING

Glacier Bay is a rainy place. Bartlett Cove averages 75 inches of rain per year, most of that in September and October. The rain, wind, topography and tides all play a role in creating our exciting weather. Long periods of rainy, cool, and overcast weather are common in southeast Alaska. Summer daytime temperatures range from 45- 65F. A hat, gloves, raingear and sturdy, waterproof footgear are recommended.

TRANSPORTATION

There are no roads to Glacier Bay and no Alaska state ferry service. Year-around air service is available to Gustavus from Juneau and neighboring communities via small planes. These air-taxi companies are common in Alaska. A major airline provides daily jet service between Juneau and Gustavus in the summer. Passenger ferries offer transportation between Juneau and Gustavus mid-May through mid-September. Limited tour boat, cruise ship and charter boat services are available. Private pleasure boats are welcome. A ten-mile road by taxi or bus connects Gustavus to Bartlett Cove.

Trails and Roads

The only road in the park runs 10 between Bartlett Cove and Gustavus. Seven miles of trails wind along the beaches and through the rainforest in the Bartlett Cove area.

Accessibility

The Glacier Bay Visitor Center located on the second level of the Glacier Bay Lodge and the first portion of the Forest Loop Trail is accessible to wheelchairs. There are no paved roads.

FEES, COSTS, RATES

There are no entrance or user fees for non-commercial visitors.

FACILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Visitor Center/Exhibits

The Glacier Bay Visitor Center is located on the second level of the Glacier Bay Lodge in Bartlett Cove. It has an information desk, an Alaska Natural History Association book store, and an auditorium. As available are exhibits that illustrate the park's natural and cultural history.

Programs/Activities

Daily park rangers offer evening programs, films/videos in the Visitor Center auditorium, walks and hikes through the forest and along the shore, and present a public address commentary on board tour boats and cruise ships entering Glacier Bay.

LODGING AND CAMPING FACILITIES

The Glacier Bay Lodge offers overnight accommodations, a restaurant, gift shop and fuel sales (gasoline, #2 diesel, and white gas). The nearby town of Gustavus has several lodges and bed and breakfast establishments. A free primitive National Park Service campground is available at Bartlett Cove.

FOOD/SUPPLIES

Groceries, supplies a small cafe and a hardware store are available in Gustavus.

OTHER CONCESSIONS/NPS-MANAGED VISITOR FACILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The Glacier Bay Lodge operates a day tour boat trip during the summer months. The Lodge also offers a camper/kayaker drop-off service at designated locations in the bay. Various large cruise ship and tour boat companies bring visitors into the park. Guided kayak adventures and kayak rentals are available. There are guided kayak, backpacking, and raft trips down the Alsek River. In the Preserve hunting and fishing guides are available. For more information and a list of companies providing visitor services to Glacier Bay see Planning Your Visit. For information about conducting business in Glacier Bay and to access links to Glacier Bay Concessioners and Permittees see Commercial Visitor Services.

RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES/PARK USE

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is most easily seen from a boat; the distance between Bartlett Cove and the tidewater glaciers is 65 miles. Activities include sightseeing, wildlife viewing, boating, kayaking, and the park ranger programs.

RESERVATIONS/PERMITS

Reservations or permits are not required for most non-commercial uses. Private motor vessels wishing to enter the park must have a permit between June 1 and August 31. Reservations are recommended, as these permits are limited, and may be obtained by contacting the park. Campers are required to obtain a permit. Reservations are recommended for most commercial visitor services. An Alaska state license is required for fishing and hunting in the park or preserve.

BASIC VISIT RECOMMENDATIONS

It is 65 miles from the forests of Bartlett Cove to the tidewater glaciers. A boat trip is undertaken by most visitors and is a highlight of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Because weather conditions can occasionally cause flight cancellations, it is advisable to allow some extra travel time in your itinerary.

VISITOR IMPACTS

Black and brown (grizzly) bears are wild animals and should always be considered potentially dangerous. Help wildlife remain wild by not feeding any animal, including squirrels and gulls. Some areas are closed or restricted because of bear concentrations or food availability, nesting bird colonies, feeding humpback whales, or other wildlife situations.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

When English explorer Captain George Vancouver sailed through southeast Alaska about 200 years ago, he charted only a small recess in the shoreline in the place where Glacier Bay is today. The "solid mountains of ice rising perpendicularly from the water's edge" that he described have retreated 65 miles and opened a vast bay to the sea. What was bare rock at the edge of the ice in Vancouver's time is now a lush rain forest with huge Sitka spruce. Up bay, where the ice has departed in the past few decades, low plants are beginning to take hold. And at the end of the bay, tidewater glaciers still present solid mountains of ice.

View maps of the Park and Preserve at the NPS Alaska Geospatial Data Clearinghouse!

Last Updated: Tuesday, 20-Jul-99 17:43:26
http://www.nps.gov/glba/