Glacier Bay National Park
Trip Assistant
How Much Time?
There’s a 97% chance you arrive here aboard a cruise ship, so you will not have control over how much time is spent. The good news is, cruise ships spend about an hour at a tidewater glacier waiting for ice to calve.
If you’d like to join the other 3%, then you have to arrive by private boat (only 25 allowed each day) or get to Gustavus and arrange things (lodging, tours, kayaking) from there. This is the intimate experience, and if you’ve been dreaming about Alaska and paddling near glaciers, this is the place to do it, so do it right.
Need to Know
- Only 25 private boat permits are available per day (by lottery).
- Humpback whales are more commonly seen near the mouth of Glacier Bay, so if you’re on a cruise ship, always be watching for wildlife.
- Glacier Bay Lodge and a few other outfitters offer boat and kayak tours to the tidewater glaciers, if you’d like something a little different from the typical cruise ship tour.
Highlights
- Glacier Bay
- Margerie Glacier
- Marine Life!
- Johns Hopkins Glacier
- Muir Inlet
- Mount Fairweather
- Alsek River
Activities
- Paddling
- Boat Tours
- Whale Watching
- Cruises
- Whitewater Rafting
- Hiking
- Backpacking
- Fishing
- Flightseeing
Favorite Trails
Unlike most parks, hiking is not the star attraction.
When To Go?
Weather
Visitation
The park is open year-round and the weather is better than most of the northern Lower 48, but almost everyone arrives between May and October.
Park Map Downloads
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