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Rangers at the Visitor Information Station provide camper orientations, issue backcountry permits and bear-resistant food containers. A daily boat provides a camper drop-off service at designated locations in the bay. CampingĪ multitude of camping experiences awaits you, ranging from a stay in our free walk-in campground at Bartlett Cove to a wilderness experience up in the bay. Hiking the shoreline around Bartlett Cove is another fantastic option. These trails tend to be somewhat muddy and wet, so bring rubber boots ( Southeast Alaskan Sneakers). Three trails of varying lengths are located at Bartlett Cove. A park ranger is on board to share information about the natural and cultural wonders of Glacier Bay. The tour boat operated by the Glacier Bay Lodge travels up the bay on a nine-hour trip to the glaciers and back. Books, maps and other Glacier Bay materials are sold in the Visitor Center through Alaska Geographic.

Children are also encouraged to participate in the Junior Ranger Program. A ranger program is presented in the auditorium each evening.

Rangers lead daily walks through the rain forest and show informative films in the auditorium. Park rangers are available much of the day to answer your questions. The National Park Service Visitor Center is located on the second level of the Glacier Bay Lodge. Check the Visitor Services Directory for all available services in or near the park. Lodging, groceries, restaurants and charter boats are also available in Gustavus. In Bartlett Cove, the Glacier Bay Lodge offers lodging, a restaurant, a day tour boat and fuel sales. Permits may be reserved up to 60 days in advance. The number of permits available is limited each day. If you plan on entering Glacier Bay with your own boat during June-August, a free private boat permit is required. There are over 50 companies that provide access to the park. Travel options from May through September include scheduled and charter air services, Alaska Marine Highway ferries, cruise ships, tour boats, and charter boats. Gustavus is located about 65 miles northwest of Juneau. The park’s headquarters, Visitor Information Station, Visitor Center, and the Glacier Bay Lodge are located in Bartlett Cove, 10 miles by road from the small town of Gustavus. There are no roads that lead directly to Glacier Bay. Suggested clothing includes waterproof boots, rain gear, a hat, gloves, wool or pile layers or a warm coat. It is best to be prepared to enjoy the park in any kind of weather, especially rain. Summer temperatures average 50° to 60° F (10° to 15° C). The park is open the rest of the year, but visitor services are very limited.

The main visitor season is from late-May through early-September with the peak being the month of July. On this page you will find basic information about park amenities and services. Visitors congregate in the warmer summer months to witness the calving of tidewater glaciers and contemplate change, resilience, and their connection to this dynamic landscape. Since its exploration by John Muir in 1879, scientists from around the world have been attracted to Glacier Bay’s living laboratory of pristine ecosystems dominated by natural successional processes. People are also an inseparable part of this continuous cycle of disturbance and accommodation the Tlingit have been here for centuries, and as the glaciers, rivers, and life have advanced and receded through the homeland, so have the clans and the Tlingit ancestors. Humpback whales converge on the rich feeding grounds in Glacier Bay in the summer, but in the winter range elsewhere to breed and give birth. The salmon, a sustaining pillar of this ecosystem, return each year to the place of their birth to spawn, die, and dispense valuable proteins and other nutrients. Many species follow this pattern, disappearing from Glacier Bay during the winter, only to return or re-emerge in the spring. Long days in the summer become markedly brief in the winter, as the earth’s axis slants away from the sun. The tides swell and recede dramatically twice a day, oftentimes by as much as twenty vertical feet. NPS Photo / Sean Neilson A Land of Dynamic Changeĭramatic change and the ebb and flow of nature occur at every scale: within centuries, seasons, and hours. Recently calved glacier ice shines bright blue in the coveted Glacier Bay sunlight.

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