A beginners guide to visiting Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Among North America's best-known national parks, Glacier Bay is a bit of an outlier.

Unlike Yellowstone or Yosemite, you can't visit Glacier Bay on a road trip. There are no roads leading into the park, and the only way to reach it is by small plane, boat or ship.

There's also little infrastructure within the park. It does have a visitor center and a lodge, located at its very edge. But its biggest attractions — its giant tidewater glaciers — are viewable only from the deck of a vessel. At its essence, Glacier Bay is a giant, fjordlike body of water lined with snowcapped mountains, forests and glaciers, and it's best seen from the water.

It is for this reason that a large percentage of Glacier Bay's 700,000-plus visitors a year arrive on a cruise ship. Indeed, you could almost call Glacier Bay a cruise ship park.

Only by arriving by cruise vessel (or another boat, including the park tour boat) and traveling up the 65-mile-long waterway to a glacier and back can you fully experience Glacier Bay.

Even so, you'll only see a small portion of the park. Established as a national monument in 1925 and elevated to national park status in 1980, Glacier Bay covers more than 5,200 square miles — an area about the size of Connecticut. That makes it nearly as big as Yellowstone and Yosemite combined, though much of this area is relatively inaccessible.

As a longtime travel writer specializing in cruising, I've been to Glacier Bay many times, and it's one of my favorite places in Alaska. Its glaciers are its star attractions, for sure. But it also offers spectacular mountain scenery, wildlife and — for those who make an effort to come for a multinight stay — wonderful hiking, kayaking and other outdoorsy pursuits.

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Getting to Glacier Bay

As noted above, most of Glacier Bay's visitors arrive by cruise ship. The typical cruise that includes a visit to Glacier Bay is a seven-night Alaska voyage out of Vancouver, British Columbia, or Seattle that also includes stops at the Alaskan towns of Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. The visit to Glacier Bay fills just one day of the seven-night trip.

Two major lines with historic ties to the park — Princess Cruises and Holland America — offer the most Alaska sailings that include a visit to Glacier Bay. The National Park Service allows just two ships a day into the park, and arrivals are governed by a permitting system that gives preference to lines that operated in the park before the permitting system began.

Norwegian Cruise Line, Seabourn, Cunard Line and Viking also have ships that visit the park, as do small-ship operators UnCruise Adventures, Lindblad Expeditions and American Cruise Lines.

A trip on a cruise ship isn't the only way to get into Glacier Bay. Would-be visitors can also fly or take a ferry to Gustavus, a tiny town (population 601) on the edge of the park that is near the access point for a tour boat that travels into the park daily. Dubbed "Baranof Wind," and operated by park concessionaire Aramark, the tour boat departs from Bartlett Cove, which is just inside the park boundary and the home to the park's visitor center.

During the summer tourist season, Alaska Airlines offers daily service to Gustavus Airport (GST) from Juneau International Airport (JNU), 48 miles to the southeast. An air taxi company, Alaska Seaplanes, offers small-plane flights to Gustavus from Juneau year-round. Ferry service to Gustavus is through the Alaska Marine Highway System, which sends a ferry to the town regularly from Juneau.

The two main airlines that fly to Juneau are Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Park visitors also can arrive at the park by private or chartered boat.

Related: Everything you need to know about booking a trip to Alaska with points and miles

When to go

While Glacier Bay is open year-round, visitor services are limited outside of the summer season, and nearly everybody who visits comes between May and September.

Most cruises that include a stop in Glacier Bay take place between April and September, and the Glacier Bay tour boat only runs in the summer months. The park's visitor center and only lodge (Glacier Bay Lodge), which share a building, also are only open in the summer.

Summer is the most pleasant time to be in Glacier Bay, temperature-wise. But even at the height of summer, it can be chilly, with temperatures topping out between 50 and 60 degrees during daylight hours. Rain is also common, with the area around Gustavus getting around 70 inches a year.

April, May and June are usually the driest months; September and October tend to be the wettest. The bottom line is that, even at midsummer, you should be prepared for any sort of weather. Pack good rain gear, waterproof boots, wool or fleece layers and a warm hat and gloves.

No matter when you go, there's no fee to enter Glacier Bay, which is unusual for national parks. Nor are there fees for camping or boating permits. So, you can leave your national park annual pass at home.

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What to see and do

As the name suggests, Glacier Bay is a park all about glaciers. It's home to more than 1,000 of them, and seeing a glacier up close is the big draw for most visitors.

Specifically, tourists come to view one of the park's seven-ish giant tidewater glaciers, which flow down from the mountains to the water. I say seven-ish as the park's rangers in the past couple of years have noted that some of the tidewater glaciers have melted back so much that they may not be interacting with the ocean water anymore. That's the definition of a tidewater glacier. The park rangers these days like to say there are "no more than seven" of the tidewater glaciers now, maybe fewer.

The reduction in the number of tidewater glaciers at the park is an ongoing trend. When I wrote an earlier version of this guide a few years ago, the number of tidewater glaciers at the park was nine.

Whatever the exact number, for those visiting Glacier Bay by cruise ship, the experience will revolve heavily around a stop at one of these glaciers to watch giant chunks of ice crash down from its face — a magnificent show.

Cruise ships arrive in the park for the better part of a day, and the experience goes beyond a stop at one of the park's glaciers. Sightings of puffins, harbor seals, Steller sea lions and even the occasional humpback whale or brown bear are part of the allure — all while traveling by water through an immense glacier-carved landscape.

If you come on a large cruise ship, you'll be doing your Glacier Bay viewing from the deck of your vessel. Big cruise ships in Glacier Bay never dock, and nobody gets off them. Still, you'll get the full National Park Service experience. Park rangers and often a local Huna Tlingit cultural guide will board the vessel for the day to offer presentations and shipwide commentary over loudspeakers, lead activities for kids and answer questions.

Some small cruise vessels that spend the night in Glacier Bay do allow passengers to disembark.

For those visitors who travel by plane or ferry to Gustavus, more options are available. In addition to taking the Glacier Bay day tour up the bay on the park tour boat ($273.57 per adult; $142.92 for children ages 3 to 12), visitors will find opportunities to hike, kayak and camp.

The day tour on the park tour boat includes stops at two glaciers — Margerie and Grand Pacific. Each towers nearly 250 feet above the ocean and stretches another 100 feet beneath the water. The ice that calves from their faces is, on average, 200 years old.

Hiking trails within the park near Gustavus range from the 1-mile Forest Trail, which offers a leisurely meander through a lush forest, to the 8-mile-long Bartlett Lake Trail, a rugged trek to a tranquil lake. Most visitors head down one of the trails on their own, but for those looking for interpretation, park rangers based at Bartlett Cove offer a daily guided forest loop walk (at 1:30 p.m., as of the publication of this story).

Kayak rentals are available at Bartlett Cove, where the park service visitor center is located, for both day trips around the area and multiday outings deep into the park. Kayakers can go off on their own or sign up for a guided tour.

Birdwatching also is a popular activity in Glacier Bay. The park's diverse habitat allows for a wide variety of species (at last count, 281), including rainforest species such as the American three-toed woodpecker and neotropical migrant warblers, thrushes and other songbirds. There also are island and cliff seabird colonies of gulls, guillemots, puffins and cormorants.

Additionally, daily cultural activities are available at Xunaa Shuka Hit (the tribal house) in Bartlett Cove. Unveiled in 2016, this is the first permanent Huna Tlingit clan house since the original Huna Tlingit villages of the area were destroyed by a glacier over 250 years ago. Located within short walking distance of Glacier Bay Lodge, it offers the chance to learn firsthand about Huna Tlingit history, culture and life from tribal elders. Visitors can also experience dance performances and native foods and see historical photographs. Handcarved totem poles tell the Huna Tlingit story.

A National Park Service visitor center is located on the second level of Glacier Bay Lodge. Park rangers are available much of the day to answer questions, and films on the park are available for watching in the visitor center's auditorium. A ranger program is presented in the auditorium each evening.

Visitors also can get an overview of Glacier Bay's mountains, ice and water from a flightseeing tour out of Gustavus or even the Alaskan towns of Yakutat or Haines. These flightseeing tours, from companies such as Haines-based Fly Drake, typically cost $200 to $350 per person, depending on the length of the tour and the departure point.

Where to stay

If you're arriving at Glacier Bay on a cruise, you don't have to worry about a place to stay. You'll be spending the night on your ship.

Those planning to visit the park by way of Gustavus will find several places to bed down. Many visitors stay at the 48-room Glacier Bay Lodge, which is within the park about 10 miles from the town (rooms start from $391.32 a night for a standard room). Cozy and rustic, the lodge is nestled among Sitka spruce on the shores of Bartlett Cove, which also is home to the park's headquarters and serves as the jumping-off point for daily tours on the park boat. Glacier Bay Lodge is the only lodging within the park.

Back in Gustavus, you'll find a handful of small inns, guesthouses and bed-and-breakfast establishments. They include the 14-room Bear Track Inn (from $520 per person, per day, including meals and ground transportation) and the five-room and five-cabin Glacier Bay Country Inn (from $329 per person, per day, including meals and ground transportation). Gustavus is not a big place; some venues here offer just a few rooms.

You also may face a bit of sticker shock when seeing the rates for lodging in Gustavus. In many cases, this is driven by the fact that the properties operate on a semi-all-inclusive basis, with all meals and transportation from the airport included in the base price.

Unfortunately for points and miles devotees, there are no points hotels in Gustavus. You can find a few points hotels back in Juneau, such as the Four Points by Sheraton Juneau (rooms in the summer start at $389 or 50,000 points per night) and a trio of Wyndham Rewards-affiliated properties (a Ramada, a Travelodge and a Super 8).

The park also maintains a free walk-in campground in a rainforest setting at Bartlett Cove. Available on a first-come, first-served basis, it offers bearproof food storage caches, composting toilets, a fire pit on the beach and a small warming shelter. Firewood is provided.

That said, most camping in Glacier Bay takes place in the wilderness. The park offers more than 700 linear miles of shorelines, beaches and islands open to camping. Campers can arrange for the park's tour boat to drop them off at one of several designated locations within the park and pick them up days later.

Campers must register upon arrival at the Visitor Information Station near the Bartlett Cove dock. Campers can call 907-697-2627 prior to arrival to inquire about space availability at the campground at Bartlett Cove.

Related: Exploring national parks: Where to stay using points

Where to eat

Again, if you're arriving by cruise ship, you'll be eating on board your vessel.

If you're staying in the Gustavus area, you'll probably be eating at the lodge or inn where you're staying or at another one of the lodging properties in town. The town is so small that its dining establishments generally are tied to its lodging outlets. They're also only open in summer.

Many of the lodging options offer a "full board" plan that includes three meals each day. Be warned that a la carte pricing at eateries can be high in the Gustavus area, as is true in many places in Alaska. This partly has to do with the high cost of getting supplies to remote parts of the state.

For those staying at Glacier Bay Lodge, the in-house restaurant, the Fairweather Dining Room, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner for both lodge guests and outsiders. The dinner menu includes local Alaska salmon and halibut. Lunch brings burgers and sandwiches (including a halibut sandwich).

Also open to guests and outsiders is the restaurant at Glacier Bay Country Inn. It serves Alaskan cuisine, such as salmon, typically offered en croute with a green peppercorn sauce.

Bottom line

A visit to Glacier Bay is one of the iconic experiences of a trip to Alaska and something you should try to do at least once in your life — if only to see the giant calving glaciers. For most visitors, experiencing Glacier Bay will involve a voyage on a cruise ship that includes just a day in the park. But for those who want to explore deeper, there are ways to do that, too.

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