Southcentral Interior Southeast Southwest Far North

Glacier Bay National Park and Gustavus, Alaska:

Use the Travel Planner off to the right to glimpse what awaits you in Glacier Bay National Park and Gustavus, Alaska! From accommodations, fishing charters and sightseeing tours, to sea kayaking and native art.

Glacier Bay National Park History:

The area around Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925. It was changed to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in the southern part of Alaska near Juneau. The park area was included in an International Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park covers 5,130 mi² (13,287 km²). Most of the park is a designated wilderness area which covers 4,164 mi² (10,784 km²) of the park.

No roads lead to the park and it is most easily reached by a variety of National Park Service ferries or by air travel to the small community of Gustavus. Despite the lack of roads, the park averages 380,000 visitors per year.

Glaciers descending from high snow capped mountains into the bay create one of the world’s most spectacular displays of ice and iceberg formation. The bay’s most famous glacier is probably the Muir Glacier, about 3 km (2 miles) wide and about 80 m (265 feet) tall. All of Glacier Bay was glacier-bound as recently as 1750.

The explorer Captain George Vancouver found Icy Strait, at the south end of Glacier Bay, choked with ice in 1794. Glacier Bay itself was almost entirely iced over. In 1879 naturalist John Muir found that the ice had retreated almost all the way up the bay. By 1916 the Grand Pacific Glacier was at the head of Tarr Inlet about 100 km (65 miles) from Glacier Bay's mouth. This is the fastest documented glacier retreat ever. Scientists are hoping to learn how glacial activity relates to climate changes from the retreat.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve includes 16 tidewater glaciers. 12 actively calve (shed) icebergs into the bay.

Gustavus Lodging and Tours

Enjoy building a most memorable experience in this Glacial Community - Gustavus, Alaska. A variety of lodges, inns, and bed and breakfasts provide many lodging options in Gustavus.

Surrounded by mountains, Gustavus lies amidst some of the most impressive and majestic scenery and pristine wilderness areas left in the world. Gustavus with the only airport to get you close to Glacier Bay is known and recognized as "Gateway to Glacier Bay National Park".

The marine wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve provides opportunities for adventure, and is literally 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. A wide variety of adventure and sightseeing tours are available from Gustavus: charter fishing, whale watching and wildlife viewing tours, flightseeing tours, sea kayaking, and more!

An exhilarating and heart stopping adventure awaits you at breathtaking Gustavus and Glacier Bay!