The marine wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve provides 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. Diverse habitats support a variety of marine and terrestrial wildlife, with opportunities for viewing and research that allow us to learn more about the natural world.

 Directions 

Plane - Alaska Airlines provides daily jet service from Seattle via Juneau to Gustavus during the summer visitor season. The Gustavus airport is 10 miles by road from park headquarters at Bartlett Cove. Several air taxi companies provide daily small-plane flights year-round from Juneau to Gustavus as well. Air taxis also fly a network of routes that link Juneau and Gustavus to Haines, Skagway, and other southeast Alaska towns. Click on the Visitor Services Directory link above for a listing of these air services.

For those wishing to visit Glacier Bay National Preserve at Dry Bay, air transportation can be arranged from Yakutat, which has daily jet service from Seattle and Anchorage.

Car - There are no roads to Glacier Bay and no Alaska Marine Highway ferry service. The only road in the park runs ten miles between Bartlett Cove and the neighboring community of Gustavus. There is a rental car business in Gustavus.