Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve covers 3,280,840 acres of mountains, glaciers and sea west of Juneau, roughly the size of Connecticut by the Park Service's comparison. It became a national monument in 1925 and a national park and preserve in 1980. In 2025 it had 740,044 recreation visits, up 0.5% on 2024, and nearly 93% of them came between May and September.

No road reaches the park, and most of its visitors see it from the deck of a ship. We read the figures below on 29 October 2026 on the park's own pages and alerts, the lodge concessioner's and Alaska Seaplanes' sites, the Alaska Marine Highway's pages and NOAA's normals.

How do you get to Gustavus when no road reaches Glacier Bay?

Visitors reach Gustavus, the town beside Glacier Bay, from Juneau by plane or by the state ferry, and the Park Service says those are the only ways in. The park's headquarters at Bartlett Cove lie about 10 miles beyond the town, on the one road. Bartlett Cove holds the lodge, the dock, the campground and the visitor centre.

The distances are the park's own figures, and its pages round the road to about 10 miles. Our guide to Alaska explains how to reach Juneau.

Alaska Airlines flies a daily jet from Juneau to Gustavus in the summer season only, and neither the Park Service nor the lodge publishes its dates. Alaska Seaplanes, an air taxi, flies all year. Its timetable for autumn and winter 2026–27 shows two flights each way from Monday to Saturday and one on Sunday. From 1 November 2026 its afternoon return calls at Hoonah, which stretches the 25-minute flight to 45. Its fares are not on the timetable page.

The Park Service says day-boat passengers typically spend the night before in Gustavus or at the lodge, though a morning flight from Juneau can work, weather permitting.

The state ferry typically stops in Gustavus twice a week from Juneau in summer, the Park Service says. Cars can travel on it, but the park has no RV sites and allows no vehicle camping.

We could not confirm the winter ferry days for Gustavus. The Alaska Marine Highway's draft plan proposes a winter schedule from 1 October 2026 to 30 April 2027, "similar to last winter". It gives the weekly Gustavus pattern only as charts.

The lodge runs a shuttle from the Gustavus airport and ferry dock, free for its guests and at extra charge for those only taking the day boat. Taxis come on request, and bed-and-breakfasts rent bicycles. Bartlett Cove sells no groceries, and Gustavus has one grocery store.

What does a Glacier Bay trip cost when entry is free?

Glacier Bay charges no entrance fee, needs no pass and charges nothing to camp. "Unlike most national parks, there is NO entrance fee," its fees page says. Backcountry campers, kayakers and private boaters need permits, and those are free too.

The park is not on the 2026 list of eleven parks that charge visitors from abroad a $100 surcharge. The "Glacier" on that list is Glacier National Park in Montana, not Glacier Bay. Kenai Fjords National Park charges no entrance fee either, while Denali National Park does. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors lists the parks that add the surcharge.

The real costs are the flight or ferry to Gustavus, a bed and the day boat. At the concessioner's current price, two adults pay $547.14 for the day boat, and two adults with two children aged 3 to 12 pay $832.98. The tour takes credit cards only, and the lodge operates without cash. Its room rates appear only in its booking engine for set dates, so we could not read one.

What do you see from the West Arm day boat?

The Glacier Bay day boat sails from the Bartlett Cove dock up the bay's West Arm to its tidewater glaciers, with a Park Service ranger aboard. The concessioner, Glacier Bay Lodge & Tours, calls it "the only scheduled day tour permitted inside Glacier Bay". The Park Service says the boat travels 130 miles and visits up to four tidewater glaciers.

In 2026 the boat sailed daily from 22 May to 7 September. Passengers board at 6:50 a.m., the boat leaves at 7:15 and returns at about 3:30 p.m. The vessel is a 150-passenger, high-speed catamaran, enclosed with heated seats and with an outside deck.

The prices are the concessioner's, as read on 29 October 2026, and its page prints no year beside them. The same site says 2027 dates are available, with no 2027 price or date. On length, the Park Service gives seven hours on one page and nine on another, and the concessioner eight; the timetable runs 8 hours 15 minutes.

The boat stops at South Marble Island, where tufted and horned puffins, kittiwakes and over 300 Steller sea lions gather. At one glacier, the Park Service says, "you will sit for at least half an hour". The vessel keeps at least a quarter of a mile from the ice.

The day boat also drops campers and kayakers at two backcountry locations, with limited room for kayaks. Humpback whales feed in the lower bay in summer, and boats keep a quarter of a nautical mile from them.

Do cruise passengers ever land in Glacier Bay?

Cruise passengers never land in Glacier Bay: "Cruise ships do not dock anywhere in Glacier Bay National Park," the Park Service says. A ship typically spends a full day in the bay, 9 to 10 hours, with a stop at a major tidewater glacier. Rangers usually board in the early morning and leave in the afternoon.

In summer the park allows at most two cruise ships, three tour vessels, six charter boats and 25 private boats a day. In 2024 the park counted 691,387 cruise ship passengers, against 736,282 recreation visits in all.

Over 90% of cruise ship and tour boat visitors never set foot on land in the park, by the Park Service's own figure.

The park's cruise page says a ship stops in front of a tidewater glacier for about an hour; its boating page says four hours or more in the glacier areas.

The park closes Johns Hopkins Inlet to all vessels from 1 May to 30 June, when seals have their pups. Cruise ships may enter it only in late summer. The Park Service warns that many Alaska cruises do not visit Glacier Bay at all, so check the itinerary before booking.

How many tidewater glaciers are left after a 60-mile retreat?

The number of Glacier Bay's tidewater glaciers depends on which Park Service page you read. The park's fact sheet counts about 1,059 glaciers, 62 of them named, and seven active tidewater glaciers that calve. Its FAQ says eleven glaciers reach the sea, eight of them within the bay.

About 250 years ago a single, large tidewater glacier covered the whole bay, the fact sheet says. Since 1750 the ice has retreated 60 miles to the head of the bay. Glaciers still cover 30.6% of the park.

The figures are the park's own. Mount Fairweather, at 15,300 feet, is the tallest peak in the park. The Park Service says "no one can predict" when ice will calve, and gives no odds of seeing it.

Where do you sleep at Bartlett Cove, from a free tent site to the 48-room lodge?

Bartlett Cove has the park's only lodge and its only campground, and the campground is free. Glacier Bay Lodge has 48 rooms and is the only lodging within the park, the Park Service says. In 2026 it opened from 21 May to 8 September.

The lodge opened in 1966, and the Park Service calls it "a classic example" of its Mission 66 building programme. The concessioner refunds a cancellation made more than 72 hours ahead, less $30 a room.

The lodge has the Fairweather Dining Room, and the park's visitor centre is upstairs.

Bartlett Cove Campground lies a quarter of a mile south of the dock and takes no advance reservations. It has bear-proof food caches, composting toilets, a beach fire pit, a small warming shelter, firewood and wheelbarrows for gear. Campers may stay 14 days at a time and 30 days in a calendar year. Group sites take parties of 12 or more.

From 1 May to 30 September campers need a permit and a brief orientation. The park prohibits camping within a mile of Bartlett Cove outside the campground. No page we read gave the campground's winter status.

Which trails start at Bartlett Cove?

Bartlett Cove has four trails, about 15.5 miles in all by the park's fact sheet. The backcountry beyond them has no trails at all. The Park Service advises rubber boots, since the paths are muddy.

The lengths are the park's own figures. In summer a daily ranger walk leaves the lodge doors at 1:30 p.m. and lasts 90 minutes. Black bears live around Bartlett Cove and along the Bartlett River. Brown bears range north of Tidal Inlet in the West Arm.

Glacier Bay is the homeland of the Huna and Yakutat Lingít. The Huna Tribal House, Xunaa Shuká Hít, has stood on the Bartlett Cove shore since its completion in 2016. Its visiting hours depend on tribal use and on staff, the Park Service says.

What needs a permit in the backcountry and north of Point Gustavus?

Glacier Bay requires a free permit for backcountry camping from 1 May to 30 September. Campers collect them in person after an orientation at the Visitor Information Station, at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. daily. "There is no limit to the number of permits issued per day," the Park Service says.

The station lends bear-resistant food canisters free of charge, and a wilderness group may number 12 at most. Glacier Bay Sea Kayaks, near the public dock, rents kayaks and guides day trips.

The park has no cellular phone service. The Park Service advises carrying a marine VHF radio, since the station cannot reach inReach or SPOT devices.

Some water closes in season. The spring closure of Johns Hopkins Inlet applies to kayaks too, and four islands close from 17 May to 31 August for nesting birds, with a 100-yard distance to keep.

Private boats need a free permit from 1 June to 31 August to go north of Point Gustavus and Point Carolus. The park issues 25 a day, 15 on advance notice and 10 on short notice, for up to five days. For the 2026 season the park piloted an online permit system with lotteries in January and March. An older FAQ still says boaters can book up to 60 days ahead.

What is open at Bartlett Cove in late October?

Glacier Bay National Park never closes, but in late October almost every service at Bartlett Cove has shut for the winter. "Expect services to be limited in winter," the park's hours page says. On 29 October 2026 the park's alerts feed carried no alerts.

The Glacier Bay Visitor Center, on the lodge's second floor, closes from 7 September to 31 May. In summer its desk is open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. The Visitor Information Station at the head of the public dock issues permits and holds orientations. It closes from 1 October to 30 April, and opens from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in summer.

The lodge's 2026 season ended on 8 September, and its fuel dock shuts with it. Alaska Airlines' jet flies only in summer, so winter visitors reach Gustavus on Alaska Seaplanes.

The park's winter is almost empty of visitors. In 2025 the five months from November to March counted 1,204 visits between them, against 164,111 in July alone. The Park Service puts winter temperatures at 20°F to 30°F, with extremes of -10°F, and warns that the roads can be icy.

The northern lights appear most often in winter, but the Park Service calls a good display "exceedingly rare" over this cloudy rainforest. The park is on Alaska time, which goes back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday 1 November 2026.

How wet is Gustavus, and how warm does Glacier Bay get in July?

Gustavus gets 62.29 inches of rain and snow a year by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, and its warmest month, July, averages a high of 62.9°F. October is the wettest month there, at 8.43 inches, and September follows at 8.21. May and June are the driest, at 2.98 and 2.90 inches.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows. Gustavus averages no days at 90°F, 1.7 days at 80°F or more and 161 nights at or below freezing. It gets 72.3 inches of snow a year, a normal NOAA marks as provisional. Juneau gets 66.99 inches of rain and snow and 87.6 inches of snow.

The Bartlett Cove station, the only one in the park, records 72.60 inches a year, a figure NOAA flags as estimated. The Park Service's own pages give about 70, 70 to 80, and over 80 inches. Its fact sheet says some rain or snow falls on 228 days a year on average, and its weather page says "Rain is the norm".

Glacier Bay is one of the national parks in our guide to Alaska.