Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Home
United States
Gustavus, AK
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay is a vast wilderness of mountains, glaciers, forests, and waterways teeming with wildlife
(1262)

Glacier Bay National Park is a vast wilderness of mountains, glaciers, forests, and waterways teeming with wildlife and limitless opportunities for adventure.

04/27/2026

Updates from the Bay: Last week, park rangers ventured deep into Glacier Bay and were treated to magnificent views and a particularly rare wildlife sighting!

What started as a foggy, gray day ended up turning into blue and sunny skies, with the water of the bay glassy and reflective. Feet of snow still blankets the land, with only tidal-influenced shorelines fully snow-free. We spotted a sleepy brown bear lounging on a rocky beach (perhaps woke up a bit too early), mountain goats on their familiar perches on Jánwu Aaní (Mountain Goat's Land), aka Gloomy K**b, sea otters in their multitudes, a couple distant orca whales, and at least one humpback whale. The most exciting sighting of the day was a beautiful gray wolf, cruising the shoreline to reach its destination. The coastlines of Glacier Bay are often wildlife-highways, but are especially so right now, when traveling anywhere other than the beach means punching through deep snow.

Enjoy these photos from Glacier Bay still locked in a wintry state! Are you traveling to Glacier Bay this summer? Keep your binoculars handy and aimed at the shoreline to see if you can spot some of Glacier Bay's more elusive wildlife! 🐺🏔️

04/22/2026

Every summer, thousands of visitors come to Glacier Bay hoping to see a humpback whale. Did you know that the park has one of the longest running studies of humpback whales in the world? What we learn helps us to protect these amazing animals and provide a great experience for visitors. A report summarizing key findings from 2025, our 41st year of monitoring, is now available at the link below: https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/whale_acoustic_reports.htm

(NPS photo taken under NMFS ESA/MMPA Permit No. 27027)

04/04/2026

Glacier Bay is hiring for our transfer vessel program! Join our summer 2026 team and help us transport park rangers to and from cruise ships that enter Glacier Bay National Park daily. Applicants must have knowledge of the Southeast Alaska locality.

Apply today for a 1)Seasonal Small Craft Operator or 2)Seasonal Deckhand position at Glacier Bay. Our transfer vessel program, utilizing the M/V Serac, transports park rangers from Bartlett Cove, to visiting cruise ships, daily. This program helps bring park rangers to the 700,000+ visitors to the bay annually. Apply on USAJobs, search for the job titles above or use "Bartlett Cove" as your search location. Or, find links on our website: https://www.nps.gov/glba/getinvolved/workwithus.htm

04/02/2026

A well earned camping spot: Perched above the Beardslee Islands in Glacier Bay, how's this for a tent-side view? Glacier Bay offers a free campground with lush forest scenery near the visitor area in Bartlett Cove, and nearly 2.7 million acres of designated wilderness where your camping spot is up to your imagination. Find more info on our website and start planning your visit to Glacier Bay National Park: NPS.gov/glba/planyourvisit
NPS Photo / S. Willoughby

03/24/2026

A year for the record books in Glacier Bay! In 2025, we welcomed over 740,000 visitors to the park. To everyone who paddled, hiked, or cruised through, thank you! 2025's record numbers mark the third consecutive record-breaking visitation year in Glacier Bay. People visit Glacier Bay to paddle our unmatched wilderness waters, marvel at massive icy glaciers, watch school bus-sized whales feed in the bay, and much more. Nearly 95% of our visitors see the bay via cruise ships, allowing accessible viewing of this magnificent bay, carrying on a cruising tradition dating back nearly 150 years. Here's to another wonderful year!

03/18/2026

Glacier Bay has experienced its fair share of winter weather this year. We are eternally grateful for our hard-working maintenance team keeping roadways clear and our buildings safe and accessible. Thank you!

This year, one local observer has tallied over 16 feet of snow (cumulative total) in the Glacier Bay area. The Juneau airport broke a record for the most snowfall for the month of December with 82", breaking the previous record of 54.7" from December 1964 (via Juneau National Weather Service). That's exceptionally high even for our area of Southeast Alaska. On 15,325' Mount Fairweather, the tallest mountain in the park, snow totals can reach over 100 feet (yes, feet!) per year.

02/26/2026

This past summer, the drumbeats and songs of Hoonah City School students led tribal members, National Park Service (NPS) and school staff, and visitors in hours of celebration. That day, the Hoonah Indian Association and the NPS dedicated two kootéeyas - totem poles – at the park’s road and dock entrances. Carved by Dawdunaak (Duane Bosch) and named Haa L’éelk’w Hás Aaní Kootéeyaa (Our Grandparents’ Land Totem Pole) and Haa Léelk’w Hás Éil’i Kootéeyaa, Our Grandparents’ Ocean Totem Pole) these treasures remind us all that Glacier Bay was, and will always be, the Homeland of the Xunaa Lingít clans. Partners Hoonah Indian Association, the National Park Service, Hoonah City Schools and Lynx Education collaborated to sponsor this important event.

Video description: School age youth and tribal members board a large boat and travel to a celebration. A carved totem pole is revealed as Elders and culture bearers speak, National Park Service employees watch and listen, and students dance. A second totem pole is lifted into place on a dock while students drum and dance with tribal members and National Park Service staff. Tribal members dance into a richly carved long house as students sing and drum. Inside the longhouse, culture bearers speak as students continue to drum and all dance.

02/24/2026

Mount Fairweather, standing at 15,300 feet, is the third most "prominent" peak in the US, and the tallest peak in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Prominence is the measure of a mountain's height in comparison to the land around it. When it comes to Mount Fairweather, this stunning mountain rises to its immense height in just 15 miles from sea level. When compared to the surrounding landscape, Mount Fairweather's prominence is 12,995 feet. The Fairweather Range holds a collection of the largest coastal mountains in the world. As their name teases, these "Fairweather" peaks are only visible on the most fair-weather days in the park, typically receiving wild and rugged weather from the Gulf of Alaska.

🎥Video description: A flat cloud sits horizontally atop the snowcapped peak of Mount Fairweather on a mostly sunny day. The cloud flutters and slowly dissipates while staying centered on the mountain summit. In the foreground is a dense evergreen forest and light snow along a shoreline. Blue water shimmers as a gentle wind moves across it.

02/09/2026

Glacier Bay is hiring local applicants to entry-level park ranger positions! Join our team this summer as a seasonal park ranger (GS-05). Greet and guide visitors to Glacier Bay National Park and help make once-in-a-lifetime memories for people from across the world. This position is open to applicants with experience working and living in the local hire area of Southeast Alaska and Glacier Bay. Apply via USAJobs.gov and find more info on our website: nps.gov/glba/getinvolved/workwithus.htm

12/31/2025

It's the most wonderful time of year when NPS biologists get to sit in warm cozy offices and review footage from summer wildlife cameras. We hope you enjoy this compilation starring seven species from two different areas of Glacier Bay in 2025.

Happy New Year to you all, and to all the beautiful wild creatures and places in Glacier Bay!

NPS Video: A series of wildlife species including black and brown bears, wolves, coyotes and more investigate, rub and mark two different trees in Glacier Bay.

12/18/2025

A new edition of Alaska Park Science highlights two significant topics important to Glacier Bay: Article 2 focuses on the traditional Lingít practice of gathering gull eggs for community harvest, and article 4 focuses on balancing park management efforts to protect the park while also providing visitation opportunities. Read more about exciting and relevant science happening in Glacier Bay and parks across Alaska! https://www.nps.gov/articles/series.htm?id=19BF1E79-D911-2729-AD517A2053BB1A38
Image Description: Man in grassy meadow with glaucous-winged gulls flying overhead. NPS/T. Lewis photo.

Address

Box 140
Gustavus, AK
99826

Telephone

+19076972230

Website

http://www.nps.gov/glba

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Gustavus?