For many people getting to visit Glacier Bay National Park is just a part of an Inside Passage cruise, but it can be so much more! Our family loves getting to spend time in National Parks and especially when they’re parks that a lot of people kind of overlook. The land portion of Glacier Bay National Park and the nearby town of Gustavus are a great, less-visited side of Southeast Alaska that you have to really plan for, but are just wonderful and both fun and relaxing. And I’m going to help you make that plan now!
If Glacier Bay National Park has been on your bucket list, read on because I’ve got the whole thing figured out and explained for making it an easy addition to your trip to Juneau or through Southeast Alaska. From how to get there to where to stay and things to do on land and sea, you’ll be able to put Glacier Bay National Park and Gustavus on your calendar for the upcoming summer! If you have any questions about the planning or activities, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan an exciting adventure!
Visiting Glacier Bay National Park and Gustavus, AK
There are other national parks in Alaska that are easier to get to, sure, but those parks also come with crowds of people. I think that’s what really sets Gustavus and Glacier Bay NP apart from other popular Alaska destinations: there simply aren’t crowds here. There’s not the lodging or logistics for there to be able to be big crowds here. I think you’ll find that Gustavus, and in turn Glacier Bay National Park, is a great option for a very mellow but fun Alaska trip.
Where Is Gustavus, Alaska
So where is Gustavus, Alaska? This is the town that’s the gateway to Glacier Bay National Park, kind of like West Glacier for Glacier National Park or Gardiner for Yellowstone National Park. What makes it so different from those two though is that it’s not at the end of a road trip route or even driveable. Gustavus is located in the forelands part of the land portion of Alaska, but it’s not connected to “nearby” Haines or Skagway. As the crow flies, Gustavus looks like it’s between Juneau and Haines, and it kind of is, but it lies to the west off Icy Strait on a chunk of land that is almost all conservation land and the National Park.
Gustavus is accessible either by flying or the Alaska Marine Highway. Flying from Juneau is quick and easy (about 20 minutes), either on Alaska Seaplanes or Alaska Airlines. If you want the absolutely easiest and most options for getting to Gustavus, it’s Alaska Seaplanes as they have multiple flights each day all year long and you don’t even have to go through TSA at the Juneau airport. Alaska Airlines has fewer flights and only runs from May to September 1, so for some visitors the bigger airline isn’t even an option.
Unfortunately, although Gustavus is really close to Juneau as the crow flies, as the ferry sails it’s much further and takes around six hours. The Alaska Marine Highway does go to Gustavus via the MV LeConte either from Juneau or Hoonah every two or three days, which does mean that you have the ability to bring a car with you to Gustavus, but the timing can be very tricky. Speaking of cars, you don’t need a car when you come to Gustavus and Glacier Bay National Park if you’re staying at the Glacier Bay Lodge or the Alaskan Anglers Inn, as they’ll pick you up, but if you want to do any exploring around the area on your own, you will need a vehicle, which you can rent through Bud’s Car Rental at the Gustavus airport.
Where to Stay in Gustavus and Glacier Bay NP
There aren’t a ton of options for where to stay in Gustavus and Glacier Bay National Park, but there are enough options that you should be able to find something that fits your budget and hopefully has availability. I’ve gotten to stay at two different lodges here: the Annie Mae Lodge and the Glacier Bay Lodge (in the park). There are a few small inns, a couple of vacation rentals, and then the two lodges I mentioned. Visiting Glacier Bay National Park requires some advanced planning due to the limited places to stay, so as soon as you know your dates for your trip to Gustavus, get your lodging booked. Here are the options for where to stay in town or at the park:
- Glacier Bay Lodge – in the park
- Annie May Lodge – near the park entrance
- Bear Track Inn – east of the airport
- Glacier Bay Country Inn – near the park entrance, all inclusive
- Wild Alaska Inn at Glacier Bay – closest to the park
- Blue Heron B&B – near the airport and ferry
- Alaskan Anglers Inn – near the airport and ferry, is an all-inclusive fishing lodge
- Gustavus Inn – in “downtown” but it’s not bookable. You’ll see it when you’re in Gustavus, but it’s not currently operating (2026)
Getting to visit Gustavus and Glacier Bay National Park is special, and as you can see, the limited accommodations make overnight stays here a precious experience.
What To Do In Gustavus, Alaska
So what is there to do in Gustavus? Is it worth visiting beyond going to Glacier Bay National Park? I think so, yes. Gustavus is mostly forest with a few lakes, rivers, and beaches. It’s very quiet and peaceful, and there’s not a lot going on. Activities in Gustavus are all outdoorsy things to do, so if that’s your vibe for your Alaska trip, you’ll love it here.
Visit Glacier Bay NP (more on this below)
I’ll start with Glacier Bay National Park because that’s the primary attraction for most people coming to Gustavus. You can explore on land (hiking) or at sea (boat tour and kayaking). Even in the small portion of the park that’s accessible from Gustavus, there is ample wildlife to make the visit interesting, and the landscape is beautiful from Bartlett Cove all through the forest and waterways.
Explore Gustavus’ Beaches
Yes! Gustavus has one of the best beaches in Alaska! Kodiak has lots of beautiful beaches, but Gustavus comes in a close second for having a wonderful, long beach that you can actually enjoy in the summer. Accessing the beach either from the Gustavus Beach Park, Nagoonberry Trail, or the Ditch Beach Trail, the meadows, sand and flats are unique and great to explore. You can do an Alaska beach day (bundle up and enjoy a picnic on the grass and go beach combing) or you can visit just for a long walk, as you can cover miles along the Gustavus beaches.
Wildlife and Forest Bathing on the Nagoonberry Trail
I love the Nagoonberry Trail in Gustavus, and it’s worth doing multiple times: once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. This flat trail is beautiful and goes through both the forest and along the flats to the beach. It’s a great place to see fireweed, cool fungus, berry bushes and more. And yes, berry bushes do mean bear activity when they’re ripe, so this is a trail to approach with awareness, but as long as you’re adhering to bear safety practices, you should be fine and enjoy the nice walk. It’s a two mile loop and if you’re somebody that likes to do forest bathing (hanging out in the quiet forest breathing deep), this is an amazing place for it.
Hike to Hydro Falls for Views
If you head to the eastern edge of Gustavus, you’ll find the service road that leads to the hydroelectric plant up in the hills at Excursion Ridge. While there are signs showing that the road is closed to the public, that’s just for vehicle access and there are actually several trails both on the dirt road and off that lead to beautiful views and even a few waterfalls. It’s a great workout and as you approach the hill you get to look back towards the Fairweather Mountains and Glacier Bay National Park. The waterfalls aren’t jaw-dropping, but they are pretty and there are picnic tables to be able to enjoy the sound and a snack. There is also the Yellowlegs Savannah you can explore (muskeg/meadow area).
Kayaking in Gustavus
Unless you’re arriving in Gustavus on the Alaska Marine Highway and are transporting your own kayaks, you’ll need to go out with a guide or rent kayaks when you come to town. The easiest option is kayak rental at Bartlett Cove within Glacier Bay National Park, but you can also arrange kayak rentals or guided trips with a few different companies in Gustavus. Spirit Walked Expeditions and Alaska Mountain Guides both have options to get you out on the water looking for whales and sea otters. And no, despite Gustavus being the launch point for Glacier Bay National Park, you cannot kayak directly to a glacier from any point in town.
Fishing from Gustavus
When it comes to fishing in Gustavus, you can either DIY or go with a guide. For halibut, cod and rockfish, you’ll want to go with a guide like NatVenture Tours, but for river fishing you can get your license, grab your gear and hike up the Bartlett River! You can also go with guides, and in fact, the local guide services like Alaskan Anglers can take you to lots of different places you may not find or be able to access on your own. Guided fishing is worth it while you’re here.
Where Is Glacier Bay National Park Located
Time to dig into Glacier Bay National Park! We’ve established that Gustavus is the town to travel to for accessing the park on land and for the National Park boat tour, but where IS the park? When you arrive by plane or ferry, the entrance to Glacier Bay National Park is to the northwest of the town area of Gustavus. It is NOT walking distance, and if you’re biking, it will take you some time. The road is flat until you’re almost to Bartlett Cove, so that’s nice if you are on a bike, but driving into the park is the best way.
Bartlett Cove and its connected trails are the ONLY land access to Glacier Bay National Park, either from Gustavus or anywhere else. With its 3.3 million acres, nearly all of it is only accessible by boat, and even that area is heavily permitted, making it a very low traffic National Park with protected waterways with minimal people.
How To Get To Glacier Bay National Park
So with Glacier Bay National Park being such a big, remote preserve, how do you actually get to access it? Well, there are only a few options, but whichever works with your travel plans and budget is just what you need to roll with.
By Air
You can get to Glacier Bay National Park’s land portion by air via daily flights into Gustavus from Juneau, and then you can also enjoy flightseeing around the park from Haines or Skagway. While flightseeing doesn’t get you onto the ground for hiking per se, you can do glacier landings and even remote beach landings on the pristine beaches of Glacier Bay National Park. When you land in Gustavus via Alaska Seaplanes or Alaska Airlines (less than a 30 minute flight), you’ll need transportation over to the National Park because the airport is NOT next to the park boundary. Either use the Glacier Bay Lodge shuttle (pre-arranged for guests), rent a car (Bud’s Rental Cars) or call for the taxi to get you to the Bartlett Cove area.
By Ferry
If you’re going with the Alaska Marine Highway option, then you likely are driving on and will have your own car. Should that be the case, you’ll easily be able to get from the ferry terminal over to Glacier Bay National Park. If you’re planning on biking onto the ferry, it’s a long but easy ride to Bartlett Cove. For those planning on just walking on, you’ll need to arrange transportation to the park, because it’s not close and you cannot walk there, especially with any luggage.
By Cruise Ship
Seeing Glacier Bay National Park by cruise ship is the most common way visitors see any part of it. Glacier Bay is pretty big, but even with all the space and different passages, not every cruise visits. The National Park service holds cruise line visitation permits close, so some small ship cruises and even major cruise lines don’t get to enter the park’s waters. For the larger cruise ships that do have a permitted Glacier Bay National Park day, there are Park Rangers that are tendered out to the entrance of the Bay and then brought aboard the big boats to give presentations and talk with guests about the park. It’s actually a pretty cool program and cruise ship guests can even get their Glacier Bay National Park cancellation stamp for their National Parks Passport.
By Small Boat or Charter
You used to be able to actually visit Glacier Bay National Park on a day trip from Juneau with certain charters, but those companies have since stopped this service (2026). You may be able to charter a boat to do the park from Juneau or Haines, but it’s not a normal thing any more. If you’re limited for time, the best option for a boat trip is still to fly into Gustavus on the 5:30 am flight from Juneau, be transported to the Bartlett Cove dock and board the 7:30 am Baranof Wind day tour into the park.
What To Do In Glacier Bay National Park
So is Glacier Bay National Park worth visiting if it’s so tricky to get to or just not developed like other parks? Yes, it’s beautiful and 100% visiting. If you’re trying to visit all of America’s National Parks, you can spend two or three days here and really see and do a lot, and you’ll leave loving this park. Sure, it’s not built up the way Yosemite National Park is, but its quiet nature and minimal crowds make it very memorable.
Glacier Bay NP Boat Tour
If you only do one activity in Glacier Bay National Park make it the all day boat tour out into the bay to see wildlife and glaciers. It leaves bright and early and gets back in the late afternoon. The boat tour is basically a floating visitor center but is incredibly immersive as you’re watching whales and puffins as you learn about them, and then you’re hearing about glaciology as you sit in front of a towering glacier that’s calving off into the water in front of you. It’s awesome.
Kenai Fjords Tours are one of my favorite things to do in Alaska, but the seas can be rough and a lot of people get sick. The Glacier Bay National Park boat tour is on much more calm waters with a lot of the same wildlife and you still get to see glaciers. If you have the option for visiting Glacier Bay during your trip to Alaska, do the boat tour! Book it here!
Glacier Bay National Park Entrance Signs
You can’t visit a National Park without getting a photo at the entrance sign, because they’re always a little bit iconic and special. When you visit Glacier Bay National Park there are actually two entrance signs you can get pictures with: the park road and the Bartlett Cove dock. They’re different and because there are so few visitors to this park, you can be one of the few who actually gets their photo with the entrance sign here!
Hiking the Bartlett River Trail
The Bartlett River Trail is one of the longest trails in Glacier Bay National Park, but it’s not a difficult trail. Starting from the park road NOT FROM THE COVE, the River Trail is a mild up and down through a beautifully mossy forest before making it to the river. Once you’re at the river you’ll need to be wearing boots to proceed, because this is a tidal river with hillside springs making the trail along the river very squishy, especially at high tide.
What makes this such a great trail though is actually the unexpected wildlife. Yes, there are birds and you may see some deer, but this is also a salmon spawning river, so it’s heavy with fish during the different runs, and that brings bears! It also brings harbor seals up the river, which is the coolest part. They pop up everywhere and do some amazing hunting in the river. I love it.
Hiking to Bartlett Lake
There are two options for hiking to Bartlett Lake. You can either start on the Bartlett River trail and then do the spur up to the lake (emphasis on UP) or you can do the Tower Trail, which is at the end of Mountain View Rd. I like the Tower Trail for this hike because it’s much more flat. You have a long walk on the old road, so it’s just a straight line, and then you head into the forest and it’s just beautiful. When you get to the lake you can continue around it, and even join up with the spur trail from the river. Bartlett Lake is very peaceful and the surrounding woods are some of the prettiest I’ve hiked through in Southeast Alaska.
Shoreline Walk on the Tlingit Trail
Leaving from the dock or the Glacier Bay Lodge, the Tlingit Trail goes along the beach all through Bartlett Cove. It’s an easy walk on both paved and gravel trails. You’ll be able to visit the Huna Tribal House (a clan house), see totem poles, a whale carcass and even a dugout canoe. To the southwest, the trail goes past the dock to the Bartlett Cove Campground and then it turns into the Beach Trail. The Beach Trail goes for a very long time as it fades into little paths and is not maintained at a certain point.
Forest Loop Boardwalk
Easily accessed from the Bartlett Cove dock area or lodge, the Forest Loop Trail is part boardwalk and part trail. It connects to the Beach Trail at the campground. The coolest part about the forest boardwalk is the area with decks and seating areas for you to be able to just sit in the forest at the big pond. There is a lot of wildlife that winds its way through the park, and the forest trail is a great place to relax and wait for the animals to show up (not guaranteed though).
Enjoy the Glacier Bay Lodge
The Glacier Bay Lodge is both the accommodations option within Glacier Bay National Park and the hub of anything else you may need in the park. There is a good sized gift shop which also has some basic necessities, a restaurant (Fairweather Dining Room) that serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks, and then the actual visitor center for the park. When you enter the lobby of the lodge, you can head up the stairs to the ranger desk and all the exhibits like you’d expect a National Park to offer. It’s a small visitor center but does the trick.
The lobby is also just a nice place to relax after a long day of hiking or being out on the water. There are big couches, a huge hearth, puzzles and… wait for it… wifi. Yes, there is no cell service at all within Glacier Bay National Park but you can sign onto the wifi if you need to contact the outside world or check in for a flight.
Best Time To Visit Glacier Bay National Park and Gustavus, AK
Access to Glacier Bay National Park is so very limited, but you can visit nearly any time of year. The town of Gustavus has year-round residents, so you can visit in the dead of winter if you really want to, but you won’t be able to enjoy time on the water or access the lodge. Ultimately, the only time I would encourage somebody to visit is from the end of May to the end of August. The first week of September brings closure to nearly every tourism business. You can still find a few places to stay, but you won’t be able to do any whale watching or fishing, you won’t be able to rent kayaks or bikes, and you’ll be limited for activities.
What is amazing about visiting in the first week of September is that there are very few people around and Glacier Bay National Park is still open, but winding down their services. In that first week of September you can still stay at and dine at the Glacier Bay Lodge, and they still have their shuttle services available. The boat tour into Glacier Bay is still going (its last week of operation) and you can still access all of the trails. The weather is amazing and the crowds are minimal, but overall tourism offerings in Gustavus are so limited that you may not be able to enjoy everything you hope for with your trip. Because of the closures, I would recommend mid-June through late August for a trip to Gustavus and Glacier Bay National Park for the most options for accommodations and activities.
I hope you’ll consider adding a trip to Glacier Bay National Park to your time in Alaska. It’s an easy addition to a visit to Juneau or Haines, and you can easily get there as long as you understand how the ferries and flights work. If you have any questions about visiting Gustavus or Glacier Bay NP, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and would love to help you plan an unforgettable experience in Alaska!
