Sailing through Glacier Bay today, you travel along shorelines and among islands that were completely covered by ice just over 200 years ago. When Captain George Vancouver charted adjacent waters of Icy Strait in 1794, he and his crew described what we now call Glacier Bay as just a small five mile indent in a gigantic glacier that stretched off to the horizon. That massive glacier was more than 4,000 feet thick in places, up to 20 miles wide and extended more than 100 miles to the St. Elias mountain range. By 1879, however, naturalist John Muir discovered that the ice had retreated more than 30 miles forming an actual bay. By 1916, the Grand Pacific Glacier the main glacier credited with carving the bay had melted back 60 miles to the head of what is now Tarr Inlet.
What happens when nature wipes the slate clean and starts over from scratch Today’s visitors can see the answer to that question during the course of one trip into the bay to the tidewater glaciers. Such a journey is like going back to the last ice age. The land near the mouth of the bay, long-ago released from the grip of glaciers, has had the most time to recover and is now blanketed by mature spruce and hemlock forests.
As you travel toward the glaciers the vegetation gets younger and smaller, until you reach the face of the ice where nothing grows at all. The successional processes so evident here offered unparalleled opportunity for scientific observation and glaciologists, geologists, plant ecologists and other scientists came here to study this dynamic landscape. While recounting his scientific work in Glacier Bay, a plant ecologist named William Cooper so inspired his colleagues at the Ecological Society of America that they started the movement to protect the bay and its environs. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge declared Glacier Bay a national monument.
Today Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve continues to protect these natural resources which offer a glimpse into ice ages past in the midst of a flourishing and dynamic natural environment.
History & Culture
In 1794, as the mother ship H. M. S. Discovery, Captained by George Vancouver, lay at anchor in Pt. Althorp, a survey crew under the command of Lt. Joseph Whidbey painstakingly maneuvered their longboats through the ice-choked waters of Icy Strait. The remarkably accurate chart the survey produced shows a mere indentation in the shoreline, “terminated by solid compact mountains of ice,” where Glacier Bay is today. The great glacier that filled the Bay was by then in rapid retreat and was the source of the floating icepack that so hindered Whidbey. Any visitor who came by at the glacial maximum, a few decades earlier, would have found the glacier’s tongue extending out into Icy Strait almost to Lemesurier Island.
Lt. Whidbey was not the first to see Glacier Bay. His record includes mention of the natives who paddled out in their canoes from what is now Pt. Carolus to meet his boats and offer to trade. Were these descendents of the people who once lived in the Bay but were forced out by the advancing glacier Tlingit oral history is corroborated by modern science it appears that lower Glacier Bay was habitable for many centuries up until about 300 years ago, when a final glacial surge would have forced the human habitants to flee their homeland.
How long they might have been there is unknown. There were people living over 9,000 years ago at nearby Groundhog Bay, but we may never know who they were. A site on Baranof Island shows that people with an unmistakable northwest coast culture have been in the region for at least the last 3,000 years.
Even as Glacier Bay itself lay encased in ice, native people carried on their activities in many places along the nearby coast, places that may have been free of ice for as long as 13,000 years. The oldest known site in Glacier Bay National Park, located in Dundas Bay, is about 800 years old. Natives were at Lituya Bay, on the park’s wild outer coast, to greet Laprouse in 1786. Although a series of earthquake-triggered tidal waves, the latest in 1959, devastated most of the shoreline of Lituya Bay, a pocket of undisturbed forest still harbors archeological evidence of their life there.
In 1879, John Muir relied on Tlingit guides when he first visited Glacier Bay, seeking glaciers, adventure and spiritual enrichment. Muir was the first in a long line of distinguished scientists/naturalists to visit the park, perform research and bring this remarkable area to the world’s attention. Muir was greatly intrigued with the fledgling science of glaciology and believed that his beloved Yosemite Valley had been carved by ice long ago. He came to Alaska to witness glaciers in action and substantiate his theory. Largely due to his enthusiastic writings, Glacier Bay became a popular tourist attraction, as well as the focus of scientific inquiries, during the late 1880′s and 90′s.
The age of tourism and exploration in Glacier Bay came to an abrupt halt in September 1899 as a massive earthquake shattered the Muir Glacier. Masses of floating ice prevented ships from closely approaching the glacier for at least a decade and the steamship companies removed Glacier Bay from their itineraries. Over the next few decades Glacier Bay belonged to a hardy assortment of scientists and adventurous entrepreneurs, as well as native seal hunters, fishermen and egg-gatherers.
In addition to rugged individualists who pursued mining, trapping, homesteading, fox-farming and other small-scale ventures, there was at least one successful corporate operation within what is now Glacier Bay National Park a salmon cannery at Dundas Bay . Relying on a mixture of native, white and Chinese labor, the cannery was a large and prosperous operation between 1900 and1931, when the general lower demand and prices paid for salmon because of the Great Depression resulted in its closing. During the early 1940′s, most of the structures associated with the cannery were dismantled, since the site had by then been included in the national monument.
Scientific interest in Glacier Bay remained high in the years following Muir. One of the scientists was also a visionary. William S. Cooper, a plant ecologist studying the return of plant life to the recently de-glaciated terrain, made numerous trips to Glacier Bay beginning in 1916. Enthralled with the beauty of the area, he convinced the Ecological Society of America to spearhead a campaign for its preservation.
These efforts finally met with success in 1925, when President Calvin Coolidge signed the proclamation creating Glacier Bay National Monument, an area less than half the size of the present park. The proclamation cited the features and values of the area: tidewater glaciers in a magnificent setting, developing forests, scientific opportunities, historic interest and accessibility.
Creation of the new monument meant the prohibition of most forms of commercial or extractive activities and inevitable conflicts with local people, both native and white. Although mining was originally disallowed, Franklin Roosevelt was convinced to open the monument to mining in 1936. Sporadic gold-mining occurred until passage of the Mining in the Parks Act in 1976. However, one very significant claim a nickel-copper deposit beneath the Brady Glacier remains in private hands and may one day be developed.
Conflicts with other human uses were most apparent after the Monument boundaries were expanded in 1939, more than doubling its size. With the expansion, which had been eagerly sought by the Park Service mainly because of the wildlife habitat that would be preserved, Glacier Bay became the largest unit of the National Park system a distinction it has since lost, although it is still larger than any park outside Alaska.
Commercial fishing was allowed to continue in the newly expanded monument, although there was actually no legal basis for it. Native seal hunting, a contentious issue for decades, was finally terminated in 1974. A number of fox farmers and especially the homesteaders at Gustavus, unhappily found themselves included within the expanded Monument in 1939. Resolution of most local conflicts, however, was put on hold over the next few years as World War II came to Alaska.
World War II changed the face of Alaska and Glacier Bay, essentially ushering in the modern world to this remote region. In 1941 an airfield and associated facilities were constructed at Gustavus. An even more ambitious project began in August 1942, two months after a Japanese fleet launched an attack on the military base at Dutch Harbor. This was construction of a huge supply terminal at Excursion Inlet, just east of the monument boundary. Completed in November 1943, the terminal covered more than 600 acres and three large docks. Fortunately or unfortunately, the main theater of war operations had by the time of its completion moved beyond Alaska and the facility was used for only a few months. In June 1945, the terminal was dismantled.
Turned over to civilian use following the war, the Gustavus airfield proved to be a windfall for both the monument and the local economy. Prior to the war, Park Service planners had envisioned a lodge and administration area at Sandy Cove, accessible only by boat. Now Bartlett Cove, which could be linked to the new airport by a few miles of road, became the focus of development plans. Vociferous appeals from local homesteaders, as well as support from national conservation organizations, resulted in the removal of more than 14,000 acres of land, including the Gustavus airport, from the monument in 1955.
Post-war prosperity and pride and a burgeoning interest in outdoor recreation, led to a new initiative to develop the nation’s parklands for visitor use. In 1956, NPS director Conrad Wirth announced Mission 66: a ten-year program of planning and development for national parks, timed to reach culmination on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Service. Glacier Bay was an eager recipient of Mission 66 dollars, which funded construction of the lodge which opened in 1966, as well as the dock, employee residences, an administration building and other facilities at Bartlett Cove.
For decades there had been talk of elevating Glacier Bay’s status to that of national park. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 finally achieved this goal and also extended the park boundary northwest to the Alsek River and Dry Bay. Further protection and recognition of Glacier Bay’s significance occurred in 1986, when the Glacier Bay-Admiralty Island Biosphere Reserve was established under the United Nations Man and the Biosphere Program. In 1992 Glacier Bay became part of an international World Heritage Site, along with neighboring Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Canada’s Kluane National Park.
In the nearly 75 years since Calvin Coolidge took up his pen, the forces of controversy and compromise have forged a mature national park. The national and global significance of Glacier Bay has been well established and its preservation assured. The human drama of the park has always focused on finding an equitable balance among three potentially conflicting arenas: preserving this irreplaceable treasure “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations”, defining and accommodating legitimate local uses and providing for the needs of the visiting public. Fine-tuning this delicate balance will continue to challenge park managers and enliven history, into the foreseeable future.
Recreation
For those arriving at Bartlett Cove or Gustavus and desiring to travel into the park, Glacier Bay is best seen by boat. The distance to the tidewater glaciers is 50-60 miles. The Glacier Bay Lodge park concession runs a daily tour boat beginning in late May through mid-September. The journey takes about eight hours round trip. A National Park Service ranger-naturalist is on board to point out the bay’s natural features and wildlife and to answer questions. There are few trails in the park and most campers journey through the bay by kayak, either on their own or as part of a guided trip. Kayaks may be rented and a kayak drop-off vessel operates daily during the summer months.
Limited hiking opportunities are available from Bartlett Cove, either along the beach or on one of the approximately seven miles of trails that wind through the rain forest.
In addition to traveling by tour boat or kayak, other options include seeing Glacier Bay by locally chartered vessel or viewing the park from a flightseeing aircraft.
Pleasure boats are welcome. A free permit is required and there is a limit on the number of vessels allowed in the park at one time.
The Tatsenshini/Alsek Rivers begin in Canada, run through the northern edge of the park and empty into the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay in Glacier Bay National Preserve. Commercially guided trips are available and a permit is required for private trips.
Getting There
By 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.
By 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. Most Gustavus lodging establishments provide transportation to Bartlett Cove for their guests.
By Public Transportation
A passenger ferry operates between Juneau and Gustavus/Bartlett Cove on a limited schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday trips).
Several cruise ship lines offer Alaska cruises from major west coast cities that include a Glacier Bay visit. Tour boats, which are generally smaller and carry fewer passengers, offer cruises to Glacier Bay that depart several times a week from Juneau and other southeast Alaska towns. Charter boat services originating in local communities are also available.
A taxi and a bus service run between Gustavus and Bartlett Cove.
Traveler Facts
Contact Information
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
P. O. Box 140
Gustavus, AK 99826
Phone: 907-697-2230
Fax: 907-697-2654
Operating Hours & Seasons
Glacier Bay National Park is open year-round. The park Visitor Center is open from mid-May to mid-September. Services in winter are extremely limited.
Weather/Climate
Glacier Bay has a maritime climate, heavily influenced by ocean currents. The result is mild winter temperatures and cool summer temperatures near sea level. Summer visitors can expect highs between of 50-60 degrees F. Winter temperatures rarely drop into the single digits, with average nighttime lows of 25-40 degrees F.
Bartlett Cove receives about 70 inches of precipitation annually. You may find yourself thinking it’s all coming down during your visit! April, May and June are usually the driest months of the year. September and October tend to be the wettest. All this moisture helps to create the lush temperate rainforests of the lower bay.
Keep in mind, these are weather conditions at sea level. Up in the mountains, conditions are more severe with colder temperatures and more precipitation that takes the form of snow. It’s all that snow falling year after year that goes into creating the magnificent glaciers we love to see.
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