Glacier Bay is Alaska's Most Visited Nat'l Park

White Thunder Heard at this Park in the Inside Passage.

Apr 28, 2009 Diana Lambdin Meyer

Due to its location on the Inside Passage and the relative ease with which cruise ships can enter Glacier Bay, this has become the most visited of Alaska's national park.

Glacier Bay has been a tourist attraction since John Muir witnessed the great glaciers in 1879 and compared their geological significance to Yosemite National Park in California. It became a national park in 1980, under the Carter administration, when the president greatly expanded the protected lands of Alaska. Today, the Nobel Peace Prize winning president from Georgia calls these icons “one of the greatest achievements of my public service.”

The Sound of White Thunder

“I believe it to be sacrilegious to talk in the face of a glacier,” park service guides announce as Glacier Bay tour boats slide silently before the great Margerie Glacier.

It is in the silence that visitors best hear what the Tlingit natives called “white thunder” - that massive rolling thunder-like sound followed by a rifle shot-like crack that signals a glacier is calving.

Glacier Terminology

A tour of here requires learning a few terms not common in the day-to-day conversations of most residents of the Lower 48. Calving is when huge chunks of ice break off the face of the glacier, crashing into the water below, sometimes with the force to rock the boat on which humble observers stand.

A tour of Glacier Bay also teaches about tidewater and freshwater glaciers, advancing and retreating glaciers, bergy bits and isostatic rebounds, and other intriguing terms unique to the scientific study that is so valuable in the place.

Tours of Glacier Bay

The Glacier Bay tour, which departs from the lodge at Gustavus, moves up the Tar Inlet to within two miles of the Canadian border. It is a fabulous opportunity to see whales, porpoises, sea lions, sea otters and tufted puffins. Along the way, the boat may stop to drop campers at various remote locations, or pick up campers who have been alone in the wilderness for a week or so – and have experienced in great depth this great silent place.

The dock at Gustavus is also a fun place to watch the commercial fishermen come in with their loads of salmon, halibut and other sealife. Gustavus, a town of about 400 year-round residents, depends on the bay and the tourists who come here for its survival. Other than Glacier Bay Lodge, there are one or two small B&Bs near Gustavus that will provide guests with unique touring opportunities.

How To Get to Glacier Bay

Travelers have two choices when visiting Glacier Bay: arrive by air or boat. There are no bridges from Juneau, which is just about 30 minutes by air. There's also a passenger ferry, but no car ferry, that crosses between Juneau and Gustavus on a limited schedule in the summer.

The copyright of the article Glacier Bay is Alaska's Most Visited Nat'l Park in NW U.S./Alaska Travel is owned by Diana Lambdin Meyer. Permission to republish Glacier Bay is Alaska's Most Visited Nat'l Park in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Flight-seeing tours over Glacier Bay.	Marjerie Glacier is a stop on the tour.	The tip of an iceberg pokes above the waterline.
Kayakers explore Glacier Bay.	Fresh salmon being filleted on a dock at Gustavus.