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Many thanks to Dave Rocke, Family Air Tours, Ketchikan, AK; Larry Dupler, ORCA
Enterprises, Juneau, AK; Bear Creek Outfitters, Juneau, AK; Kenai Fjords Tours,
Seward, AK, Doug Ward, Dolphin Jet Boat Tours, Juneau, AK, Juneau Convention
and Visitors Bureau, Alaska Tourism Marketing Association, Seattle Convention
and Visitors Bureau, Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau, Anchorage, Convention
and Visitors Bureau, the Alaska railroad and the State of Alaska Division
of Tourism, Juneau, AK for the pictures on these pages. All pictures are copyrighted
and all rights are reserved to the owner of the picture. |
The explorer Captain George Vancouver found Icy Strait,
at the south end of Glacier Bay, choked with ice in 1794. Glacier Bay itself
was almost entirely iced over. In 1879 naturalist John Muir found that the
ice had retreated almost all the way up the bay, a distance of around forty-eight
miles. By 1916 the Grand Pacific Glacier was at the head of Tarr Inlet about
100 km (65 miles) from Glacier Bay's mouth. This is the fastest documented glacier
retreat ever. When John Muir came here, he was enchanted. He returned frequently, built a cabin and observed the recession of the glacier and glacial activity in what is now called Glacier Bay. Muir stimlated an interest in the area that led, over the course of time to the creation of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. |
To say that Muir or Vancouver discovered Glacier Bay would be incorrect. They were
just another in a long line of appreciators of the Bay. In the oral history
of the Hoonah Tlingit people there is the story of how they lived for 15,000
years in Sit'eeti Geeyi (Glacier Bay) until the sudden advance of the
glaciers caused them to flee their home and settle in what is now Hoonah (a community
approximately 35 miles southeast). Now the glaciers are receding once again
and the Bay is opening up once more. Glacier Bay is a magic wonderland. A chance to visit the world as it was at the end of the Ice Age. Here you can see a magnificent land of snow and ice, teeming with birds and marine mammals. Here you can see how the earth recovers from the icy fingers of an Ice Age to again become a rich forested landscape. |
The Park together with Wrangell/St. Elias National Park (Alaska), and the Kluane National Park Reserve (Canada) and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park (Canada), constitute a 24 million acre UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest internationally protected area in the world. |
For planning or remembering your Alaska trip |
Step back in time. Experience the wonders of Glacier Bay with |
Call us at 1-866-669-6940 or |
"It seemed inconceivable that nature could have anything finer to show us," John Muir - Travels to Alaska, 1879 |
Things to do in Glacier Bay: Tour on a boat (day trip or multi-day) land and walk on a glacier sea-kayak with the whales camp see whales via boat bike Relax and enjoy the wilderness see incredible variety of wildlife flightsee go hiking sea-kayak with glaciesr (multi-day) visit artist galleries in Gustavus go fishing golf on the picturesque course beachcomb dog-mush |