Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve - Gustavus, Alaska

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is an area around Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

With glaciers retreating all over the world, due to global warming, Glacier Bay’s sixteen glaciers, twelve of which reach shorelines and calve (meaning that it sheds broken pieces of ice) to produce icebergs, attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.

No roads lead into the park, but it is easily accessible by air travel and ferries during the summer, from Gustavus. Majority of visitors come on cruise ships.

One of the bay’s most famous glacier is the Muir Glacier, which was at one time nearly 3km wide and about 80m tall. The glacier has receded since the 1990’s. The glacier is named after John Muir, the naturalist, who visited the area and wrote about it, generating interest in the area and in its preservation.

For more information about Exploring Glacier Bay Nation Park & Preserve, click here.