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GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK
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Bounded by the temperate rainforests of Southeast Alaska, the magnificent expanse of Glacier Bay National Park offers one of the last unspoiled destinations in the American Northwest. Over the past two hundred years, the colossal mountains of ice have retreated to reveal a land unsurpassed in natural wonder and rugged beauty. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1992, Glacier Bay National Park with its 3.2-million-acre wilderness ecosystem is a wonder to behold.
Spilling out of the mountains, sixteen gigantic tidewater glaciers fill the sea with icebergs of all imaginable shapes, sizes and shades of blue. Muir Inlet offers a stunning expedition through a channel that leads to the heart of the ice pack -- the McBride Glacier. Here one can witness the spectacular scene of calving glaciers, where the ancient fragments break away with a thunderous crack and plummet into the bay in a shroud of deep-blue spray.Fed by the running meltwater of Chasm Lake, the Brady Ice Field offers a panorama that is no less memorable. Here the endless flow of ice culminates in a vast field of monolithic shards that fill the waves with geometric patterns which fade to tiny specs marking the distant horizon. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is most easily seen by boat or plane where one can appreciate the vastness of its natural beauty. Whether viewed by wing or rudder, an amphibious landscape of ic  e-scoured fjords, green valleys, beaches, straits and islands awaits you. Incredibly, no point of land or sea in Glacier Bay National Park is more than 30 miles from a shore. There is no direct road service to Glacier Bay National Park and no Alaska Ferry service. The only road in the park runs 10 miles between Bartlett Cove and Gustavus. Though limited in development, this lack of road travel has been a benefit to animal populations in the Glacier Bay National Park and has served to protect the integrity of the surrounding wilderness.
Seven miles of trails wind along the beaches and through the rainforest of spruce and hemlock in the Bartlett Cove area. These old-growth forests nurture a flourishing habitat for soaring bald eagles to nest and bear and moose to roam.
A sharp eye may catch glimpses of fox, porcupine or wolf meandering by the edge of the forest. Cormorants, gulls, puffins, seals, and sea lions all co-exist in this picturesque corner of the Glacier Bay National Park.
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