Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

The tidewater glacier the day boat and most cruise ships run to, roughly 21 miles up the West Arm. Ice calves off a face that meets salt water, and the boat holds position below it so you can watch and hear the cracks before the ice drops. It is reachable only by water. The West Arm the boat runs up is Huna Łingít homeland, and the four clans trace their lineage to specific glaciated places in the bay.

One of the few glaciers in the bay that is advancing rather than retreating, set below the peaks of the Fairweather Range. The inlet closes to motor vessels in late spring and early summer for harbor-seal pupping, when seals haul out on the floating ice to give birth, so the day boat may turn back before reaching the face depending on the date. Confirm the current closure window on the NPS site before counting on a close approach.

The Sitka spruce and western hemlock around Bartlett Cove grow on ground the bay covered with ice roughly 250 years ago, so the forest reads like a timeline: bare moraine near the water, young alder thicket behind it, tall spruce farther in. This plant-succession story is what the ecologist William S. Cooper studied after 1916 and what made the scientific case for protecting the bay. Bartlett Cove is the principal pre-Little Ice Age village ground of the four Huna clans.

At 15,300 feet, Mount Fairweather sits on the U.S. and Canada border and is the highest peak in British Columbia. It feeds the glaciers in the West Arm and walls the western side of Huna Łingít homeland. Many peaks in the range carry both Łingít and U.S. Geological Survey names. Cloud and rain hide the summit most days; a clear view from the water is the exception, not the rule.

A Huna Łingít clan house at Bartlett Cove, whose name translates roughly as Huna Ancestors' House. Dedicated August 25, 2016, it is the first permanent Huna Łingít structure in the bay since the Little Ice Age displacement and represents the four primary Huna clans. It is free and open seasonally, with cultural interpreters from Hoonah present in summer. The carved house posts and the front screen are the thing to point out to kids. It is a short walk from the Glacier Bay Lodge area along the Tlingit Trail.

The only non-cruise way in. Fly Alaska Airlines or charter into Gustavus (airport code GST), and a 10-mile road runs to Bartlett Cove. It is a small town on the glacial outwash plain at the mouth of the bay, with limited services and spotty cell coverage. For a family planning a visit without a cruise, this is the practical how-do-we-get-here answer, and the few cafes and the general store outside the park are here.

The only lodging inside the park, open roughly late May to early September. It houses the visitor center, the day-boat dock, and the dining room, so the boat tour, kayak rentals, and ranger talks are all within walking distance of the front door. It sits at Bartlett Cove, the old Huna village ground, with Xunaa Shuká Hít a short walk away. It books out for peak summer, so reserve well ahead.

The realistic way to see Margerie and, water permitting, Johns Hopkins without booking a cruise. About 7 to 8 hours round-trip from Bartlett Cove, with full naturalist commentary, an indoor heated cabin, restrooms, and lunch included. The tour runs up the West Arm through Huna Łingít homeland, and a Hoonah cultural interpreter often rides along. This is the single most family-workable viewpoint in the park because the viewpoints are on the water, not the land. Binoculars are the one thing to pack.

Humpbacks feed within sight of the Bartlett Cove dock through the summer, so this is reliable whale watching with no boat fare and no schedule: walk to the water with binoculars. Vessel speed limits in the core waters protect the whales from strikes. It is free and right outside the lodge, the most kid-doable wildlife stop in the park. The dock looks out over Huna Łingít waters at the old village ground.

A flat loop through the young spruce-and-hemlock forest that grew back after the glacier left, mostly boardwalk and gravel per NPS. It is stroller-workable on the boardwalk sections and pairs naturally with a stop at Xunaa Shuká Hít. The one hike at Bartlett Cove least likely to end in a meltdown. It loops through the old Huna village ground.

A short, flat shoreline walk that connects the lodge, the dock, and the tribal house, half a mile one way per NPS. It is the cultural anchor of the Bartlett Cove trail set: a half mile that ends at the carved house posts of Xunaa Shuká Hít. The trail is named for the Łingít and runs past the clan house. Pair it with the Forest Trail for a single easy morning.

Through forest to a tidal lagoon at the Bartlett River mouth, 4 miles round-trip per NPS, with a good chance of birds, salmon in season, and bears (carry the food rules in mind). It is longer than the Forest Trail and not boardwalk, so it is better for older kids with a half day. The tide affects the lagoon end, so check the table before starting. It runs through Huna Łingít country.

Inside the park, the lodge dining room and its attached counter are the food, period, open the same season as the lodge (roughly late May to early September). The day-boat lunch is included on the West Arm tour, so the dining room covers breakfast and dinner around it. Beyond the park boundary, the few cafes and the general store are in Gustavus, 10 miles down the road. Pack snacks for the kids either way. It sits at Bartlett Cove, the old Huna village ground.

The on-the-water experience that is not a cruise. Rent at Bartlett Cove and paddle the protected Beardslee Islands, a cluster of low forested islands just north of the cove that is closed to motorized vessels, so the water is quiet and the crossings are short. Sea otters, harbor seals, and shorebirds feed here at eye level. The day boat will drop off and pick up paddlers headed up the West Arm, but for families the no-motor Beardslees are the kid-scaled version. Kayak campers check in at Bartlett Cove, watch a mandatory orientation, and carry a loaned bear-resistant food container.