Sea Kayaking in Glacier Bay National Park: Tips & Resources for Backcountry Paddling & Camping

Glacier Bay National Park loomed large on my sea kayaking bucket list ever since I read a trip report in Paddling magazine back in 2005.  Over the years, I just kept thinking, "someday..."  It was worth the wait! 

What we saw and experienced in this remote park cannot be contained within these scant lines – perhaps our video provides a better peek behind the curtain.  While our expectations were light, low, and open, they were exceeded a thousand-fold.  Humpback whales breeching near our tiny beach campsite, sea lions frolicking in all-night rave in the cove where we slept, sea otters gently backstroking through kelp forests while Orcas patrolled the channels with their mast-like dorsal fins raised to the sky, this is the stuff of nature nerd dreams coming true.

Access to beauty, aquatic mammals, pelagic birds, and jaw-dropping views are easy in this place, everything else requires some planning -- and that's where this article will come in handy for anyone else who's dreamed of dipping a paddle in Glacier Bay's cold waters.  While much of this information can be found with a little bit of digging on the park's website, and in a few other places, but it's rather scattered. Here, we try to put everything in one place to make a somewhat challenging adventure easier to plan.    

Getting There

It's not easy, but oh so worth it!  This page has the best collection of resources for getting there. 

Cruise – Most visitors in the park arrive, and stay, on cruise ships.  National Park Interpretation Rangers frequently board these vessels to give programs about the park and the animals who call it home.  So, you can have a very comfortable and well-fed adventure with the all-inclusive pricing of your berth on a big ship and still get some nature nuggets.  These are easy to find, just google “Alaskan Cruise.”  We saw many smaller boats land at the National Park dock and let their passengers disembark, walk around a little bit, and get more than just the water view.  These smaller cruises offer more intimate experiences with, perhaps, a more adventurous edge.

Fly – Regular flights between Juneau and Gustavus, the small hamlet adjacent to the park, run around $200 per passenger (plus baggage fees) and offer breathtaking scenery if the weather is clear.  From the Gustavus airstrip, there is a $50 taxi ride to the park (one way). Cooking fuel, whether in bottles or canisters, is not allowed on any flights.  Options for fuel include the general store, gas station or Glacier Bay Lodge which has some small fuel canisters.

Ferry – The Alaska State Ferry is the lifeline for residents, tourists, passengers, supplies, and just about anything else bound for the small hamlet of Gustavus, which only started receiving regular ferry service in 2011.  You can bring nearly any size vehicle, or walk on with your kayak.  Bringing a trailer or large RV can be very pricey, which is why we left ours behind with some friends and traveled with just our truck, camping gear, and kayaks. Everything beyond yourself and your luggage has an additional price so be sure to do the math when considering all your options (see our choices below).  Heads up!  The website and ferry schedule are a bit confusing, especially if you've never used it before, but we got our questioned answered by calling them directly at 800-642-0066.

Once in Gustavus there are a couple of taxi companies which can bring you, and your kayak (TLC Taxi), the rest of the way (12 miles) to the park visitor's center and campground in Bartlett Cove.  Keep in mind, they charge extra per kayak. There is also the Glacier Bay Lodge Shuttle Bus from the ferry dock.   

Camping in the Park

There is one “semi-developed” campground at Bartlett Cove near the Visitor Information Station (8am - 5pm). Campsites are free, but require a permit and short briefing at the Visitor Information Station.  The campground has around 30 individual walk-in sites, the closest of which are around 1/4 mile from the parking lot.  There are no vehicle campsites in the park, and sleeping in vehicles is not allowed, the only RV park is back in Gustavus.

While camping anywhere in the park, all food needs to be prepared and consumed on the rocky beach, in the intertidal zone, away from the camping area so that all food smells and debris are carried away by the water and do not attract bear curiosity.  Food must be stored in the food cache shelters scattered along the trail winding through the campground at Bartlett Cove (or in bear canisters 100 yards from your camp while in the backcountry). 

As the weather can be cold and rainy anytime during the summer, the park provides warming huts throughout the Bartlett Cove Campground -- 3-sided shelters with wood stoves, the perfect place to hang out, dry off, and warm up. No food preparation or consumption should be done in these shelters though. Composting toilets are scattered throughout the campground and firewood is both copious and free.  

The park provides wheelbarrows to help tote your camping gear to the site.  I point this out because we waited until arriving at the Visitor Information Station to prep our gear and food for our paddle trip, but the distance from our campsite and parking lot required a lot of schlepping gear, food, and many steps which turned this part of our adventure into a longer process than typical.  With a group, this might extend the packing adventure into an all day affair.   

Backcountry camping is available anywhere within the park except areas that are closed.  Rangers will provide information on campsite selection as well as a lot of other information in the mandatory backcountry briefing held twice a day (10am & 6pm at the Visitor Information Center).  

Supplies

While there is a general store in Gustavus offering everything from bananas to chain saws, they tend to sell things in larger volumes – so just picking up a few items can be a challenge with limited options.  The Glacier Bay Lodge gift shop has a few small items beyond the usual including small camping fuel canisters. 

It seemed that most people brought their food with them, whether flying or ferrying.  We certainly stocked up our food during our 3-day layover in Juneau which of course had many grocery store options.

Outfitters & Guide Services

There’s only one outfit in town for renting kayaks, Glacier Bay Kayaks.  They offer tandem or solo rental boats, (includes boat, paddle, PFD, and spray deck, & rain gear for an extra price) – they do not rent dry bags, nor will they rent a solo boat to someone wanting to go out alone.  So, make sure you have a friend with you!  

In addition to Glacier Bay Kayaks, Alaska Mountain Guides, and Spirit Walker Expeditions offer guided, multi-day kayaking adventures.  Check them out here.  

Going with a guide can take away some of the stress of planning, preparing, logistics and safety.  We've both worked as sea kayak guides and it can be a great way to see a place as special as this!

Showers & Laundry

Glacier Bay Lodge is a short walk away from the Visitor Information Station at Bartlett Cove and has 2 washers, 2 dryers, and 1 shower / bathroom available for $5 for 30min (2022 price). You can purchase a shower pass and quarters at the Gift Shop in the Lodge.  There's even a blow dryer available for use if you need one. 

Restaurants & Food

Glacier Bay Lodge at Bartlett Cove is the only restaurant within walking distance of the campground and Visitor Information Station.  The restaurant serves all of the people staying at the lodge, so they frequently cannot accommodate other reservations.  You can only make a reservation on the day of, if they have an available table.  Be kind and patient, remember that if it was tough for you to get there, it’s also pretty difficult to get food there.

There are only a few other places to eat in the town of Gustavus, the Fireweed Gallery, Coffee, & Tea House was excellent for breakfast or lunch, and we highly recommend sampling their crepes!

Maps & Charts

The park will provide you with some basic maps, charts and tide tables of the area in which  you plan to paddle.  These were fine for navigation, but I wished I’d been able to have a proper chart of the waters – the Visitor’s Center was sold out of the Nat Geo Map and we couldn't find a copy in Juneau.  This chart was produced by David Bahr, artist, photographer, and an expert on the area who includes a lot of history and other information to entertain you while you’re out there.

Backcountry Paddling Options 

Glacier Bay is a vast area! To increase access to tide water glaciers and some of the more stunning remote parts of the park, many paddlers choose to get dropped off by the dayboat tour available from Glacier Bay Lodge.  The boat departs Bartlett Cove at 7:30am each day and returns by 3:30pm.  As well as providing a tour of the park to passengers, the boat makes two pre-arranged stops to drop off and pick up paddlers and hikers in the park, one at the east arm and the other in the west arm, specific locations change in the middle of the season, see map here.  Paddlers can also arrange to be picked up at one of these locations at the end of their trip.  If you are dropped off on the west arm you will be served lunch before you get there, but the east arm gets dropped off early (around 9:30am). If you are being picked up, then you’ll get your lunch on the return trip – if not make arrangements to take a bag lunch from the boat before hand.  To make reservations, contact the Glacier Bay Lodge at 888-229-8686.

Regardless of your planned itinerary, you will see a few boats, a few other paddlers, and you will likely have lots of time to yourself.   We chose to be dropped off on the east arm of the bay and paddle back to Bartlett Cove.  Our logistics worked well, just know that there is a small channel which leads back to the cove from the Beardslee island group called "the cut."  This channel is only accessible around high tide, and the tide needs to be 10 feet or higher.  We arrived right at high tide, made it through with no problem, but observed the water already moving out, so be there early!  Paddling around Young Island into the Sitakaday Narrows is not recommended because of funky currents and rips in this area. Even with our experience and training, we were advised against doing this, so we planned accordingly.

Special Considerations

Weather

Never have we gone from sweaty to sweaters in so short a timespan.  Southeast Alaska has all kinds of weather year-round; we visited in early July and experienced everything from 80 degrees and sunny to 40 degrees and incessant rain in just one week.  Being prepared to handle wildly ranging temperatures and precipitation is essential to enjoying your adventure.  This is the first place in over 20 years of paddle adventures where we each spent some time in the storm kag, but we also spent some time in short sleeves.  Dry suits are worth the investment if you paddle a lot.  

Paddling Conditions

As with the weather, we experienced everything from glass-like water conditions to battling it out against 3 foot beam waves while we were out there.  Like many paddling trips, conditions seemed to be roughest during the middle of the day, or in the early afternoon.  Things were pretty calm in the morning and often in the evening -- but don't plan on this.  

One of the best bits of advice we got was to simply just wait out bad conditions because the weather changes so quickly.  After making our most challenging crossing of about 45 minutes of paddling in the shit, we pulled over to make some coffee and await the rising tides.  Within 15 minutes, calm had returned to the area.  Had we waited it out on the other side, our crossing would have been much smoother.  So, when in doubt...

Plan to Wait It Out

It is good to be prepared for many contingencies, including a delay due to weather or equipment problems, i.e. bring extra food and hot drinks.  On our return paddle we met two individuals who were scheduled to be picked up by the day boat, but the boat had mechanical problems that day and couldn’t make it.  They had enough food for the extra day, but no way of communicating so the delay messed with their plans -- it happens.  If your schedule allows, have an extra day planned in Gustavus or the park to allow for a delay in your paddle itinerary.

Tides

The tidal flow can be huge in Glacier Bay, swinging up to 25 feet.  This is vertical feet, which can translate to hundreds of yards of shore line between high and low, depending upon where you are.  This can impact your ability to land at an ideal campsite as well as increased wave height near inlets.   

When crossing several inlets, even though we planned ahead to cross at slack tide (within an hour of low or high tide) we still noticed a lot of water moving through the inlet and experienced some choppy seas even though the rest of the bay was calm.  So, just be careful when crossing.  The park has decent resource on tides.   

Bears

We didn't see any Black or Grizzly Bears in the park for the whole week we were there.  But others we ran into did see a few from a distance, even one unconfirmed story of a brown bear sniffing a tent at night.  One positive thing going for us is that the resident bears are not habituated to human visitors or food, let’s keep it that way -- for their benefit and our safety.  The park bear protocols are solid, so follow them. 

We also carried bear spray, each of us had our own canister.  It is the most effective deterrent in a close encounter with a bear and will not do any long term harm to the animal.  Learn how to use it.

Bear proof food containers are provided free of charge by the park, each group can take as many as they would like.  These must be stowed in the hatches of your boat, and please note, they are not water proof – there’s a funny story there involving our choice of cooking area and a rapidly rising tide.  Yes, our food containers enjoyed a swim while we waited out the rain in the tent!

Whales & Aquatic Mammals

Conversely, we saw hundreds of whales in our 5 days on the water.  Yes, literally hundreds of Humpbacks breeching, feeding, diving and just doing their thing.  We also saw two small pods of Orcas - truly stunning!  Typically, you can hear the whales in the area, but we were still surprised by a close spout within 30 feet, even as we hugged the shore to avoid the animal.  The whale just seemed curious, but accidental contact could be troublesome.  Best to avoid it, and avoid going for a swim in the icy waters.  Rather, enjoy the show from a distance and you'll be entranced for days.  

We also saw harbor seals, stellar sea loins (one accidentally bumped my boat), sea otters, harbor porpoise, bald eagles, and more pelagic birds than we could count.  

Poop

Unlike many other areas we’ve paddled, the overall number of visitors to the park is small so the impact of human waste is minor.  Park regulations say to just do your business, both liquid and solid, in the intertidal zone.  Groups should designate an area far from the cooking area to do your business.  This might be obvious, but c’mon let’s not get gross.  The bottom line is that you don’t need wag bags, just pack out the soiled toilet paper in a designated bag.

Fresh Water

The Park Rangers were a little vague about fresh water resources in the park, especially if it hasn’t rained a lot.  They more or less told us to be prepared to bring all the water we might need for our 5 days on the water, but we found many fresh water streams and springs along the way that could be boiled or treated.  We found one excellent flow right near the drop off location at Mt. Wright.  I would still recommend bringing a few days’ worth to prevent any stress or needing to sift glacial melt water...no fun.

Other Thoughts on Our Itinerary

When we started looking into this specific side trip on our Summer 2022 Alaskan Adventure, we considered all the options, but landed on taking the ferry from Haines, AK with our boats, and all of our personal camping and kayaking gear.  While we would have saved money on the ferry to either bring just our boats and walk on (or rent kayaks in the park), we would have had another logistical challenge in between the legs of our ferry reservation.  There is at least a 1 night layover in Juneau on the way to Gustavus from either Skagway or Haines, and the closest campground is a couple miles from the ferry terminal.  Unlike other ferries where you can stay aboard with your gear, you have to disembark even if you are scheduled on the same boat for the next morning.  

Having our truck with all of our gear, as well as our ICECO 12V Fridge/Freezer with all of our cold food for the week, meant that we spent more money on the ferry tickets but less money on any other kind of ground transportation, hotel/campground, etc. and we were able to really enjoy Juneau during our 3 day layover. We camped at the Mendenhall Lake Campground which we found using The Dyrt PRO app.  It is a reservation only type of campground (via Recreation.gov), but it was simply one of the best developed campgrounds we've ever enjoyed for $10 a night...and it has free showers to boot!

As we mentioned earlier, we paddled up the east arm of the bay after being dropped off at Mt. Wright, and returned to Bartlett Cove under our own power for a couple of reasons: 1. We wanted to be away from larger boats (cruise ships cannot go in the east arm) and 2. A pick up from either location was not available on our return date.  A drop off slot was open so we chose to get dropped off, paddle north into the east arm for a few days and then paddle back to Bartlett Cove.  We found some stunning campsites, and amazing wildlife experiences at every campsite, and we never had to share our space with another group.  The few other paddlers we saw while we were out there were friendly and super fun to chat with and share experiences.  

We simply cannot say enough about this national park...it has moved to the top of our list of remarkable places to explore, and sea kayaking is the best way to make the most of this magical experience.  We'll be back and hope to explore the west arm next time!