#5 of 41 sights in Glacier Bay
Sight · Glacier Bay National Park
Rare advancing tidewater glacier with thunderous calving and rich wildlife
Overview
Johns Hopkins Glacier sits at the head of Johns Hopkins Inlet, deep in the upper bay. It’s the rare glacier that’s still advancing, which makes the experience feel alive—booming calving, shifting ice, and a constantly changing face. There’s no road or trail here; you view it from a boat or cruise ship, which keeps the setting wild and pristine.
Map
Local know-how
Bring binoculars or a telephoto lens for seabirds, seals, and calving detail.
Dress in warm, waterproof layers—wind and spray are common even in summer.
Protect cameras from mist and rain; calving can throw spray a surprising distance.
If you get seasick, take remedies before entering the inlet’s choppy waters.
Early summer often offers clearer views; cloudy days can enhance the ice’s blue tones.
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Glacier Bay Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Glacier Bay National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Expect a mile-wide wall of blue-and-white ice rising roughly 225–300 feet above the water, with fresh icebergs drifting in the inlet. On overcast days the ice can glow an electric blue; in bright sun it can look cleaner and whiter. Look for dark stripes slicing through the ice—the glacier carries about fifty medial moraines formed where tributary glaciers merge. This is a dramatic, photogenic scene framed by the Fairweather Range.
Harbor seals often haul out on the icebergs, and seabirds are a big draw: kittiwakes, puffins, guillemots, scoters, and both Marbled and Kittlitz’s Murrelets are possible along the inlet corridor. Keep an eye on shorelines for the occasional brown bear.
This is a 12‑mile‑long tidewater glacier fed by numerous tributaries, which explains the striking bands of debris on its surface. It flows west into the sea at Johns Hopkins Inlet and is notable for advancing while many regional glaciers retreat. It was named in 1893 for Johns Hopkins University, and it also carries a Tlingit name, reflecting deep Indigenous ties to this landscape.
Wildlife
98 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
48 sightingsOrcaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
110 sightingsBrown BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
312 sightingsSea OtterMost seen around 4 PMSighting map
106 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
93 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Glacier Bay. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
Parkwolf’s Glacier Bay ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
