Alaska Glaciers and Wildlife: Best Tours for Your Bucket List
If you’re headed to Alaska, then seeing Alaska glaciers and Alaskan wildlife is hopefully on your bucket list. Seeing both is pretty easy when you book an all inclusive cruise. When you choose to explore Alaska via land, like us, the question now becomes – which tours are best? We did all the research (and tested the tours) for you. Read on for our recommendations that were highlights for our trip and we recommend to anyone visiting Alaska!
Quicklinks to Recommended Tours
If you’d rather skip the details on our recommended tours, then here are our top recommendations summarized for you:
To get up close and personal with a glacier, do ONE of:
- Exit Glacier Guided Hike (Hike ON the Glacier)
- Exit Glacier & Wilderness Tour (Hike to views of the Glacier)
For the best glacier cruise experience, do ONE of:
- 26 Glacier Cruise (maximize the number of glaciers you see)
- Glacier Quest (get closer to a few key glaciers)
To see a variety of marine wildlife, do ONE of:
- Resurrection Bay Cruise with Fox Island (half day of wildlife viewing)
- Full-Day Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise (if you want a full day of wildlife AND glaciers)
If you have the budget for the coolest experiences of a lifetime:
Alaska Glacier & Wildlife Hikes
The first way to see Alaska glaciers and wildlife up close in personal is on a hike. These can be either guided or self-guided. Personally, we recommend doing at least one guided hike. Local guides are much better at finding wildlife, knowing where spot them, etc. Also, guided tours can actually take you ON a glacier, which is the single coolest tour we have every experienced.
Guided Hikes
Exit Glacier Guided Hike (Hike ON the Glacier)
The Exit Glacier Guided Hike via Kenai Backcountry Adventures is our top guided tour recommendation out of our entire Alaska trip. Over the course of 8 hours, this tour takes you on a hike up to Exit Glacier and then ON to Exit Glacier. We spent 4 hours hiking to/from the glacier, and another 2+ actually hiking on the glacier and exploring the features.
We walked across gatorade-blue streams, across giant crevices in the glacier, and got to see little waterfalls from the ever-changing glacier. The glacier is changing so much, that the bridge that allows tours onto this glacier may melt away. In as little as a few months, tour groups may have to change how they access Exit Glacier. This tour is LITERALLY a once in a lifetime experience. Future tours to this famous Alaska glacier might be helicopter or plane only.
Also cool on this tour, we got to see 2 bears while hiking. Like we mention above, local guides are way better at spotting (and keeping you safe) from bears.
Exit Glacier and Wildlife Guided Hike (Hike TO the Glacier)
The same company that does the hike on Exit Glacier also does a much more affordable hike to the glacier that prioritizes wildlife viewing. This is a more affordable, potentially shorter version of the hike. Consider it an easier version of Exit Glacier hike. You’ll still get views like the one pictured above, you just won’t hike on the actual glacier.
Self-Guided Hikes
There are a couple hikes you can do on your own, within driving distance from Anchorage. You can take these hiking trails up to the glacier, but not on the glacier itself. To hike on a glacier, you need special equipment and a guide.
Exit Glacier Self-Guided
There are a few hikes that will get you overlooks and views of Exit Glacier, ranging from easy to very difficult. The first one, if you’re up to the difficulty and elevation gain, actually starts on the same trail the tours above use. The Exit Glacier ice hike gets off around mile 2 to hike on the glacier. On the other hand, this difficult hike keeps climbing.
- Harding Icefield Trail: 8.6 miles out & back, 6 hours, 3,198 ft of elevation gain, VERY DIFFICULT
- Exit Glacier Overlook Trail: 2.2 mile loop, 1 hour, 307 ft of elevation gain, easy
- Exit Glacier View Loop: 1 mile loop, 20 minutes, 85 ft of elevation gain, very easy
In terms of wildlife, this trail area commonly sees bears and moose.
Portage Glacier Self-Guided
Portage Glacier sits above Portage Lake, and the Portage Pass Trail offers good views of both. This hike is 4.4 miles out & back, 3 hours long, 1,437 ft of elevation gain, and moderately difficult.
This is a popular trail and very close to Anchorage (less than an hour drive), so be sure to head there early for easier parking.
Byron Glacier Trail
Only a 1 hour drive from Anchorage, Byron Glacier trail takes you up close to the glacier. The Byron Glacier hike is 3.2 miles out & back, 2 hours long, 787 ft of elevation gain, and moderately difficult. Bear sitings have been reported on this trail.
Denali National Park
If you’re headed to Denali National Park, check out our blog post Your Complete 2023 Guide to Denali National Park: Tours, Trails, Food, and More for recommendations on trails there. You’ll be more likely to see wildlife further into the park or early/later in the day. Try Savage Alpine or Savage River Loop.
Day Cruises
The biggest reason we opted to do a road trip through Alaska is because we realized we could do day cruises and still get to check off the Alaska glaciers viewing and wildlife viewing while also exploring Alaska by car. This was a win-win for us, as we got a small dose of cruise without being stuck on one for a week. All of the cruises we took were HIGHLY recommended by our friends, cross-referenced with reviews online.
Best Alaska Glaciers Cruises
The two best, and most popular Alaska glaciers day cruises come out of Whittier, Alaska. They are run by the same company, but cover different mileage.
26 Glacier Cruise
This 5 hour cruise (self-drive to the cruise port) takes you to probably the most glaciers you could see in 5 hours, plus tons of wildlife. It’s called 26 Glacier for a reason – the potential to see all 26 Glaciers (weather dependent). We loved this one because it was a perfect mix of Alaska glaciers, wildlife, and offered a delicious seafood chowder while on board. The staff are very knowledgeable, they turn the boat at each location to give everyone a solid view of every spot, and they pace the whole tour very well. The tour is worth every penny. We saw steller sea lions, kittiwakes, harbor seals, and sea otters on the cruise. They also have a no-sea sickness guarantee or your money back.
If you don’t have a car, you can take this 26 Glacier Cruise and Coach from Anchorage that includes scenic spots along the way to 26 Glacier.
Glacier Quest Cruise
The same cruise company that does 26 Glacier Cruise also has a shorter, more up-close glacier cruise called the Glacier Quest Cruise. This cruise is a little under 4 hours and travels 45 miles compared to the 150 of 26 Glacier Cruise. This cruise goes by 10 Alaska glaciers on a catamaran boat. You’ll still get the chance to see otters, seals, birds, and maybe even whales, but just cover less mileage.
Best Alaska Wildlife-Viewing Cruises
Half-Day Cruise – Wildlife Only
While the 26 Glacier Cruise and Glacier Quest Cruise will give you ample opportunities to see wildlife, if wildlife viewing is truly high on your bucket list like it is for us, we recommend pairing the glacier cruise with another wildlife cruise. We were recommended a wildlife cruise out of Seward. In July of 2023, every cruise that had gone out had the opportunity to see a species of whale, which is rarer in July. Usually, whales migrate during the warmer months. The best time to visit for whale watching is earlier in the cruise season, such as May.
Nevertheless, on this wildlife-focused cruise, we got to swim by dall porpoise and sea otters, which were both very playful and loved to interact with the boat. The wildlife-focused cruise we picked was on a smaller boat compared to 26 Glacier, which means the animals had more fun with the boat, increasing our chances of seeing more animals up close. We also saw a trio of KILLER WHALES, bald eagles, sea lions, puffins, and more.
We HIGHLY recommend this Resurrection Bay Cruise with Fox Island cruise – it’s the most affordable one for the amount of time you spend on the water, and also includes a lunch. The crew and captain are also really good at finding animals, spending enough time for everyone to get the chance to see them, and providing insight on their behavior, gender, habits, etc. This tour is 5 hours, with 1 hour for lunch.
Full Day Cruise – Glaciers and Wildlife
If you prefer a full day cruise with the opportunity to see more Alaska glaciers, then we recommend this Full-Day Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. This one takes a little under 8 hours, includes lunch, viewing of glaciers, and wildlife in the same area as the Resurrection Bay cruise we recommend above.
Flightseeing Tours
Probably the coolest, but also most expensive, way to see Alaska glaciers and wildlife is via a flightseeing tour. Many parts of Alaska are not visitable via road or hike, and therefore you have to fly to location. Many tours allow you to fly to a glacier or national park to watch bears in their natural habitat. These tours are conveniently located out of towns such as Seward, Homer, and Anchorage, where most tourists stay on their visit.
Katmai National Park Bear Viewing Tour
One of the best places to see bears in their natural habitat – fishing in a river or waterfall, is in Katmai National Park. Unfortunately the national park is not visitable via car, so you have to go via flight. This tour leaves out of Homer and spends 3 hours on the ground safely looking at bears. You’ll definitely want to check out the pictures on the tours review page to hype yourself up for this adventure.
Anchorage Area Glacier Landing Tour
If rigorous hiking is not your thing, you can easily grab a helicopter from Anchorage and spend time on Whiteout Glacier on this helicopter tour. You’ll spend 30 minutes admiring wildlife and Alaska scenery via helicopter tour and 30 minutes on a guided glacier hike.
Anchorage Area Dog-Sledding on a Glacier Tour
If you want the true Alaska glaciers experience, then there’s no better way than flying across a glacier on a dog-sledding tour. This dog-sledding tour on Troublesome Glacier sells out very quickly due to its popularity. You spend about 30 minutes round trip on the helicopter, and get to see Knik Glacier from above, before landing on Troublesome Glacier for the once in a lifetime dog sledding experience.
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