Hubbard Glacier
A vast ice front fed from the Saint Elias Mountains calves into Disenchantment Bay and has repeatedly dammed Russell Fjord.
Artwork inspired by Rockwell Kent
North America’s largest tidewater glacier advances into a deep coastal bay. A vast ice front fed from the Saint Elias Mountains calves into Disenchantment Bay and has repeatedly dammed Russell Fjord. Its scale is best understood from water or air, not a roadside viewpoint.
Choose an authorized boat or flight trip from Yakutat or a ship itinerary that clearly enters Disenchantment Bay, then treat distance and sea ice as part of the view. Weather, floating ice, marine regulations, and vessel capability determine approach distance; there is no public road or walk-up glacier overlook. The essential insight sits in the relationship between calving face and Disenchantment Bay, not in collecting a single perfect photograph.
- Type
- Tidewater glacier
- Status
- Advancing
- Source
- Saint Elias Mountains
Quick guide
- Start with
- Choose an authorized boat or flight trip from Yakutat or a ship itinerary that clearly enters Disenchantment Bay, then treat distance and sea ice as part of the view.
- Look closely at
- Pause where calving face and Disenchantment Bay meet; that transition explains why the place is distinctive.
Know before you go
- Start with
- Choose an authorized boat or flight trip from Yakutat or a ship itinerary that clearly enters Disenchantment Bay, then treat distance and sea ice as part of the view.
- Look closely at
- Pause where calving face and Disenchantment Bay meet; that transition explains why the place is distinctive.
- Connect the story
- Fed from the Saint Elias Mountains, this vast ice front calves into Disenchantment Bay and has repeatedly dammed Russell Fjord. Understand its scale from water or air.
- Plan around
- Allow 1½ hours–full day. Weather, floating ice, marine regulations, and vessel capability determine approach distance; there is no public road or walk-up glacier overlook.
Good to know
Weather, floating ice, marine regulations, and vessel capability determine approach distance; there is no public road or walk-up glacier overlook.
Notice these
- calving face
- Disenchantment Bay
- Russell Fjord