Taku Glacier by Helicopter and Airboat from Juneau

Your 3.5-hour tour begins with convenient hotel pickup in Juneau. Head to a nearby local airport, where your helicopter is ready and waiting for you to board. Receive a safety briefing and before you know it, the blades blur into action and you’re in the air.

Fly over Tongass National Forest, the largest forest in the United States that covers most of southeastern Alaska. Keep your eyes peeled for bears and eagles, and gaze in awe as you pass ice-capped summits and swoop over hanging glaciers and plunging crevasses.

Inside the park, land near the pristine Taku River and slip on a provided full-body thermal survival suit. Then climb aboard an airboat piloted by a captain with over 20 years’ worth of experience and knowledge of the river.

Feast your eyes on a natural wonder very few people get to experience: up-close, panoramic views of Taku Glacier, the largest in the Juneau Icefield at 4,845 feet (1,477 meters) thick. Approximately 36 miles (58 km) long, Taku is one of the few glaciers in the world that is advancing rather than receding. Learn insightful history on the area as you marvel at frozen rivers of ice cascading down between hills, and snap shots of sapphire- and turquoise-tinted floes.

Explore Taku Watershed, a network of freshwater channels where wild Pacific salmon hatch and later return to spawn. In the distance, you may spot wolves, bears, moose, mountain goats, and woodland caribou, among other critters.

After the airboat ride, reboard your helicopter and land on Taku Glacier itself. Disembark and follow your pilot for a stroll on the advancing level of the glacier, where moulins, crevasses, blue ice and icefalls are nearly at arm's length.

Warm up back aboard your helicopter, which returns to Juneau for your transport back to your hotel.