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Five Incredible National Park Excursions By Boat

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The day-long cruise at Glacier Bay National Park shows off wonders such as the Johns Hopkins Glacier and inlet/Kurt Repanshek

Most of us arrive in a national park by car, truck, or perhaps train, and then spend our visit either walking or driving around, stopping at scenic overlooks, exploring history, or searching for wildlife.

One mode of transportation not to be overlooked, though, is watercraft. Here are five incredible national park excursions by boat that are worthy of your consideration.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska 

The attractive seaside community of Seward,  Alaska,  is a popular spot to begin or end an Inside Passage cruise, and it's also the southern terminus of both  the Alaska Railroad and the Seward Highway. However you choose to get there, don't miss a Seward highlight'”a boat tour into Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords includes some of the best of Alaska: glaciers calving into the ocean, abundant wildlife'”everything from whales to otters and bald eagles to those ever-popular puffins'”along with the narrow bays hemmed by the steep mountain walls that give this park its name. 

Several companies offer daily summer boat tours from Seward, ranging in length from about three to nine hours. Some of the full-day trips include an on-board National Park Service naturalist, and boats have enclosed and heated seating and viewing areas. 

The shorter trips remain in the more sheltered waters of Resurrection Bay, so if you're short on time or leery about the risk of  occasional rough water, these offer an option. For a much better sample of Kenai Fjords, including a close-up look at glaciers meeting the sea'”and  more varied wildlife viewing opportunities'”opt for one of the longer trips. It'll be a day well spent.

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A number of boat cruises let you see lighthouses at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore/Jim Burnett

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin

If you enjoy a combination of unspoiled Great Lakes scenery, "the largest and finest single collection of lighthouses in the country," and a base of operations in what some have called the "Best Little Town in the Midwest," look no further than Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  

Located in northwestern Wisconsin, the park's key features are found on and around a cluster of 21 islands in Lake Superior. The islands' combination of rugged shorelines, dramatic sandstone cliffs, sea caves and a forested landscapes can be viewed and in some cases accessed via boat trips offered by Apostle Islands Cruises. Check the company's website for dates and schedule information.

The trips leave from the delightful small town of Bayfield, Wisconsin, and a variety of boating excursions are available. You can choose from several narrated sightseeing cruises, shuttles to specific islands for day hiker and overnight campers, and charter trips to offshore locations throughout the park. 

If you'd like to visit one of the park's six historic lighthouses, a four-hour round trip to Raspberry Island combines fine lakeshore scenery with a tour of that structure. As you gaze down from the lighthouse on the rugged shore'”and the vast expanse of Lake Superior'”it's easy to understand why these lights have been vital to mariners for well over a century

Waterton Lakes-Glacier International Peace Park

For an international "cruising" experience that combines outstanding mountain scenery with probably the easiest "border crossing" you'll ever experience, check out the boat tour that joins the U. S. and Canada via Waterton Lake. 

The aptly-named M.V. International makes the round-trip from the small town of Waterton, in Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park, across the invisible border to Goat Haunt, in our own Glacier National Park. Total trip time is about two-and-a-quarter hours, including a half-hour stop at Goat Haunt.

From mid-May through mid-September, there are three departures each day from Waterton; if you take the 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. boat, you can spend several hours hiking in the Goat Haunt area before catching the last boat for the return trip to Canada. If you plan to hike, bring your passport, since you'll have to clear customs. Trips earlier in May, or from mid-September through mid-October, don't make a stop on the U. S. side. 

These mini-cruises offer fine possibilities for wildlife viewing, including bald eagle, bear, moose, deer, mountain sheep and mountain goats; the captain will stop for photo ops. With or without critters, the scenery is definitely in the "can't miss" category. 

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Though 3.3-million-acre Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve offers a tremendous land area to go along with its namesake bay, a day trip on that 65-mile-long bay will open your eyes to so much of what this park offers and why it was preserved.

Buy a ticket ($195 per adult. $97.50 kids 3-12 during 2014) to the boat cruise up this shimmering bay and you'll quickly see more bird species than you might have in all your previous years, likely spot Orca whales, if not some Humpbacks, too, harbor seals, perhaps a brown bear on the shoreline in search of a fishy meal, and stand in awe before a glacier (one that might be calving while you watch).

While terrestrial birders spend much of their time scanning trees, bushes, and even power lines for birds, in Glacier Bay you're looking down onto the water's surface to see what might be bobbing along (tufted puffins, maybe, or Black-legged Kittiwakes) at least as much as gazing overhead to see what might be wheeling over your boat.

These are full-day trips aboard the Baranof Wind, not for someone who can't stand being on a cruise for that long. But the rewards in terms of wildlife sightings and glacier gazing are well worth it. And if you need a break or the breeze kicks up or the rain starts falling, come into the galley for a hot cup of coffee or cocoa, enjoy lunch (included), or sit back and watch the landscape pass by from your seat.

Trips depart from Bartlett Cove at the dock down from the Glacier Bay Lodge. Boarding starts at 7 a.m. with sailing scheduled for 7:30 a.m.

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Floating within the crater of a dormant volcano might not sound like a wise move, but the boat tours at Crater Lake National Park are so rich in natural history, scenery, and opportunity to climb a volcanic rim within a rim, that you shouldn't pass up the opportunity to cruise Crater Lake. (Plus, those who track such things would notice signs of rumblings deep within ancient Mount Mazama in time to get everyone out of the park before it burped).

There are a few boat tours to choose from ($37-$52 2014 rates; the 2014 season is over) You can sign on for a tour that circumnavigates the entire lake. You can decide to spend three hours at Wizard Island before continuing your circumnavigation. Or you can decide to spend six hours on Wizard Island, something anglers might choose to do.

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The Crater Lake boat tour gets you up close to Phantom Ship/Kurt Repanshek

Sure, you can drive the Rim Road that circles this incredible crater, but it pales to being down on the water and soaking in all the scenery while a park ranger provides a running natural history discourse. Plus, the boat tour is the only way you'll reach Wizard Island! For those who do go ashore there, you can follow a trail to the top of the cinder cone for a panoramic view of the lake, or hike down to Fumarole Bay. If you're truly "motivated," as our ranger told us, you can hike to the top of Wizard Island, and hike over to Fumarole Bay. But it's not for slowpokes.

Traveler footnote: Jim Burnett provided the insights to the boat trips at Kenai Fjords National Park, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, while Kurt Repanshek covered the Glacier Bay National Park and Crater Lake National Park tours.

Comments

How in the world can you skip over Isle Royale NP?  You have the option of open water rides in Lake Superior from Grand Portage, MN, Copper Harbor, MI, and Houghton, MI.  Then, when you get there, there are 6 different boat tours on the MV Sandy at the north end of the island. Canoe, kayak, and motorboat rentals are available to do your own exploration.

Regarding Waterton Lakes, if you are a hiker, the Carthew-Alderson Trail is a must do hike that should be on every hiker's bucket list.  You can get a shuttle to drop you off at Cameron Lake (elevation 5446 ft) and hike one way back to Waterton (elevation 4200 ft).  The 1st 4 miles or so is a steep switchback climb of 2136 ft, mostly through forest and eventually on a well worn trail of scree. Once you get to Carthew Summit, the next 8.5 miles is all down hill to Waterton.  The views of Glacier NP to the south are incredible and the decent into Waterton from Carthew Peak follows a chain of small lakes and water falls and is highlighted by an approach to Alderson Lake where you start high on the lateral edge of a cirque and switch back down to the lake with incredible views of the cirque and the lake.  There is a campground there if you wish to stay overnight. The final leg is a leisurely 5 mile downhill walk in the forest along the stream whose headwaters you started from at the Carthew Summit.  Total distance is 12.5 miles one way.

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