View· Endicott Arm· Alaska Southeast — Juneau, Endicott Arm & Icy Strait
Dawes Glacier (Head of Endicott Arm)
57° 30.2′ N · 132° 51.8′ W · approximate
Dawes Glacier fills the head of Endicott Arm with ice, thousands of bergs of all shapes, and calves into a fjord that is hard to approach closely. It is the destination of the Endicott Arm run and a place for patient, distant viewing.
Practical
Position is approximate and is deliberately short of the ice front, in the fjord's upper reach, not the glacier face. Heavy ice often blocks the final approach. The National Park Service advises small boats to stay at least half a mile from a glacier terminus and warns that falling ice can still raise large waves at that distance (Kenai Fjords guidance; no Dawes-specific rule was found). Tlingit guides have avoided the face because submerged ice 'shooters' can capsize small craft. Researchers have flagged that Dawes Glacier is retreating and that conditions resembling the Tracy Arm slide may exist here (a May 2026 research summary; primary text not read, unconfirmed). Do not land close to the face; bears and wolves use the shore.
Best for
Distant glacier viewing from the fjord
Season
Late spring to early autumn; ice varies
Itineraries that stop here
Nearby
- Fords Terror Outer Anchorage (Endicott Arm)12.6 NM away
- Fords Terror Narrows and Inner Basin13.7 NM away
- Endicott Arm (to Dawes Glacier)14.8 NM away
- Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness15.6 NM away
- Sawyer Glaciers (Head of Tracy Arm)26.6 NM away
- Holkham Bay (Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm Entrance)28.5 NM away
- Lower Tracy Arm30 NM away
- Tracy Arm Cove (Holkham Bay)32.1 NM away
Place data includes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).