The ice­field may be a rem­nant of the Pleis­tocene ice mass­es once cov­er­ing half of Alas­ka. It’s 12 miles long, locat­ed in Glac­i­er Bay Nation­al Park and has been con­firmed to be one of few glac­i­ers that is still advanc­ing rather than shrink­ing. Gobs of hanging glaciers can be seen from just about every highway that traverses Alaska’s high mountains. Overwhelmed by choices?  ...more, The Kahilt­na Glac­i­er is the longest in the Alas­ka Range — a 45-mile long riv­er of ice! Except one thing: When the Har­ri­man Expe­di­tion named the glac­i­ers in Col­lege Fjord, they had no idea the insult that would be felt more than a cen­tu­ry by Amherst alums cruis­ing Prince William Sound only to dis­cov­er their alma mater’s name­sake glac­i­er is some­what of a runt. Hol­gate Arm is often filled with ice, but on a good day you can get to a close and safe dis­tance from the glac­i­er. Please try again. 13-mile glac­i­er in the Kenai Mountains. ...more. The Sep­tem­ber 9, 1961 pho­to­graph shows the low­er reach­es of Plateau Glac­i­er, then a tide­wa­ter calv­ing val­ley glac­i­er with parts of its ter­mi­nus being land based on either side of the fiord. The absence of any ice­bergs indi­cates that by 1909, the glac­i­er was no longer tide­wa­ter. This very pop­u­lar glac­i­er lies just beyond the end of a flat, well-main­tained trail up a nar­row, glac­i­er-scoured val­ley south of the Portage Lake. Now a days God­win glac­i­er is a val­ley glac­i­er and behind the low hills you see in the fore­ground God­win glacier… The glaciers are situated on 11 mountain ranges, 1 large island, an island chain, and 1 archipelago and range in elevation from more than 6,000 m to below sea level.  ...more, Car­roll Glac­i­er, found in Glac­i­er Bay, is a ter­res­tri­al glac­i­er. In a land of superlatives, Alaska’s glaciers … The tour then, is nicely dramatic. There’s the groan of tortured ice, the artillery-shot crack as it shatters, the rumble of its collapse—all ending in a colossal splash followed by tsunami-like waves that jostle floating ice and bergs and maybe rock your boat. Campgrounds, RV Parks & Public Use Cabins. Glaciers exist on every continent except Australia. Orig­i­nat­ing in a bowl, or cirque, of the moun­tain, this undu­lat­ing tongue of rock frag­ments moves much like a glac­i­er. It's the most impressive glacier, which is advancing 12 to 14 feet a day and calves frequently. A push moraine is sed­i­ment that, in this case, has been bull­dozed from the floor of Rus­sell Fiord by the advanc­ing ice. Go to sea on a day cruise or fishing charter, and you’ll discover the coastal mountains of Southcentral and Southeast Alaska are among the best places in the world to experience glacier calving. However, the number of glaciers is a misleading statistic. Byron descends from the same ice field that feeds both Portage Glac­i­er on the lake and Black­stone Glac­i­er in Prince William Sound. Read their respec­tive cap­tions for…. Glaciers are located throughout the Inside Passage, Southcentral Alaska’s coastal waters, and the high mountains of Interior Alaska. This glac­i­er in the east­ern part of Prince William Sound has been in a ​“cat­a­stroph­ic”…. It’s easy to spend a couple days out here, thanks to the great lodges—not the big, cruise-circuit lodges, but intimate, family-run places that attract independent-minded travelers. Other well-known glaciers in the Park include Johns Hopkins, Reid, Carroll and Lamplugh glaciers. It now has a four-mile wide tow­er­ing face that you can walk right up to and touch. The east­ern­most for­mer trib­u­tary lost con­tact with Stephens Glac­i­er dur­ing the lat­er part of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry. In the right conditions, however, your ship might be able to get within 1/2 mile of the face. Three north-look­ing pho­tographs, all tak­en from about the same off­shore loca­tion, about 0.5 kilo­me­ters (0.3 miles) north of Tobog­gan Glacier,…, Three north-look­ing pho­tographs, all tak­en from about the same off­shore loca­tion, about 0.5 kilo­me­ters (0.3 miles) north of Tobog­gan Glac­i­er, doc­u­ment sig­nif­i­cant changes that have occurred dur­ing the 103 years between August 20, 1905 and August 22, 2008. Please check your email to verify your subscription. A win­ter wag­on road from Talkeetna… Alaska Glaciers. Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska.  ...more, A pop­u­lar place for cruis­es and kayak­ing. Let us simplify it for you, How much does an Alaska summer vacation cost? One of few glac­i­ers that are actu­al­ly advanc­ing, Marg­erie Glac­i­er is about 21 miles long and 250 feet high (with a base 100 feet below sea lev­el). The Muldrow Glac­i­er is the park’s longest and it is a great exam­ple of the pow­er these behe­moth ice mass­es have on the land­scape. On clear days, you can see the alpine ice falls on Mount Blackburn (16,390 feet) at the head of the glacier. Most people who come to the Park—and there can be 400,000 of them a year—come by way of a cruise ship, and most of those ships head up the West Arm, towards the Margerie Glacier. One of the most vis­it­ed nat­ur­al attrac­tions along the Richard­son High­way, this four-mile-long glac­i­er is easy to approach on foot. Talk about a room with a glac­i­er view: This is the only glac­i­er in the state with a hotel…. There are scores of carriers in dozens of communities, using both ski-equipped airplanes and helicopters. The ice is 3700 feet deep, some of it more than a thou­sand years old. The first pho­to­graph by D.F. (It opens to ATV use on cer­tain days.) Record heat in Alaska melts glaciers, hints at bigger problems that … Order a Map. The only access to the face of the glac­i­er is by cruis­ing up the Johns Hop­kins Inlet. Book entire boat for your family or group, or opt to bunk with other guests. But to experience that humbling sight in person, your best bet is to go to Prince William Sound. Your must-have activity guide + map while in Alaska. Off the coast of Yakutat—200 miles NW of Juneau—Hubbard is certainly gigantic: it's more than six miles wide where it meets the ocean. Look down Col­lege Fjord to Har­vard and Yale Glac­i­ers, 20 miles away. Hol­gate Glac­i­er, found in Hol­gate Arm in Aia­lik Bay, with­in Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, is a tide­wa­ter and moun­tain glac­i­er. If approached after the snow has melted—late June through September—the contrast between the glacier and the surrounding tundra, gravel and rock is startling and otherworldly. It snakes its way 32 miles through the Chugach Moun­tains before dump­ing into the Colum­bia Bay, about 40 miles by boat from Valdez. You’ll have two hours to explore the area before you have to catch the train heading southbound. Dur­ing the busy climb­ing sea­son, there can be… Trips available from Whittier, Homer, Seward, Juneau, and Sitka. Tide­wa­ter glac­i­er in Glac­i­er Bay Nation­al Park. 1 View on Map. We shall say no more. The Alaska App. Icy Bay lives up to its name with an active tide­wa­ter glac­i­er often clog­ging the fjord with ice­bergs. One of the most popular natural attractions on the Valdez-to-Fairbanks highway corridor, this active glacier descends almost to the Richardson Highway, and can be easily approached via a short trail system. See Alaska's highlights by railroad or motorcoach in a group of up to 50, Travel in small groups, stay at exclusive wilderness lodges, and spend more time outdoors, All-inclusive multi-day vacation packages at a remote wilderness lodge, Travel with a professional photographer to the best photo locations around the state, Trips range from backpacking, rafting, to upscale remote lodge retreats, Cruises depart Juneau or Sitka. Highlights plus less visited destinations.  ...more, These three pho­tographs show the sig­nif­i­cant changes that Tazli­na Glac­i­er has under­gone in recent years. Filter Choices.  ...more, While not the most spec­tac­u­lar glac­i­er, it nonethe­less deserves note because one of the cre­ators of The Alas­ka App went…. Luckily, we have compiled a list of some of the best glacier tours and have categorized each experience by sea, air, or land. These gleam­ing val­ley glac­i­ers perch in the moun­tains above Portage Val­ley, easy to view from high­way pull­outs. GLACIERS OF ALASKA. A state recreation site offers 12 campsites and trails to glacier viewing. It’s also a good spot to learn about glacial movement, since it’s receding quickly; there's even a guide marking its recession over the past 120 years. Read their respec­tive cap­tions for more information. The 1941 pho­to­graph by William O. Rent a car and travel independently on a set itinerary, with lodging and tours booked in advance. If you can’t get enough snow, this spot is for you: Just 28 miles from Valdez, the Worthington Glacier is fed by the snows of the Chugach Mountains around Thompson Pass—and in fact, it's the snowiest place in the state. Sign-up for any of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip. Anoth­er mile past the pass, and you can approach the edges or toe of the glac­i­er itself, for a more inti­mate expe­ri­ence of its tex­ture, col­ors and gnarled shape. Grand Pacific Glacier (Glacier Bay National Park): Two vast glaciers of deep blue meet at the top of an utterly barren fjord. On many days, it spawns enough ice into the Arm to pre­vent boats from get­ting close. There’s also a self-guided audio tour on The Alaska App, narrated by the Park Service’s chief interpretive ranger. The North and South Sawyer Glaciers are tidewater glaciers at the head of Tracy Arm, a … Located at the end of a private road through a resort at Mile 102 of the Glenn Highway—about 50 miles east of Palmer—this craggy, heavily crevassed river of ice is the real thing. Plus, it’s one of the easiest “walk-up” glaciers in the state, with a short paved hike to a viewing platform. The East Glacier Trail, meanwhile, is a 3.5 mile loop with 500 feet of elevation gain, which gives you a good bird’s eye view of the ice. In 1937, Yale Glacier’s ter­mi­nus was locat­ed at about the same posi­tion that it occu­pied when it was vis­it­ed by… Sign-up for any of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip. Glaciers cover about 75,000 km. It is the larg­er of the two glac­i­ers, and if con­di­tions are good you can come with­in 1⁄2 mile of the face. It was named after the Wis­con­sin col­lege, as were most of the oth­er glac­i­ers in Black­stone Bay (Lawrence, Mar­quette, Concordia,… Colum­bia glac­i­er is locat­ed in Prince William Sound. You can get there by taking a narrated bus tour, but you can also go on your own: A taxi to the glacier costs $35 one way, while a shuttle bus is just $8 each way. You’ll cross it 35 miles up it, at an ele­va­tion of 5500 feet above sea lev­el. Numerous glaciers and ice fields occupy the mountain ranges of Alaska, and the processes of glaciation and deglaciation have influenced much of the state's landscape.  ...more, To the east is anoth­er Ice Age crea­ture known as a rock glac­i­er. The sheer ice walls, deep blue holes (called moulins) and creaking ice make it an unforgettable experience. Perhaps you’ve heard a glacier referred to as a “river of ice.” It turns out that this definition isn’t too far from reality!Glaciers can be defined in a few ways. While not the most spec­tac­u­lar glac­i­er, it nonethe­less deserves note because one of the cre­ators of The Alas­ka App went to Amherst Col­lege. The 2000 pho­to­graph doc­u­ments the con­tin­u­ing advance of Har­vard Glac­i­er, which has com­plete­ly obscured the view of Rad­cliff Glac­i­er. Wor­thing­ton Glac­i­er State Recre­ation Site is made up of 113 acres, and includes one of the most vis­it­ed spots in the Cop­per Riv­er Basin, Wor­thing­ton Glac­i­er. This 25 – 50 foot high ridge of rock debris looks like an exca­va­tion pit that extends for miles down the cen­ter of the glac­i­er. GPX: Glaciers in Alaska. Here are the most popular glaciers and the best ways to see them. Most people book a day-trip on a marine tour. Plan your journey with this gorgeous printed map. This gigantic glacier is the largest in the U.S. that can be reached by vehicle. Part of the tide­wa­ter glac­i­er is locat­ed in Reid Inlet with­in Glac­i­er Bay Nation­al Park in Alas­ka, while the oth­er side can be found in the Grand Pacif­ic Pass in British Colum­bia, Cana­da. View Items on Map. Here you have a glimpse into the edge of the Hard­ing Ice­field. Glaciers near Anchorage include a total of 60 within 50 miles of the city. Get The Alaska App (iOS only) Get More Alaska. Depending upon the time of year and snow cover, Eklutna’s toe can be quite treacherous (but beautiful) with headwalls, rock slides and fins of ice. Plan your journey with this gorgeous printed map. Scientists are more interested in total glacial land coverage as a measure. There is one obvious reason why all the glaciers in Alaska’s parks had not been remapped since the mid-20th century. Take a cruise from Seward to see Ped­er­sen Glac­i­er, and the beau­ti­ful habi­tat sur­round­ing it just under 20 miles away. There are stories of people finding salmon stranded in the forest, washed 20 to 30 feet from the river by these glacier tsunamis. Around a hun­dred years ago, Black­stone Glac­i­er extend­ed all the way out to here. Dozens of glac­i­ers, calv­ing action and wildlife galore: this Nation­al Park and Pre­serve is pop­u­lar because it offers a…. Above is an interactive story map with videos, images, maps and narrative that describe changes in Alaska's glaciers. The classic Alaska Cruise, offered by such companies as Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Alaska Marine Highway Inter Island Ferry BC Ferry Petersburg Mitkof Island Klawock Hollis Hydaburg Hoonah Metlakatla Gustavus Cross Gulf F erry t o: Y ak ut at, Cordova, Whit tier V alde z, Se ward, Homer K odiak & Aleutian Islands Cube Cove Elfin Cove Myers Chuck Port Alexander ©Bell’s Travel Guides . The ter­mi­nus has a large… It’s also one of the most studied glaciers in the state: a National Science Foundation project is three-dimensionally mapping its flow. Just under 90 miles from Juneau, Muir Glac­i­er was a pop­u­lar stop for many tourists in the late 19th cen­tu­ry, and still is today. This tide­wa­ter glac­i­er may be a bit of sleep­ing giant. Decades after it exposed its own deep lake, the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center was built specifically to showcase a stunning head-on view of its rugged, collapsing face. Being able to walk up to any glacier is a stunning experience, and this big boy is the biggest, and perhaps most impressive roadside glacier, in part because you can easily touch it. This is also a good van­tage point to look back up Bar­ry and Coxe Glacier. If the boat can get close to the glacier, you’ll be within one mile of its face, and you’ll get a 270-degree view of glacier ice that’s 200 to 400 feet tall. Just as impressive as the glaciers, however, is the land exposed by the ice’s recession. Vis­it a dra­mat­ic, fast-mov­ing glacier. The easy lower trail leads to overlooks of crevasses. To the east is anoth­er Ice Age crea­ture known as a rock glac­i­er. Watch for climb­ing camps…These may be the world’s most impres­sive gran­ite mono­liths. Around a hun­dred years ago, Black­stone Glac­i­er extend­ed all the way out to here. See Alaska's highlights by railroad or motorcoach in a group of up to 50, Travel in small groups, stay at exclusive wilderness lodges, and spend more time outdoors, All-inclusive multi-day vacation packages at a remote wilderness lodge, Travel with a professional photographer to the best photo locations around the state, Trips range from backpacking, rafting, to upscale remote lodge retreats, Cruises depart Juneau or Sitka. Car­roll Glac­i­er, found in Glac­i­er Bay, is a ter­res­tri­al glac­i­er. This dramatic tongue of ice descends from the massive Harding Ice Field to a visitor center with curated trail system, located inside the only portion of Kenai Fjords National Park reachable by road. Make sure to stop at mile­post 28.7 on the Richard­son High­way to view this favorite glac­i­er, or take a short walk to the glac­i­er and see it up close! With a gorge deep­er than the Grand Canyon, and glacial ice 3,800 feet deep, it’s hard to find a…. Most day cruises take between four and five hours, but there are two distinct types of cruises, and they offer different experiences: You’ll see more glaciers on the high-speed catamarans—such as the Surprise Glacier in Harriman Fjord, which some people think is the best calving glacier in the sound. During its peak winter, 1951-52, the area got more than 80 feet of snow. Receding rapidly, its face is now covered with rocky moraine. Cruises and land tours are great ways to see Alaska. Outside the two major ice sheets that cover most of Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers in Alaska (and shared ice-fields with Canada) represent about 13 percent of the mountain glaciers and ice caps area on Earth. This glac­i­er dom­i­nates all views west of the his­toric mill town site of Ken­necott (basi­cal­ly locat­ed ​“across the street” from the Ken­ni­cott Glac­i­er Lodge) in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias Nation­al Park. There are also guided hikes on the glacier, if you want to strap on crampons and walk on the ice. Alaska Railroad: Adventure Class or Goldstar Dome Car Service? (USGS Pho­to­graph by Bruce F. Molnia). There is a short ranger-led walk dai­ly at 11am and 3pm, from Memo­r­i­al Day through Labor Day. If you’re looking for more of an adventure, take the Harding Icefield Trail, which climbs 3,500 feet in 4 miles, and gives great views of the glacier. Free personal GPS–driven travel guide to Alaska. Southcentral Alaska Glaciers The Matanuska (Mat-Su) Glacier. Approximate distribution is:91% in Antarctica8% in GreenlandLess than 0.5% in North America (about 0.1% in Alaska)0.2% in AsiaLess than 0.1% is in South America, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, and Irian Jaya. On a sunny day, the photography is outstanding, in a locale that’s as wild and exotic as it gets. If you opt for a glac­i­er land­ing, this is where you’ll like­ly land. You can stay here for $100 a night. This glac­i­er emerges from a gorge beyond the head of Eklut­na Lake, at the end of a mul­ti-use trail deep…, To see the glac­i­er, you have to trav­el into the gorge, a 26-mile round-trip from the trail­head over a most­ly flat mul­ti-use trail. Many peo­ple camp on the out­er beach near Bear Glac­i­er, and enjoy the glac­i­er views in the back­ground. The very doable 8-mile Gold Mint Trail in the Hatcher Pass area north of Palmer parallels the Little Susitna River up a gorgeous valley to its headwaters and a ridge overlooking Mint Glacier. In this series of pho­tos from June of 2002, Bruce Mol­nia of the USGS doc­u­ment­ed the advanc­ing ter­mi­nus of Hub­bard Glac­i­er and the chan­nel cut into the top of its push moraine that blocked the mouth of Rus­sell Fiord. If you trav­el for the pho­to ops, the twin Sawyer Glac­i­ers will keep you very busy: tour­ing them gives…. What might appear as a static (but enormous) landform from the ground or the deck of a boat suddenly seems to come alive in real time, like you’re rocketing down an undulating river as it twists through canyons and plunges over falls. Nat­u­ral­ist and author John Muir first made his way to Alas­ka in 1879, where he went to explore Glac­i­er Bay. Traveling south from Anchorage, the train makes a brief stop in Girdwood, … 1. Seeing icy glaciers is a quintessential Alaskan experience. Flightseeing transforms glacier viewing into something like the grandest amusement park ride you’ve ever imagined. Guides offer activities such as sea kayaking and rafting, hiking and climbing.  ...more, This is your vir­tu­al class­room in glacia­tion. You’ve likely seen those iconic glacier images, with hunks of ice crashing into the ocean. That’s two glaciers in one day! Mendenhall Glacier. Fly­ing down the medi­al moraine of the Ruth Glac­i­er is mes­mer­iz­ing. This includes all the glaciers … Tan­gle Pond and Tan­gle Creek are favorite fish­ing spots for locals, and there are lots of places to camp in Portage Val­ley itself. There’s no other place where a glacier is such a constant presence—that tongue of ice creating a backdrop for your whole stay. One qualifier: Access to the glacier is on private land, so there’s a $30 fee. Which one is right for you? See other great roadside glaciers. Although it reced­ed through­out much of the twen­ti­eth century,…. This glacier in the eastern part of Prince William Sound has been in a “catastrophic” retreat since 1982, a phenomenon predicted to stop by 2020. It has a wood stove and bunks 6. Back in the 1700s, Grand Pacif­ic Glac­i­er filled the entire bay, and reached all they way to the Icy Strait. Matanuska Glacier, one of Alaska's most accessible glaciers, is a stable 27-mile long river of ice flowing from the Chugach Mountains north almost to the Glenn Highway. The Juneau Icefield is a massive accumulation of ice and snow stretching from upper Taku Inlet north to Skagway. The spectacular Kennicott Glacier dominates the vista from the historic copper mill town of Kennecott and the decks of the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, 4.5 miles from the end of the McCarthy Road inside Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Cas­cade is in rapid retreat. The two includ­ed pho­tographs were tak­en on the north­east side of Wachusett Inlet, Saint Elias Moun­tains, Alas­ka. Want some dramatic scenery? Although Ken­ni­cott Glac­i­er has been reced­ing from its ter­mi­nus for years, its immen­si­ty and rugged­ness remains a mag­nif­i­cent sight, fill­ing the four-mile-wide val­ley like a mighty river. The only glac­i­er in South­east Alas­ka acces­si­ble by road, Mendenhall’s grand edi­fice plunges from the immense Juneau Ice­field, dropping…. Dozens of glaciers, calving action and wildlife galore: this National Park and Preserve is popular because it offers a greatest hits collection of Alaskan sights and is boat-accessible.  ...more. Just 15 miles…. The 700-square-mile Hard­ing Ice­field, one of four major ice caps in the Unit­ed States, crowns Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. In fact, you can walk almost right up to the face of it in 30 minutes, by way of the Edge of the Glacier Trail. A base camp man­ag­er coor­di­nates com­mu­ni­ca­tions between climbers and air taxis. You can see… Fig 3. Some of these might look overwhelming at first glance. Trips available from Whittier, Homer, Seward, Juneau, and Sitka. One quarter of Alaska’s glaciers - more than 4.5 million acres - can be found within Alaska’s national parks. You’ll stare in dis­be­lief at… This road trip gives you a feel for the colorful adventurers, guides and backcountry Alaskans who live in these remote corners of the state. Just 15 miles from Seward—where many cruises embark and disembark—Exit Glacier is one of the most popular road-accessible glaciers in the state. A visitor center operated by the U.S. Forest Service is open year-round with spectacular views and interactive exhibits, plus you’ll find great hiking to waterfalls and overlooks for photography. For now, the glacier isn’t surging, but you could say that it’s a pretty light sleeper— it does calve a lot. After seasonal snow recedes during spring and summer, scores of glaciers become readily visible on slopes overlooking highways that traverse Alaska’s coastal mountains and the Alaska Range. There are some glac­i­ers you can dri­ve to, but very few that you can stroll to. One hun­dred and fifty years ago the val­ley now occu­pied by the ship facil­i­ty and cor­rec­tion­al cen­ter was filled with the ice of God­win Glac­i­er. You can, however, do some good exploring. This 13-mile-long river of ice descends from the immense Juneau Icefield into a berg-strewn lake only minutes from downtown Juneau. Both pho­tographs are tak­en towards the north and show the retreat­ing, calv­ing, tide­wa­ter ter­mi­nus of Yale Glac­i­er, locat­ed at the head of Yale Arm, Col­lege Fiord, Prince William Sound, Alas­ka. Or, totally immerse yourself in the sound on a multi-day small ship cruise or private yacht charter. Once you enter the canyon, you will see the rugged, boul­der-choked ter­mi­nus with flut­ed ice above. We'll match you with a local itinerary expert to help you plan your trip. Active glac­i­ers still calve and crash into the sea as vis­i­tors watch from tour boats here. This stranded mountain glacier sprawls from its hanging valley below Crow Pass—a white, striated mass with blue-etched crevasses.  ...more. Just a 2.5-hour drive from Anchorage, the Matanuska Glacier sits off the scenic but less-traveled Glenn Highway. Can be seen from a day cruise, or Inside Passage Alaska cruise, Campgrounds, RV Parks & Public Use Cabins. Self-drive vacations. You can stop along the shore, pitch a tent and enjoy the solitude…. Prince William Sound, nestled in the coastal arc of Alaska’s Chugach Mountain Range, has more than 20 glaciers terminating at sea level; numerous others cling to precipitous mountainsides (hanging glaciers).These glaciers form because warm, low-pressure systems sweeping in off the Pacific Ocean in the winter encounter the high mountains, rise, cool and deposit their excess moisture as snow. Two of the glaciers shown in this image, the Kahiltna Glacier and the Ruth Glacier, originate on Mount McKinley (not shown), the tallest mountain in North America. The Alaska Railroad is your transportation method. Located 12 miles outside of Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier gets more than 400,000 visitors each year. It is the easiest glacier to visit in Southeast Alaska, and one of the most popular glaciers in the state. BRUCE F. MOLNIA. At over 550 meters thick at some points and cov­er­ing an area of 400 square miles, this glac­i­er is a sight to behold, whether from a boat or the sky. This some­what stren­u­ous day-trip over a grav­el ATV route takes you deep into the back­coun­try in just a few hours, with great pho­tog­ra­phy and a chance to see the rav­ages of climate The mag­nif­i­cent coast­line of Kenai Fjords is steep val­leys that were carved by glac­i­ers in retreat. ...more, Vis­it this Tide­wa­ter Glac­i­er in Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, This glac­i­er, named after North­west­ern Uni­ver­si­ty in 1909, can be found at the head of North­west­ern Fjord in Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, just under 30 miles south­west of Seward. But there’s plenty to do in this old mining town, including glacier day hikes, whitewater rafting and flightseeing over the ice-studded Wrangell St. Elias Mountains. This display of immense natural violence fills the senses. When the ice rolls, it reveals deep, dark blue ice that’s saturated by fresh water. One of the most spectacular and otherworldly modes to view glaciers is from the air. Book entire boat for your family or group, or opt to bunk with other guests. 7-10 days is the most common. Unfortunately, a washed-out bridge on the road to the glacier currently complicates access. It’s a fam­i­ly-friend­ly recre­ation des­ti­na­tion fea­tur­ing camp­ing, hik­ing, glac­i­er explo­ration, nature walks, pad­dling and sight­see­ing. One of the most vis­it­ed nat­ur­al attrac­tions along the Richard­son High­way, this four-mile-long glac­i­er descends almost to pave­ment and is easy to approach on foot. A few hun­dred feet above the boat, you’ll see North­land Glac­i­er perched atop sheer rock. The Alaska Railroad is your transportation method. Glacier Monitoring Story Map. One of the most beautiful glaciers in Alaska accessible by car. Generally, by the time you can see green vegetation in the chutes and bowls near ridge tops, most of the white, icy masses on looming slopes will be bona-fide hanging glaciers rather than just late-melting snow. Off the coast of Yaku­tat — 200 miles NW of Juneau — Hubbard…. Be sure to catch Muir on your cruise through Glac­i­er Bay! Bear Glac­i­er, found in Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, is a tide­wa­ter glac­i­er and a pop­u­lar spot for kayak­ers, but you can eas­i­ly see it on a cruise from Seward. Locat­ed in the Hatch­er Pass area of the Tal­keet­na Moun­tains north­west of Palmer, the Mint Glac­i­er area is a pop­u­lar day-hike, sum­mer back­pack­ing and ski moun­taineer­ing des­ti­na­tion. One of the most acces­si­ble glac­i­ers in Alas­ka, it can be reached by hik­ing a few miles up a rel­a­tive­ly easy trail. That means that just getting close to this glacier can be tricky. Many terrestrial glaciers can be approached up close by people who can handle short hikes. And it can be touched! In the pho­to you can see the retreat­ing ter­mi­nus of Stephens Glac­i­er with sev­er­al of its retreat­ing unnamed val­ley glac­i­er trib­u­taries. A landmark at the head of a multi-use trail inside Chugach State Park, this fast-receding glacier anchors one end of a popular mountaineering traverse that connects to the Girdwood area on the other side of the range. Formed dur­ing the ice age some 20,000 years ago, the Hard­ing Ice­field is 30 miles wide by 50 miles long and in places pre­sumed to be 3000 – 5000 feet thick. “It’s pretty good.”. If you travel for the photo ops, the twin Sawyer Glaciers will keep you very busy: touring them gives you an up-close, vivid look at the ice. You can also book excursions for kayaking, fishing, flightseeing, and more. Explore the glac­i­er, vis­it the muse­um, and go for a boat ride. If enjoying the views isn’t enough, directly across from the lodge is the office of Kennicott Wilderness Guides. Grand Pacif­ic Glac­i­er can actu­al­ly be found in two coun­tries. Alaska Railroad: Adventure Class or Goldstar Dome Car Service? Because of the steady snows, Worthington Glacier is not retreating as quickly as most. Popular destinations with a good chance of witnessing calving include Beliot and Blackstone glaciers at the head of Blackstone Bay and the very active Surprise Glacier in Harriman Fiord. There are at least 38 rivers of ice or glac­i­ers that flow out of the Hard­ing Ice­field. Those are the climbers and tents of Denali (Mt. Beloit Glac­i­er fluc­tu­ates betwen 125 and 250 feet high at water’s edge depend­ing on recent calv­ing activ­i­ty. Please check your email to verify your subscription. Use our calculator to find out, Stay casual, dress in layers, and get proper footwear, Guides to the best locations around the state to view wildlife. But the bonus with the latter trail is that you’ll get to within 100 feet of the glacier’s terminus. McKinley (which is just 6 miles away). Agassiz Glacier is a valley glacier in the Saint Elias Mountains in southern A half-mile wide, the glacier feeds Mendenhall Lake, which stays pretty placid: While there are some icebergs in the lake, the face ranges from 5 to 200 feet tall, so you can’t expect booming calving action. Look for tents or rafts next to the riv­er. This very active glacier now hidden inside a lobe of Portage Lake has undergone what may be the most closely watched retreat of any glacier in Alaska. And while this mind-blogging spot near Mt. Though the glacier finally slipped from easy view in the 1990s and became largely a tour boat destination in summer, Portage continues to generate icebergs that ground within sight of lakeshore parking. In a few views, some of this sed­i­ment can be seen in con­tact with the bedrock on the wall of the fjord. With a five-mile-wide face and dai­ly calv­ing, it’s an impres­sive sight: 400-foot ice walls rise out of a lake filled with ice­bergs that are float­ing, turn­ing, and break­ing apart. Hig­gins, is an August 6, 1909 view of the then retreat­ing north­ern part of the ter­mi­nus. Nearby, too, is the famous Million Dollar Bridge. Indeed, there is some comfort in the fact that you can’t get any closer. The only challenge: McCarthy-Kennicott is pretty remote—an 8-hour drive from Anchorage or a 2-hour flight. Look for three alpine glac­i­ers back in Thumb Cove. One of the most acces­si­ble glac­i­ers in Alas­ka, it can be reached by hik­ing a few miles up a relatively…. You can hike right up to Seward’s Exit Glac­i­er and feel the dense blue ice while lis­ten­ing to it crack­le. Notice the love­ly cab­in on the edge of Thumb Cove. The slower cruising boats, on the other hand, spend more time at the glaciers they visit, and those trips often include Blackstone Bay, where you can listen to the creaking and cracking ice while eating prime rib and king crab. It’s not as active as either Cas­cade or…. Gor­geous Portage Glac­i­er lies just 48 miles south of Anchor­age. You can find a great over­look that shows off most of the glac­i­er near the 3,880-foot Crow Pass, about three miles from the Crow Pass trail­head in Gird­wood. How to See Glaciers in Alaska (2:29). They calculate that Alaska's glaciers and frozen rivers are melting fast enough to cover the whole state with 30 centimeters of water (nearly a … Today, the rock is not only exposed, but the glac­i­er has pulled back away from it anoth­er sev­er­al hun­dred feet. Shuttles regularly operate between McCarthy and Kennecott. It’s fed by the same ocean-driven weather that creates the vast glacial crown surrounding Prince William Sound. Billings Glac­i­er is named for British Com­modore Joseph Billings who com­mand­ed a Russ­ian explor­ing and sur­vey­ing expe­di­tion in 1791 and ​’92.  ...more, Tebenkof Glac­i­er is named for Mikhail Demitrievich Tebenkof. You’ll see sculpted rock, eroded hillsides and scraped granite. Walk the low­er trail to get a good pho­to in front of the glac­i­er face. Glacial flour? 2-5 day small ship explorations. It was dubbed the Gal­lop­ing Glac­i­er and has been reced­ing ever since. Aia­lik Glac­i­er is the largest glac­i­er in Aia­lik Bay, locat­ed in Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. Stops include Seward (Kenai Fjords), Girdwood, Whittier & Spencer Glacier, Stops include Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali National Park & Fairbanks. Calv­ing dimin­ish­es the…, Beloit Glac­i­er fluc­tu­ates betwen 125 and 250 feet high at water’s edge depend­ing on recent calv­ing activ­i­ty. If getting close isn’t enough, you can also join a guiding company for a glacier hike, ice climbing class or rafting trip (with the option of either scenic or whitewater routes). Indeed, every day, 13 million tons of ice break off the face of it, leaving chunks in the water that are often twice as big as the boat you’re riding. You’ll get good photos from any trail, but none of them will lead you up to the glacier ice, due to the lake and cliffs. Visit September to April to see the Northern Lights, Best Northern Lights Viewing Spots Near Anchorage, How to Travel to Alaska in January and February, The Best Large Family & Group Vacations in Alaska, How to Get from Anchorage to Your Cruise Port in Whittier or Seward (or the reverse!). 2. of Alaska, about 5 percent of the State. Popular Alaska Itineraries Using In-State Airlines, Anchorage to Denali National Park Driving Map, Most people book a day-trip on a marine tour, How tidewater glaciers behave (technical), Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site, Johns Hopkins Glacier: One of Few Advancing Glacier. Boutique, small ship adventure cruises in Alaska's Inside Passage, Cruises depart from Whittier, a 1 hr drive from Anchorage.  ...more, This pop­u­lar glac­i­er lies just beyond the end of a flat, well-main­tained trail south of the Portage Lake. Though most people visit Glacier Bay on cruise ships, there are many other tour options once you get to Gustavus. You can stop along the shore, pitch a tent and enjoy the soli­tude and scenic views for a day or two. There was a problem with your submission. Sea stacks, islets, and tagged shoreline… In the 1980s, the lagoon was des­ig­nat­ed as the Ped­er­sen Lagoon Wildlife Sanc­tu­ary, a 1,700-acre sanc­tu­ary meant to pre­serve and pro­tect the area’s wildlife and land. twitter email print. Barry Glacier from Mapcarta, the free map. The face is up to 400 feet tall, and icebergs 3 to 4 stories in height aren’t uncommon. If you want to spend a whole morning or afternoon near the Ruth Glacier, K2 Aviation offers a guided hiking experience to Moraine Lake: You’ll land on a floatplane on a glacial lake on the edge of the Ruth Glacier, and then take a guided hike with the massive Ruth Glacier as your backdrop. There’s even a viewing platform, since big calvings send waves across the river that scour the beach. The narrow gorge has the raw, wild feel of a defile far from civilization. You will see sev­er­al pri­vate cabins.… Please try again. How to See Alaska's Fjords and Glaciers | Best Fjords in Alaska | … In the pho­to you can see the retreating…. The glac­i­er is very acces­si­ble on a kayak tour or day cruise from Seward. Catch a cruise from Seward, or go kayaking! One easy way to think about a glacier is simply … Look­ing beyond the penin­su­la you can see snow­capped moun­tains. The most intimate multi-day cruise option. More than four miles wide at its terminus, Matanuska is so massive that the water flowing out of its snout forms the roaring Matanuska River. There are sev­er­al decent camp­sites with head-on views of the glacier. The land of the Res­ur­rec­tion Penin­su­la is divid­ed between state park, nation­al for­est and pri­vate in-hold­ings. Want some dra­mat­ic scenery? Look for lat­er­al moraines on the sides of the glac­i­er and the ter­mi­nal moraine at the toe of the glac­i­er… You’ll know the ter­mi­nus of the Ruth when you see it: the con­tor­tions of earth and ice resemble… Talk about a room with a glacier view: This is the only glacier in the state with a hotel across the street.  ...more, Billings Glac­i­er is named for British Com­modore Joseph Billings who com­mand­ed a Russ­ian explor­ing and sur­vey­ing expe­di­tion in 1791 and…. Look down Col­lege Fjord to Har­vard and Yale Glac­i­ers, 20 miles away. Popular Alaska Itineraries Using In-State Airlines, Anchorage to Denali National Park Driving Map, NOVA Alaska Guides Glacier Trekking & Ice Climbing, MICA Guides Glacier Trekking & Ice Climbing, Phillips Cruises & Tours - 26 Glacier Cruise, Lazy Otter Charters Custom Sightseeing Tours, Mendenhall Glacier Canoe Tours by Liquid Alaska, Exit Glacier Guides: Hiking & Ice Climbing, Glacier Blue Kayak & Grandview Train Tour, Glacier Discovery Train (Anchorage - Whittier - Spencer - Grandview), Kayaking with Icebergs at Spencer Glacier, Ascending Path – Ultimate Glacier Overnight Camping Adventure, Ascending Path - Helicopter Glacier Hiking or Helicopter Ice Climbing, UnCruise Alaska Glacier Bay National Park Adventure Cruise, UnCruise Alaska Northern Passages & Glacier Bay, UnCruiseEastern Fjords & Glacier Bay Cruise—Ultimate Expedition. Child’s Glac­i­er is not cur­rent­ly acces­si­ble by road. There’s a Forest Service Visitor Center overlooking the lake and glacier, which has a large aerial map of the icefield, an informational video and spotting scopes ($3). The main street in Ken­ni­cott turns into a well-main­tained, 4‑mile-long hik­ing trail just out­side of town. How snowy can it get here? If you’re want­i­ng a more adven­tur­ous vis­it, go sea kayak­ing in Glac­i­er Bay and make Lam­plugh Glac­i­er a stop on your route. Bal­ti­more Glac­i­er has con­tin­ued to retreat and thin. There are a lot of them. Granted, most of that ice is below water, but the ice can be so thick that cruise ships can’t get too close. The divid­ing line between Cas­cade and Bar­ry Glac­i­er is some­times hard to dis­tin­guish, because they con­verge into each oth­er. Once dubbed the Auk Glac­i­er by John Muir (after a mem­ber of the Tlin­git tribe), This glac­i­er forms a wall along the Cop­per Riv­er near a his­toric rail­road route that once ser­viced the world’s largest…, This very active glac­i­er forms a wall along the fabled Cop­per Riv­er near a his­toric rail­road route that once ser­viced the world’s largest cop­per mine. The Great Gorge of the Ruth Glacier has 5,000-foot sheer granite walls rising up on either side of the ice, making them some of the highest granite walls on earth. Highlights plus less visited destinations. Listed above as a road accessible, Portage Glacier can be approached under human power via the Portage Pass Trail from the Whittier side of the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. If you travel for the photo ops, the twin Sawyer Glaciers will keep you very busy: touring them gives you an up-close, vivid look at the ice. Explore the glac­i­er, vis­it the muse­um, and go for…. Calving events sometimes throw 10-foot waves that strand flopping salmon on the forest floor. This is the most active tide­wa­ter glac­i­er in Prince William Sound and the best place to see glac­i­ers calv­ing. Free personal GPS–driven travel guide to Alaska. Locat­ed in Hatch­er Pass, the Mint Glac­i­er area is a pop­u­lar day-hike, sum­mer back­pack­ing and ski moun­taineer­ing destination. Both of these pho­tographs were tak­en from the same loca­tion in Nuka Pas­sage, about 6 kilo­me­ters (3.7 miles) south of…, Both of these pho­tographs were tak­en from the same loca­tion in Nuka Pas­sage, about 6 kilo­me­ters (3.7 miles) south of the posi­tion of the 1909 ter­mi­nus of the glac­i­er. Pho­to­graph tak­en by Bruce F. Mol­nia, USGS. Most have no names. Motorcoach tours visit the glacier, which has a large parking area, covered viewing shelter and interpretive signs. The most active tide­wa­ter glac­i­er in Prince William Sound.  ...more, Cross the Tokosit­na Riv­er which marks the south­east cor­ner of Denali Nation­al Park. Gobs of hanging glaciers can be seen from just about every highway that traverses Alaska’s high mountains. This glac­i­er calves a lot. To get a preview of this dramatic glacier, check out this aerial video, filmed by Alaska.org’s Bob Kaufman from his airplane. Expert Advice; The Copper River flows into and past the Childs, undercutting the face and causing continuous calving—and we mean continuous: during the summer, it happens about every 15 minutes. Set between Anchorage and Denali, Spencer bends the road-accessible glacier definition just a little: the only way to see it is by rail. Abstract. Car, train, or group tour. The inlet is incredibly narrow—often times no more than ½ mile wide—and cliffs rise over 3,000 feet on either side, with waterfalls covering the sheer rock walls. Spencer Glac­i­er ris­es 3,500 feet in a stun­ning, nat­ur­al ramp from a lake of roy­al-blue ice­bergs in the Chugach Nation­al For­est just 60 miles south of Anchor­age. You will be reward­ed through­out the… For those able to handle a four-mile round-trip hike with a couple of moderately steep sections, an obvious trail from the historic Kennecott town site leads north to the Root Glacier. Bar­ry Glac­i­er actu­al­ly flows behind Col­lege Fjord and par­al­lel to it for a dozen miles before plung­ing into the head of Bar­ry Arm. It’s a great start­ing point, whether you have only a few hours or are plan­ning a mul­ti-day glac­i­er and moun­tain adven­ture. An inter­me­di­ate age pho­to­graph shows the glac­i­er on Sep­tem­ber 4, 2000. Rent a car and travel independently on a set itinerary, with lodging and tours booked in advance. There are trails, pic­nic sites, and pic­nic shel­ters with­in the road­side park, along with water and restrooms. You may also see whales, bears, and mountain goats. There’s nothing else like the moment a giant hunk of ice calves from the face of a glacier and then crashes into the sea. The large rock behind the kayak­er in this pho­to was under ice only five years ago. One of them is The Trail of Time, a ½-mile paved interpretive walk, with signs marking the glacier’s recession. Maps - Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park … Har­vard Glac­i­er has advanced more than 1.25 kilo­me­ters (0.78 miles) since 1909.  ...more. Many air charters take off from Merrill Field and Lake Hood airstrips right inside Anchorage. When pho­tographed, Yalik Glac­i­er had a gen­tly slop­ing ter­mi­nus with… Like its name implies, Cas­cade twists steeply down a moun­tain­side into the west side of Bar­ry Arm. There are some glaciers you can drive to, but very few that you can stroll to. Only a short hike on a flat trail south of Portage Lake near the head of Turnagain Arm, Byron dominates its own gorge-like valley, offering a rugged, remote atmosphere that feels as though you’ve traveled deep into the backcountry. If you look just below the 4 moun­tain peaks to the left side of the val­ley you can see the ice of God­win glac­i­er. Enjoy them as you travel! For sheer rugged wilderness character in an ecosystem that’s fast exiting the ice age, there’s nothing else like it. While fair­ly sta­ble, the glac­i­er calves most active­ly in May and June. Spencer Lake is filled with blue icebergs—which, in fresh water, are called growlers. Much of the low­er reach­es of the ice are cov­ered in dirt and rocks that have been scoured off of the neigh­bor­ing moun­tains on the slow jour­ney from Denal­i’s (Mt. Let us simplify it for you, How much does an Alaska summer vacation cost? Glacier Bay Basin in southeastern Alaska, in the United States, encompasses the Glacier Bay and surrounding mountains and glaciers, which was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925, and which was later, on December 2, 1980, enlarged and designated as the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, covering an … Tebenkof Glac­i­er is named for Mikhail Demitrievich Tebenkof. There was a problem with your submission. The Knik Glac­i­er snakes out of the Chugach Moun­tains, tum­bling into an ice­berg-stud­ded lake that feeds the Knik Riv­er. It’s an excit­ing spec­ta­cle. McKin­ley’s) flank.… The Park is also filled with wildlife, with bears foraging the tide line, mountain goats grazing near sea level and seals, sea lions and whales bustling about in the water. But to expe­ri­ence that…. Take a catamaran tour for a close-up look at the bay’s massive, tidewater glaciers, a much more intimate experience than the typical visitor gets from the deck of a multi-story cruise ship. The state recre­ation site fea­tures park­ing, pit toi­lets, drink­ing water, pic­nic sites and a shel­ter, all close to small lake. Were the ice to melt tomor­row, you would wit­ness a spec­ta­cle twice as awe­some as the Grand Canyon — a gorge a mile wide and near­ly two miles high. What you’re able to see of the Muldrow Glac­i­er from the park road is actu­al­ly just the tip of…, What you’re able to see of the Muldrow Glac­i­er from the park road is actu­al­ly just the tip of a 32 mile long riv­er of frozen ice. Many tour companies and small-boat operators offer daily excursions into Western Prince William Sound from this port town on the road system about 60 miles from Anchorage.  ...more, You enter the Shel­don Amphithe­atre, named after a bush pilot who built a view­ing hut here on the glac­i­er before it became a nation­al park. Also, a steady water­fall drains down; to the side, you’ll see a kit­ti­wake rookery. If you opt for the longer trail, you’ll just have to hustle to get back in time. Guides and marine tour operators offer trips to the Valdez Glacier near town, the Shoup Glacier further out Valdez Arm, and to the immense Columbia Glacier—now undergoing drastic retreat and exposing a new spectacular fiord. For convenience, all glaciers of Alaska should be included in this category. Keep an eye out for sum­mer­time ice-climbers at this most impres­sive road­side glac­i­er. From this van­tage point, you can see the three types of Alaska…. ...more, Just a 10 to 15 minute dri­ve out of Seward, you can hike right up to the Kenai Fjords…. Which one is right for you? Go to sea on a day cruise or fishing charter, and you’ll discover the coastal mountains of Southcentral and Southeast Alaska are among the best places in the world to experience glacier calving.  ...more, A fam­i­ly-friend­ly recre­ation des­ti­na­tion fea­tur­ing camp­ing, hik­ing, glac­i­er explo­ration, nature walks, pad­dling and sightseeing. Because this glacier extends deep underwater, the ice is compressed, making for very big and very blue icebergs. Twin Sawyer Glaciers in Tracy Arm. Orig­i­nat­ing in a bowl, or cirque, of…. Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska. You see rock ridges deposit­ed everywhere…. View on Map. McKinley is famous among mountaineers, you don’t have to be one of them to make your way there. Direc­tions: Head north from Anchor­age on the Glenn High­way. He gov­erned Alas­ka from 1845 through 1850 and was the first cartographer…. You have to fly or ferry to Cordova, a small fishing town, and from there you drive an hour along a road that was once the route of the Copper River Railway. The classic Alaska Cruise, offered by such companies as Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Re-Pho­tog­ra­phy Reveals Extent of Retreat, The last two aer­i­al pho­tographs in this group of five doc­u­ment changes that occurred dur­ing the 69 years between June 1937 and July 28, 2006. If you can’t get enough snow, this spot is for you: Just 28 miles from Valdez, the Wor­thing­ton Glacier…. This ice­field is the main fea­ture of the Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. Beware of tight ice con­di­tions chang­ing with the tide and strong cold kata­bat­ic winds off of the Sar­gent Icefeild. Ped­er­sen Glac­i­er, locat­ed in Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, reced­ed through­out the 20th cen­tu­ry expos­ing Ped­er­sen Spit and Ped­er­sen Lagoon. The historic Million Dollar Bridge—damaged in the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964—is nearby. Just a 2.5‑hour dri­ve from Anchor­age, a glac­i­er you can walk right up to, Some 15,000 years ago, this glac­i­er reached anoth­er 50 miles west to the Palmer area. McKin­ley) base­camp! The only issue here is access. You’ve like­ly seen those icon­ic glac­i­er images, with hunks of ice crash­ing into the ocean.

alaska glaciers map

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