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MAJOR ATTRACTIONS:
Glaciers
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Observation
trail at Mendenhall Glacier offers great views.
© Kris Graef, staff |
Alaska-bound travelers interested in viewing glaciers are
definitely headed in the right direction. Alaska has an incredible
number of glaciers—estimated at more than 100,000—with
most concentrated in the Chugach, St. Elias, Alaska and Coast
mountain ranges. And if you’ve seen one glacier, you
haven't seen them all. There are several types, occurring
in a variety of settings, including alpine, which form on
the high slopes of mountains; valley, flowing in U-shaped
channels from ice accumulated in basins of mountains; and
piedmont, which form when two or more valley glaciers unite
into a broad lobe as the base of mountains or at tidewater.
Several of Alaska's best-known glaciers are visible from the
highway system, while others are most often viewed from the
deck of a cruise ship or sightseeing boat. Scheduled and charter
flights offer a bird's eye view of Alaska's icefields and
glaciers.
Accessibility to glaciers along Alaska's highways varies.
A paved public pathway at Worthington Glacier State Recreation
Site, located near Thompson Pass on the Richardson Highway,
leads to close-up views of that glacier. Or visitors can hike
a more primitive trail up to the glacier. Access to the face
of Matanuska Glacier on the Glenn Highway is through Glacier
Park Resort. Nearby Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site
does not provide access to the glacier's face, although it
does provide scenic views of the glacier and viewing telescopes.
Exit Glacier is a short drive west from the Seward Highway,
then an easy walk from the parking area to the glacier's face.
Two glaciers accessible by highway but not connected to the
highway system are Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau and Childs
Glacier northeast of Cordova via the Copper River Highway.
Mendenhall Glacier has a large visitor center and a busy schedule
of interpretive programs in summer.
Portage Glacier, less than an hour's drive south from Anchorage
via the Seward Highway, has the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center,
which focuses on the Portage Valley and its resources. Once
one of the most photogenic of Alaska's road accessible glaciers—with
the glacier face calving off plenty of icebergs—Portage
Glacier has retreated so far in the past decade that it is
no longer visible from the visitor center.
The majority of Alaska glaciers are in retreat mode, some
of them dramatic. Prince William Sound's Columbia Glacier
is the world's fastest moving glacier, retreating at a speed
of 80 to 115 feet per day. Columbia Glacier has receded more
than 6 miles since 1982, but it is still one of the largest
tidewater glaciers along the Alaska coast. Tidewater glaciers
are generally viewed by boat, and Prince William Sound is
a popular destination for glacier viewing, with sightseeing
boats out of Valdez and Whittier offering day trips to Columbia
Glacier and College Fjord. There's even a Prince William Sound
day cruise that takes you to 26 glaciers.
Tidewater glaciers are also a feature of Kenai Fjords National
Park, which is named for the deep, ocean-filled fjords left
by retreating glaciers. Several day cruises are offered out
of Seward for sightseeing Kenai Fjords National Park.
The state's largest concentration of tidewater glaciers
is in Glacier Bay National Park. The park’s stunning
scenery is most often viewed from the water, either from a
cruise ship or by tour boat or charter out of Gustavus—the
nearest community—or Juneau. The only land route to Glacier
Bay National Park is a 10-mile road connecting Gustavus airport
to Bartlett Cove, site of the park’s ranger station,
visitor center and Glacier Bay Lodge. The park excursion boat
departs from the lodge. Park naturalists also conduct daily
hikes from the visitor center at the lodge. For more information
on Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, visit www.nps.gov/glba.
Hubbard Glacier, tucked into the corner of the Alaska coastline
as it curves around the Gulf of Alaska between the panhandle
and the main body of Alaska, is a popular port of call with
cruise ships. The largest tidewater glacier in the state,
Hubbard flows for 92 miles from Canadian icefields to its
terminus in Yakutat Bay.
Tracy Arm, located 50 miles southeast of Juneau, and adjoining
Endicott Arm are long, deep and narrow fjords with active
tidewater glaciers. Large and small cruise ships and day charters
include Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm in their itineraries. It
is also a popular destination for sea kayakers.
Cruise ship and airline passengers are rewarded with views
of the two largest piedmont glaciers in the state, immense
Malaspina Glacier and Bering Glacier, both located along the
coast of Southcentral Alaska.
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