Seven Ways to Explore Alaska’s Endangered Glacial World

The frozen world is so essential to life on Earth that glaciers are often considered “canaries in the coal mine.” When these layers of dense ice and snow that have built up over centuries begin to melt, the entire global ecosystem is in trouble.

A quarter of the way through the 21st century, the world’s glaciers haven’t just begun to melt—they’re retreating at alarming rates. The loss is especially profound in the Arctic, where the climate is warming four times faster than the global average, according to Joanna Young, a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Sea-level rise, coastal erosion, unstable ecosystems and changing ocean currents are among the consequences researchers are already tracking.

“It seems like every single week we are learning a new way that glacier shrinkage is impacting local and global ecosystems,” says Young. “There are really dramatic changes happening very quickly and accelerating over the decades. In some areas there are glaciers that have thinned [164 feet]: That’s a 12-story building worth of loss in just 20 years.”

In Alaska, the state with the highest concentration of glaciers in the United States, small masses of ice are already disappearing, says Young. By 2100, “nearly all” of Alaska’s glaciers will be gone if the world continues on its current warming trajectory, according to a recent study.

For now, though, thousands of glaciers in Alaska still remain accessible to visitors, if not close up, then from a distance by helicopter or boat. In most cases, no previous experience is needed to paddle through lagoons mottled with turquoise-tinted ice or to hike across unmarred fields of snow, but even those with limited physical strength can easily join a glacial dog sledding adventure or a day trip cruising up an ice-encrusted fjord.

It’s a “beautiful landscape, but the moment is fleeting,” says Young. At glaciers like Portage near Anchorage, the ice has already retreated so far that it can no longer be seen from tourist infrastructure built just a few decades ago. There is, quite literally, no time to waste to bear witness to Alaska’s endangered glacial world.

Here are seven ways for visitors of all ages and abilities to visit.

Valdez Glacier by kayak

It was to the toe of the Valdez Glacier in southern Alaska that prospectors flocked in the late 1890s in the frenzy of the Klondike Gold Rush. Back then, the ice stretched almost all the way to the sea. In the century since, the Valdez has retreated so much it has revealed a freshwater lake more than 600 feet deep. On Anadyr Adventures’ Glacier Lake tour, visitors glide on inflatable tandem kayaks through what owner Scott Hocking calls a labyrinth of floating ice, paddling so close to its tunnels and overhangs that they can hear its Rice Krispies-like crackle as it melts. They get “the feeling of exploring big, dynamic landscapes in an intimate and immersive way,” he says.

The five-hour Valdez trip is the shortest of three kayaking day trips Anadyr offers—the others visit Columbia, the second-largest tidewater glacier on the continent, and Shoup—along with multiday kayak camping trips. Despite the environment’s extremes, guests need no prior experience or special gear to participate. “We provide all the necessary equipment to ensure comfort including rubber boots, heavy-duty waterproof bibs and jackets, neoprene mittens that attach to the paddles, and dry bags for packing essentials,” says Hocking. That way visitors will be prepared for whatever the weather brings, rain or shine.

Chugach Mountains by helicopter

One of the easiest ways to see Alaska’s glacial landscape is also one of the most spectacular. Alpine Air Alaska takes its guests “flightseeing” by helicopter over the Chugach Mountains near Anchorage. “The moment guests take off they are immersed in the mountains, seeing glaciers, peaks, waterfalls, wildlife and countless alpine lakes,” says Cadence Maddox, tourism manager at Alpine Air. The eerie blue of the glaciers is most breathtaking on cloudy days, she says, but all kinds of weather conditions draw out the ecosystem’s beauty in different ways—and the helicopters fly even in rain and snow. There are no age restrictions, and guests can choose from a 30-minute adventure or a 60-minute one that lands on the ice for a bit of easy on-foot exploration. Flying “is the best way to truly experience the wilderness of south-central Alaska,” Maddox says. “In order to understand the vastness and awe-inspiring beauty, you have to get off the road system and into the air.”

Glacier Bay by boat

Up until the late 1700s, Glacier Bay, the homeland of the Huna Tlingit and part of one of the world’s largest biosphere reserves, “was completely covered in a massive interconnected system of glacier ice,” explains Young. But a rapid collapse only partially driven by the changing climate has caused it to retreat 65 miles from its 18th-century reach. Today, the bay has 11 percent less glacial ice than in the 1950s. Boat tours that used to explore the east arm of its fjord now journey up the west arm because the ice in the east has retreated so far away from the water. Unusually, Glacier Bay is one of the few places “now seeing local sea-level drop instead of rise” because the retreating ice is like removing a heavy weight from a trampoline, says Young. “The Earth’s crust is rebounding.”

Margerie Glacier “is the most prominent glacier that can be seen from the boat [today],” says Jason Hill, district manager of Aramark Destinations in Alaska, which operates day tours taking visitors of all ages and abilities more than 100 miles from Bartlett Cove up the bay in the summer months. Other glaciers are seen on the seven-hour expedition, too, along with breathtaking scenery and, frequently, sightings of seals, whales, bears, otters and other marine and coastal wildlife.

Knik Glacier by dog sled

Alaska is one of the few places to explore the glacial ice by dog sled, the same way Native Alaskans have for centuries. From April through September, Alaska Helicopter Tours partners with six-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey’s AK Sled Dog Tours for an epic two-mile mush across the ice from their summer camp on Knik Glacier (traditionally named Skitnu Li’a). Guests can try handling the dog sled or sit back and let seasoned mushers run the team. Chances of wildlife sightings are high, and, after the sledding, there’s time to meet the puppies in training before flying back across the otherworldly peaks and valleys of the Chugach Mountains. The 90-minute tour is open to all ages and abilities.

Mendenhall Glacier on foot

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people visit Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier (called Aak’wtaaksit, “the Glacier Behind the Little Lake,” in Tlingit), located just 12 miles from downtown Juneau. But only a small portion of them will leave the visitor’s center and the short paved and gravel trails nearby to explore one of Mendenhall’s most unforgettable features: its ice caves. The six-mile out-and-back West Glacier Spur Trail is rugged, and, during part of the year, ice crampons are necessary to make it all the way to the caves. But the payoff—climbing through a sculpted vortex of dripping blue ice—is well worth the effort. And time may be running out to see it safely. “Mendenhall has retreated by [a mile] since the mid-’80s,” says Young. “It’s just about to go from being lake-terminating to land-terminating, a phenomenon that happens in a changing climate.”

Matanuska Glacier by trek or ice climbing

From June through September, Matanuska Glacier north of Anchorage is one of the best spots for a more intense experience in the Alaskan wilderness. On Nova’s Adventure Trek, small groups hike beyond the ice falls at the glacier’s foot to its snow-blanketed interior, a moderately strenuous trip about five hours in length. It’s even more of a challenge to join the Backcountry Ice Climb, an eight-hour introduction to the winter sport that includes a trek across the rocky glacial moraine to the vertical rock face. While no experience is necessary—they’ll keep ice climbers safely harnessed and take them no more than 50 feet up—these tours require a certain level of fitness and are limited to ages 12 to 65. For an easier option, try Nova’s three-hour Matanuska Glacier Tour, which has just a short walk to a glacial lake.

Bear Glacier by stand-up paddleboard

At the base of the largest glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park near Seward, a saltwater lagoon filled with icebergs licks at the 12-mile-long glacial expanse. Although Bear Glacier retreated around 554 feet per year on average between 2005 and 2019, double that of the previous half century, in general, glaciers in southeast and south-central Alaska “tend to be larger because they get a lot of snow and precipitation,” says Young.

Bear Glacier can only be accessed by helicopter or water taxi, and Liquid Adventures’ small group stand-up paddleboard tours often have the lake to themselves. Paddling on the inflatable paddleboards isn’t particularly challenging (they provide drysuits to wear on the water), but these trips aren’t for first-timers. Guests need to be able to keep up with their guide—and keep their balance—as they navigate the shifting maze of ice. The water taxi and helicopter tours spend around two to three-and-a-half hours on the lagoon, respectively, and typically run from May through September.

Shoshi Parks | READ MORE

Shoshi Parks is an anthropologist and freelance writer whose work on history, travel, food and the natural world has appeared in Atlas Obscura, Afar, NPR and a variety of other outlets. She lives in California's Bay Area.