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Glacier viewing in Alaska

Visitors see blue ice by land, sea and air

Alaska.com

Glaciers by land
A number of glaciers are within viewing distance of Alaska's highways, and you can even walk up to (and on) some of them.

	Exit Glacier, in Kenai Fjords National Park, provides a stunning backdrop for a group of picnickers. The glacier, just outside of Seward, is accessible by car and then by foot. Entrance to the park by car costs $5. Fran Durner / Anchorage Daily News

Want a souvenir? Pick up a piece of ice that washes downstream from the glacier's snout -- but don't get close enough that ice can fall on you.

Glaciers by sea
Cruise liners pull close to the "rivers of ice" in Glacier Bay National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Prince William Sound.

In addition, smaller boats carry sightseers on day trips to the blue ice of Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords National Park. These trips are readily available in Valdez, Whittier and Seward.

Cruises and day trips are the way to go if you want to hear the legendary thunder of calving glaciers and see huge faces of blue ice.

Glaciers by air
Sightseeing trips aboard small planes and helicopters provide both an overreaching view and sometimes a glacier landing.

Flightseeing companies that land on the ice provide cold-weather gear and guide you on a safe area of the glacier.

More on this topic

Roadside glaciers
See the glaciers up close
Other glaciers reachable by land
Glaciers in the distance
Exit Glacier
Matanuska Glacier
Kennicott Glacier
Worthington Glacier
Ice worms on the glacier
Why is glacier ice blue?
Harvesting glacier ice