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Glaciers in the distance
Pretty ice you'll see on your way to somewhere else
Alaska.com
In addition to Alaska's roadside glaciers, here are some other marvels that drivers and hikers in Southcentral and Interior Alaska might see.
Portage, Byron and Explorer glaciers
At the Portage/Whittier turnoff at Mile 79 of the Seward Highway south of Anchorage.
Portage Glacier has retreated, so its snout isn't easily seen from the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. But aboard the Ptarmigan, a sightseeing ship, and from the new road to Whittier, the view is grand. Icebergs dot the glacier's lake near the visitors center, which sits astride the outflowing Portage Creek.
Burns Glacier, which appears to the left of and merges into Portage Glacier, shows up plainly.
The road to Whittier, which skirts Portage Lake, has a viewing area beyond the first (and free) tunnel. From there, people can easily seen Portage and Byron glaciers.
Byron Glacier is a three-quarter-mile hike from the road leading to the Ptarmigan's dock. There's a small parking area near where the glacier practically tumbles down the valley.
People driving toward Portage will see Explorer Glacier hanging over the valley; there's a turnout a couple of miles in from the Seward Highway. Drivers approaching from the south on the Seward Highway will have an early view of the valley's glaciers almost as soon as they drop out of Turnagain Pass into Turnagain Arm's plain. Explorer is easily seen from the Forest Service-operated Williwaw campground. The sound of its meltwater tumbling to the valley floor is loud.
In the visitors center, stay to watch the movie ''Voices from the Ice.''
Nearby, hanging glaciers are visible above Girdwood/Alyeska. They're easily seen from the Seward Highway (Mile 90) and from along the road into Girdwood. In the summer, people who ride the tram up to the Seven Glaciers Restaurant can hike up a gravel trail to a small glacier.
Ruth Glacier
Southeast of Mount McKinley in Denali National Park.
Many drivers -- including longtime Alaskans -- stop at the large pullout at Mile 135 of the Parks Highway, just north of Mary Carey's McKinley View Lodge for a view of Mount McKinley. Glacier-watchers, though, look across the nearby Chulitna River for Ruth's terminal moraine bulldozing its way out of the Alaska Range. The glacier is hard to see, because the terminal moraine blends in so well with the rest of the valley.
There is an information kiosk, and toilets are nearby.
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