Alaska Excursions

Alaska Excursions

Wide range of glorious day trips throughout Southcentral Alaska.

Iditarod 40

Photos and stories from the last great race.

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Juneau: 43°/62°/Showers

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Glacier viewing in Alaska

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.

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.

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More on Glacier viewing

Glacier viewing

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.

Three different ways to see the glaciers.

Harvesting glacier ice

Anyone can harvest ice from Alaska's 28,800 square miles of glaciers.

Ice worms on the glacier

ON THE LEARNARD GLACIER -- Dusk was falling in a bowl above the entrance to the car-and-train tunnel at Whittier, and the ice worms were rising.

Why is glacier ice blue?

Glaciers are created when decades upon decades of snow compact themselves into ice. As the ice crystals grow, they push out the air.

Worthington Glacier

Worthington Glacier is an easy-off, easy-on stop at Mile 28 of the Richardson Highway northeast of Valdez.

Visitors see blue ice by land, sea and air

Three kinds of glacier viewing are possible on an Alaska vacation.

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.

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.

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