One of Alaska’s most accessible glaciers, exploring this behemoth of brilliant blue-streaked snow and ice makes for one of Anchorage's best days out.
The Mighty Matanuska
Matanuska Glacier's terminus currently unravels from the Chugach Mountains about a mile and a half from Glenn Highway. Though it's estimated to be retreating at a startingly 655 feet per year, it remains a staunch layer cake of compacted snow and ice clocking in at 27-miles-long and four-miles-wide.
Spectacular Glacial Playground
The glacier's terminus sits on private land, controlled by one entrepreneurially-minded family. Access is by licensed and insured guides only.
Glacier treks are the most popular activity. You'll trounce across the meltwater on a floating modular foot bridge, slip on microspikes (which act as a sort of 4WD for your feet!) and ramble about this beautiful outcrop of ice, peering into moulins, sipping on water from small waterfall spouts and peering over mini-summits for spectacular Chugach views (in winter, a designated route is pre-determine for safety reasons). You'll get up close with the Cathedral, Matanuska's terminal wall, where medial moraine have created an intensely beautiful Carrera marble effect.
Besides the concessionaire, only Salmon Berry Travel & Tours (salmonberrytours.com), Nova (novalaska.com) and Greatland Adventures (greatlandadventures.com) have licensed guides.