Hike Matanuska Glacier

Glacier View, Alaska

Description

Easily accessible glacier if you're traveling along the highway. This is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States, great if you're limited on time and passing through. The glacier is 26 miles long and 4 miles wide. The ease of access means there can be a fair amount of people checking it out.

The glacier is adjacent to the Glenn Highway at milepost 101. Located about 93 miles northeast of Anchorage. There is a $20 entry fee where you can park your car and take a quick hike to the glacier. A campsite is located at the entrance if you care to stay overnight, but this can be done in an afternoon.

From the parking lot it is an easy hike through the glacier outwash. Once you get to the terminus, you can continue to hike along the glacier. Not the most intense of hikes (far from it), but the ease of access to this glacier make it worthwhile and a definite stopover if driving on the Glenn Highway.

Download the Outbound mobile app

Find adventures and camping on the go, share photos, use GPX tracks, and download maps for offline use.

Get the app

Features

Photography

Hiking

Dog Friendly

Easy Parking

Family Friendly

Scenic

Hike Matanuska Glacier Reviews

Have you done this adventure? Be the first to leave a review!

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

Nearby

Hike Lazy Mountain

My sister and I with her dog did this great adventure after completing a Star Wars marathon and being pretty lazy on the couch. We wanted to get up and move our bodies, so we decided to check out this summit hike that ironically was named Lazy Mountain. This is a great hike for those that want a challenge. While it might be called Lazy Mountain, it is not for the those who want just a leisure w...

Hike the Pioneer Ridge-Austin Helmers Trail

Starting at less than 200ft above sea level, the trail starts off steep and never lets up. It climbs through forest until you are at about 2000ft. The trail gets muddy as the ground thaws and becomes very slick. The vegetation thins out as the elevation increases and the trail begins to cut back and forth through shrubs and berry bushes. There are several picnic tables along the way to stop and...

Hike the Gold Mint Trail

Hiking through this valley really shows off the amazing landscape of Alaska.The trailhead starts at mile 13.7 on Hatcher Pass Rd. There is a big parking lot ($5 for a day pass). The trail has mile markers for the first 5 miles and is fairly well groomed, although you do have to do a little bushwhacking because the beautiful bushes and fireweed are very overgrown.The trail winds through the vall...

Hike to Alaska's Mint Hut

Start your adventure by driving 1.5 hours north of Anchorage to the Gold Mint Trailhead about 20 mins away from the town of Palmer. Pay for parking, there is a day fee and a camping (choose either depending on your ambitions). This trail can be broken down in four (unequal) sections. The easy section (up until mile 4)The bush wacky section (the part where you'll be spending most of your time ...

Hike Reed Lakes, AK

The trail head starts at the small unpaved parking lot which is free, (it was very full though because of berry picking). The trail starts off wide and flat as you walk through a beautiful valley surrounded by trees and giant granite mountain peaks. The trail changes to an upward climb with lots of switchbacks. Beautiful view of the valley below as you go up. Then comes the boulder field. Y...

Hut to Hut Across Alaska's Talkeetna Mountains

Cooling temps and changing colors often prompt us to squeeze in one more trip. And in the mountains of Alaska, it really is a squeeze. The time from peak fall colors to the first snow cover can be as short as a week. This autumn we chose to expand on a popular trek in the Talkeetna Mountains north of our home in Anchorage. Adding an unknown start and an extended ending to the popular Bomber Tra...