All About the Matanuska Glacier
The Matanuska Glacier is an impressive valley glacier that is full of spots to explore. See what makes this glacier so special and learn some Matanuska Glacier facts. Start planning your visit to this beautiful spot in Alaska!
Visiting the Matanuska Glacier
The Matanuska Glacier is the most accessible glacier in all of Alaska. It can be seen from the Glenn Highway and you can drive right up to its terminal lake! This glacier is only two hours from Anchorage and is well worth the drive. Enjoy a half day tour of the famous “ice falls” or spend the whole day exploring its backcountry on an adventure trek or ice climbing adventure!
To access the glacier you have to hire a guide due to the risk involved. From crevasses, to moulins, to overhanging ice, and picking a travel path where you don’t fall – there are many hazards our guides are always looking out for. They’ll help you navigate the glacier safety while ensuring you get to have fun! All of our guides are crevasse rescue trained and are certified in Wilderness First Aid so that you can have peace of mind while you are out exploring.
How the Matanuska Glacier Formed
Glaciers form thanks to time, snow, pressure, and gravity. Snow falls up at Mount Marcus Baker, the tallest mountain in the Chugach Mountains. Snow compresses and turns into ice under pressure. First, the snow turns to névé, a granular substance between ice and snow. After multiple freezing and melting stages, the névé compacts into glacier ice.
The ice flows downhill due to gravity and the extreme pressure the ice is under due to the weight of ice and snow. These factors allow glaciers to grow. Glaciers move like rivers – just much slower!
History of the Matanuska Glacier
The Matanuska Glacier once stretched all the way to Anchorage! During the last glacial maximum, 21,000 years ago, the Knik Glacier and the Matanuska Glacier met and stretched to the northern area of Anchorage.
After two significant retreating events, both glaciers have retreated to where they stand today. As they retreated they carved the valleys that many Alaskans now call home.
The Matanuska Glacier Today
The Matanuska Glacier now stretches 26 miles into a terminal lake. Its terminus is 4 miles wide making it an impressive sight from the highway. This glacier is classified as a valley glacier that flows between prominent mountains of the Chugach Range like Mt. Wickersham.
As the first guiding company to offer trips on the Matanuska Glacier, we’ve seen the landscape go through many impressive changes! Each Summer brings new adventures for our guides and our guests.
The Matanuska is still growing and tends to advance in wintertime as low temps and snowfall allow for the creation of more glacier ice. However, like most glaciers, the Matanuska is receding.
In the Summertime it’s glacier melt adds to the Matanuska River we raft down. You can even see and feel a change in the river where the glacier melt meets the river.
The Impacts of Our Changing Climate on Glaciers
The Matanuska once reached the parking lot where your tour begins. It has since receded to create a glacier lake due to a higher rate of glacier melt than snowfall and ice formation.
With accelerated melting and an ever changing climate, seeing glaciers in their prime is fleeting. We encourage you to come visit these places to become inspired to protect the natural landscape. Following Leave No Trace is a great way to protect this glacier for future generations to come.
Why Is the Glacier Ice Blue?
Glacier ice appears blue when the ice is dense and has no air bubbles. As glaciers form and the ice compresses air bubbles are pushed out leaving thick layers of ice. No air bubbles allows for light to travel deeper into the ice resulting in more of a blue hue.
This dense glacial ice absorbs all colors of the visible light spectrum – except for blue which it transmits back to our eyes! You’ll see deeper blues at the ice falls, as you walk through glacier slot canyons, or in the ice walls you’ll climb.
Less dense ice with more air bubbles appears to be white as light scatters when it hits the air in the ice and cannot travel any deeper. This is similar to how snow scatters lights and appears white to our eyes!
Why Is the Glacier More Blue On Cloudy Days?
When it is cloudy out the ice appears much more blue than it does on sunny days. This is thanks to less sunlight being reflected in the layers of ice closer to the surface. The blue hues in deeper layers become more visible.
Glacier Terminology + What You May See On Your Tour
There’s a lot to see on your glacier tour! Your guide will show you all the wonders of the glacier and teach you glacier terminology. Get excited for your tour with a look into what you may come across on your hike and what you will learn about. You will want to bring your camera along!
Ice Falls: This iconic part of the Matanuska Glacier is formed by the glacier flowing fast over a steep section. We believe there is bedrock the glacier is flowing over and around, causing the ice falls to form.
The ice stretches thin over this section of rock as glacier fins reach towards the sky creating a breathtaking scene. You’ll see why this is such a popular photo spot once you reach it!
Glacier Moraine: The accumulation of rock and debris deposited by the glacier as it flows. Big mounds of debris, or push moraines, tell us about the glaciers movement over time. You’ll spot a few of these on your tour as the glacier has receded from the parking area. You’ll also hike on the moraine to reach the ice falls or trek deeper into the backcountry.
Lateral Moraine: Rock and debris on the sides of the glacier formed as the glacier flows, scrapes the mountainside, and from rockfall from surrounding mountains.
Medial Moraine: These moraines look like veins running through the middle of a glacier and are formed as two glaciers meet and push their debris piles into one another.
Terminal Lake: The lake that forms at the toe (or terminus) of a glacier. You’ll take a floating bridge across this lake to reach hikable moraine.
Crevasse: A deep crack in the glacier formed by different ice movement. Some are large enough to climb in!
Moulin: A vertical chute that carries meltwater from the surface to the base of the glacier. The flow of water lubricates the base of the glacier and affects how glaciers move.
Moulins can make for excellent places to ice climb and show off that deep blue glacier ice!
We encourage tossing in a rock to see how deep the moulin is!
Cryoconite Holes: Holes formed on the glacier due to dust or small rocks. As the sun warms the rocks they melt into the ice and form small pockets of water.
Glacier Silt: As the glacier flows it grounds up bedrock into a fine mineral dense material also known as glacier flour. This silt makes a great natural exfoliant for a glacial facial!
Glacial Erratics: You’ll come across some big rocks on your glacier tour that seem like they don’t belong there. The glacier acted like a bulldozer as it flowed across the valley, depositing rocks far from their original location. As the glacier receded these rocks were left behind.
Come With Us to Explore the Matanuska Glacier!
The Matanuska Glacier is ever changing. We’ve been guiding on glaciers since 1990 and have watched the Matanuska go through many changes. The lake has grown over time as the glacier recedes, and new features are found each year as the glacier shifts. We find new climbing walls, paths through glacier slot canyons, and moulins in the backcountry each year to share with you.
Book a tour of the ice falls with us or venture further into the backcountry on a trek to explore this magnificent glacier! Regardless of your adventure, we can’t wait for you to see this captivating landscape and become inspired to protect these landscapes for future generations.
