Alaska Glaciers

Cut from age-old glacial movements, Endicott Arm is a narrow fjord over thirty miles long. Sailing down it gives you a view into some of the most dramatic vistas in the north. See the Alaska glaciers of Endicott Arm, including Dawes Glacier, and revel in the walls of ice that stretch stories above the waterline. Or delight in the cliffsides that are decorated with forests and wildlife.

College Fjord is the meeting place where many of Alaska’s glaciers congregate and flow to the ocean. At the water’s edge are massive valley glaciers and dozens of smaller monuments that dot the mountainous region. Thanks to the professors who first settled here in 1899, many of these glaciers are named after the country’s best institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard Glacier.

Hubbard Glacier is an unforgettable sight. Alaska’s largest tidewater glacier rises hundreds of feet from the ocean floor and towers above the waves, radiating a brilliant blue in the daylight. Thanks to its exceptional movement speed — for a massive river of ice — the face of this Alaska glacier calves at an incredible rate, providing a breathtaking show for the lucky onlookers.

Tucked in the coastal mountains around Juneau, this nearly 14-mile-long glacier cuts through the landscape and ends in a freshwater lake. Mendenhall is the best of Alaska’s ecosystems. It’s home to wildlife, and its rivers are brimming with salmon and trout. Not to mention, its forests burst from every inch of terrain, creating a true wonderland of nature.

With ice colored in vibrant blues and bright whites, Matanuska is a sight to be seen on an Alaska Copper River cruisetour. Considered an "ice flow", it floats through valleys under its own weight. This structure measures 24 miles in length and is responsible for creating a "weather hole" — a pocket of sunny skies and enjoyable climates that occurs due to warm valley air being pushed into the atmosphere.