Frequently Asked Questions
June through September offers the best conditions. Boat tours, flightseeing, and hiking trails are all operational during summer months. July and August are peak season with the warmest weather and longest days. Late May and early September are shoulder season with lower prices and fewer crowds, though some tours may not yet be running or may have ended. Calving activity tends to be most dramatic in mid to late summer as temperatures rise.
Viewing glaciers from boats, visitor centers, and maintained trails is very safe. Walking on glacial ice requires proper equipment (crampons, ice axes) and ideally a guide — crevasses, ice caves, and unstable ice are real hazards. Never approach a glacier face on foot; calving ice can create massive waves. On boat tours, captains maintain safe distances. Helicopter tours operated by licensed companies have strong safety records.
A tidewater glacier flows from land into the ocean, where its face (terminus) stands in seawater. When chunks of ice break off the face and crash into the water, that is called calving. Alaska has more tidewater glaciers than anywhere else in the Americas. Glacier Bay alone has seven active tidewater glaciers. The calving process creates the icebergs, bergy bits, and growlers you see floating in the fjords.
Costs vary widely by experience. Roadside glacier viewing (Exit Glacier, Worthington, Matanuska access) runs $0–30. Half-day boat tours are $150–220 per person. Full-day boat tours are $200–300. Helicopter tours with glacier landing are $300–500. Kayaking near glaciers is $75–200. Flightseeing with glacier landing from Talkeetna is $275–500. The cheapest glacier experiences are self-guided hikes at Exit Glacier and Worthington Glacier.
Yes, but with proper equipment and ideally a guide. Matanuska Glacier is the most accessible for ice hiking — guided tours provide crampons and instruction. Helicopter tours land on glaciers near Juneau and in the Alaska Range for guided walks. Exit Glacier's Harding Icefield Trail reaches the edge of the ice field but does not cross it. Never walk on glacial ice alone without proper training and gear.
Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay is the most reliably active for calving — the day boat spends about an hour at the face and you will almost certainly see and hear major calving events. Aialik and Holgate Glaciers in Kenai Fjords are also very active. Columbia Glacier near Valdez calves enormous icebergs. Mendenhall Glacier calves into its lake, though less frequently than the tidewater glaciers.
Most Alaska glaciers are retreating due to climate change. Exit Glacier's trail markers show dramatic retreat over the past century. Mendenhall Glacier has retreated significantly since the 1950s. Columbia Glacier has lost over half its length since the 1980s. A few glaciers, like Meares and Hubbard, are advancing. Visiting glaciers today provides both a spectacular experience and a sobering look at the pace of environmental change.