Glacier Hiking & Climbing

With over 100,000 glaciers, 5 percent of Alaska is covered by ice year-round. Glaciers are located throughout the Inside Passage, Southcentral Alaska’s coastal waters, and the high mountains of Interior and Arctic Alaska. One quarter of Alaska’s glaciers — more than 4.5 million acres — can be found within Alaska’s national parks. From tidewater glaciers to mountain cirques to enormous icefields spanning across the horizon, Alaska has more active glaciers than anywhere else in the world. Many of them are surprisingly accessible by land, air, or water.

Alaska has many accessible glaciers across the state that allow visitors to experience a frozen wonderland even in the height of summer. Guided glacier tours allow you to have safe, firsthand encounters with Alaska’s magnificent glaciers. Alaska’s glacier hiking and climbing trips are designed for a variety of interest and experience levels. For those who want to experience Alaska's glaciers up-close, you can join guided glacier hikes, take a helicopter ride to a glacier for a day of glacier trekking, explore ice caves, learn how to rappel into a deep blue crevasse, or learn technical ice-climbing skills during a multi-day climbing workshop. Expert guides will provide all of the technical gear that you need and teach you the ins and outs of glacier travel.