Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier is the most accessible glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park and one of the easiest glaciers to visit anywhere in Alaska. The trailhead is about 13 km north of Seward on Herman Leirer Road (Exit Glacier Road), and from the parking area a short flat walk brings you to the face of the glacier where you can stand close to the blue-green ice.

For a more serious hike, the Harding Icefield Trail climbs 600 meters above the glacier to the surface of the vast ice field that feeds it — a plateau of white stretching to every horizon, interrupted only by the dark nunataks (rocky peaks) poking through the ice. The trail is 16 km return and takes six to eight hours; it is strenuous but among the most remarkable day hikes in Alaska. The ranger station at the trailhead has maps, trail conditions, and bear safety information.

things to do sight
A story
Exit Glacier takes its name from the fact that early mountaineers used it as their exit route from the Harding Icefield. The glacier has retreated dramatically since then — signs along the trail mark how far the ice extended in years past, from 1951 back to 1815. At the current rate of retreat, scientists estimate Exit Glacier will disappear entirely within a century.