Massive expanse of ice and snow covering mountain peaks and valleys, offering sweeping alpine views and access to one of the largest icefields in North America.
General Information
Park entrance fees may apply
How to Get There
From Seward (12 mi): Take Exit Glacier Rd north from town for about 12 miles to the trailhead parking area where the hike to the icefield begins.
Overview
The Harding Icefield is an expansive icefield located in the Kenai Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. It is also partially located in Kenai Fjords National Park. It is named for U.S. President Warren G. Harding.
The Harding Icefield is over 700 square miles (1813 km2) in its entirety (although, if one were to count its glaciers which descend from the icefield in all directions, the icefield measures in at over 1,100 square miles (2,849 km2) The icefield spawns up to 40 glaciers of all types. Some of the more notable glaciers include the Tustumena Glacier, Exit Glacier, and McCarty Glacier. The Exit Glacier, however, is the most accessible of the glaciers being reached by a spur road off of the Seward Highway.
The icefield is also one of four remaining icefields in the United States and is the largest contained entirely within the United States. The icefield itself receives over 400 inches of snow each year.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Harding Icefield", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0