When it comes to viewing glaciers in National Parks, Alaska reigns supreme with excellent glacial viewing opportunities at places like Kenai Fjords National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and Glacier Bay National Park.
In the lower 48 glaciers can found with relative ease in Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, Grand Teton National Park and others. North Cascades National Park is home to the highest concentration of glaciers in the contiguous United States but Glacier National Park comes in second with around two dozen active glaciers.
Most of Glacier National Park’s glaciers can be found in the shadowy niches high along the Continental Divide but some can be seen from the road. Hikers can get an up close view of the glaciers but sometimes its difficult to differentiate between seasonal snow and actual glacial ice. In late August and early September when the majority of winter’s snow has melted away, identifying glaciers is rather obvious but to the trained eye you can discern them quite easily even when surrounded by seasonal snow:
“Seasonal snow is much whiter and cleaner than the rock and dirt covered glacial ice. Can you see the differences? This image of Sexton Glacier taken in the early summer shows how seasonal snow can cover ice and obscure glacier ice.”
Before Glacier National Park was named for its active glaciers in 1910 it was referred to as “the place where there is a lot of ice.” Other Tribes describe the land that is no encompassed by the park as “the land of the shining mountains” due to the bright, reflective snow and ice seen from the plains to the east.
Cheers to the folks at Glacier National Park who are celebrating glaciers all year as part of the Year of Glacier Preservation in 2025.
