Anchorage: Matanuska Glacier Hike & Ice Walk from Downtown

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/10

Duration10h

GroupUp to 12

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

What does walking on actual glacier ice feel like?

You get picked up from your hotel, driven two hours to Matanuska Glacier with mountain views along the way, then spend two hours hiking across the ice with guides, spikes, and helmets provided. Lunch at a glacier-view lodge is included in the price, and you're back in Anchorage by late afternoon. The only thing not covered is the actual meal itself — you buy that at the lodge.

10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Matanuska Glacier guided hike and return

Pickup from hotel or Visitor Center
Drive north on Glenn Highway
Stop halfway for lunch purchase
Arrive at Matanuska Glacier
Receive glacier gear and safety briefing
Guided 2-hour glacier hike
Lunch at Alaska lodge with glacier view
Drive back to Anchorage with scenic stops

The Experience

The van picks you up between 7:45 and 8:30 in the morning — either at your hotel or the downtown Visitor Center — and heads north out of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway. Your guide talks about the city's history for the first stretch, then the landscape takes over. After about thirty minutes the Talkeetna and Chugach mountains come into view, and on a clear day you'll see the Alaska Range sitting on the horizon. The Matanuska River runs alongside the road the whole way up, and that's when you know you're getting close.

At the glacier, the guides fit you with ice spikes and a helmet — they know exactly what the ice looks like that day and what you'll need to move safely across it. The hike itself is roughly two hours on the actual glacier, and you're walking over seracs (those jagged ice towers), moulins (holes where water disappears into the ice), and crevasses you can see straight down into. The guides are experts in glacial features and the natural history of the place, so they're pointing things out the whole time, not just leading you across. Bring a camera — the light on the ice and the scale of the thing make it hard to stop shooting.

After you come off the ice, there's lunch at an Alaska lodge right next door with a view of the glacier you just walked on. The drive back to Anchorage gives you a chance to pull over at scenic points if you want more photos, though by then most people are pretty tired. The whole day is eight hours from pickup to drop-off, with two hours of that actually on the ice and the rest split between driving and the lodge.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in a comfortable Mercedes Sprinter van, glacier access and expert guiding, ice spikes and helmets, hiking poles if you want them, live commentary about Anchorage's history and the Matanuska Valley on the drive, filtered glacier water, and lunch at an Alaska lodge with glacier views. Gratuities are not included, and you'll buy your actual meal at the lodge.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPets welcomeNot for back problems

Operated by 907 Tours

Is this one for you?A good fit if you want to walk on actual glacier ice without arranging your own transport or equipment — the pickup, the spikes, the helmets and the guides are all handled. Plan for a full day out and a moderate hike on uneven terrain; that's what makes two hours on the ice possible.