Top 10 Glaciers in the Alaska Range
The Alaska Range stretches roughly 650 kilometres across south-central Alaska, rising to its apex at Denali — at 6,190 metres the highest peak in North America. The range receives extraordinary precipitation from storms driven north and east off the Gulf of Alaska, and this moisture, combined with the altitude, sustains an exceptionally rich glacier system. The Alaska Range glaciers are not the most numerous in Alaska — that distinction belongs to the glaciers of the Chugach and Wrangell ranges — but they include some of the most dramatic and most scientifically significant glacier systems on the continent. Find these and other Alaskan glaciers on the glacier map.
1. Kahiltna Glacier, Central Alaska Range
The Kahiltna Glacier flows south from the flanks of Denali and is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range at roughly 75 kilometres. Its South Fork is the site of Base Camp for the standard West Buttress route up Denali, used by thousands of climbers each year, making it one of the most visited glacier surfaces in Alaska. The glacier descends from approximately 2,200 metres at base camp to around 600 metres at its terminus, traversing a vertical range that encompasses dramatic transitions in ice texture, crevasse structure, and surface topography. From the air, the medial moraines converging from the multiple tributaries that feed the main glacier create striking dark stripes on the ice surface.
2. Ruth Glacier, Alaska Range
The Ruth Glacier occupies the Ruth Gorge, a canyon whose walls rise more than 1,800 metres from the ice surface — one of the deepest gorges in North America measured from valley wall to valley floor. The glacier's main amphitheatre, called the Great Gorge, has walls of Denali granite rising sheer above the ice for over a kilometre. The Ruth is a popular destination for mountaineers approaching peaks like the Mooses Tooth and Mount Dickey, and for ski tourers who fly in by bush plane to traverse the glacier's remote upper reaches. Ice thickness measurements have found depths exceeding 900 metres in some sections of the gorge.
3. Muldrow Glacier, North Denali
The Muldrow Glacier is the longest route on Denali and the only route on the mountain's north side. It begins near the 4,000-metre level beneath the Northeast Face and descends northeast to a heavily debris-covered tongue in the lowlands north of the Alaska Range. The Muldrow is a surge-type glacier and experienced a major surge in 1956, advancing several kilometres and moving at rates far exceeding normal glacier velocities. Its lower tongue is covered in supraglacial debris so thick that the ice beneath is heavily insulated, and the stagnant terminus zone supports shrub vegetation that conceals the ice from casual observation.
4. Tokositna Glacier, South Alaska Range
The Tokositna Glacier flows south from the high massif of Denali and Mount Foraker, draining into the Tokositna River in the lowlands south of the range. It is less visited than the Kahiltna but encompasses an equally impressive landscape of seracs, icefalls, and medial moraines. The upper Tokositna basin provides access to several significant technical climbing objectives on the less-frequented south side of the Alaska Range, and the glacier has been used as an approach for routes on Hunter's south buttress and the southwest face of Denali.
5. Eldridge Glacier, Alaska Range
The Eldridge Glacier flows north from the central Alaska Range, beginning its descent near Denali's northern flanks and terminating well into the lowland boreal forest north of the mountains. It is notable for the striking contrast between its upper icefall — a chaotic zone of seracs and deeply fractured ice — and its heavily vegetated lower tongue, where a moraine-covered stagnant terminus has been colonised by spruce and willow. The Eldridge, like the Muldrow, illustrates how debris cover can dramatically alter the appearance and behaviour of a glacier's lower extent.
6. Traleika Glacier, Denali National Park
The Traleika is a major tributary of the Muldrow Glacier system and flows through one of the more remote parts of Denali National Park. Its upper basin is ringed by the high peaks of the central Alaska Range, and it receives very heavy snowfall from both Gulf of Alaska and interior weather systems. The Traleika is rarely visited by climbers or tourists and represents the kind of pristine, untracked glacier wilderness that the Alaska Range still offers in abundance to those willing to make the effort to reach it.
7. Yentna Glacier, Southern Flanks
The Yentna Glacier drains the southern flanks of the Alaska Range west of the Kahiltna system and feeds into the Yentna River drainage. It is a relatively accessible glacier for the Alaska Range, with bush plane landings on the upper glacier possible from Talkeetna, the staging town for most Alaska Range expeditions. The surrounding mountains offer technical climbing routes that see very few ascents each year, and the glacier landscape is essentially unmodified wilderness. The Yentna drainage basin is also important salmon habitat downstream, connecting the glacier ecosystem to the broader ecological web of south-central Alaska.
8. Lacuna Glacier, Central Alaska Range
The Lacuna Glacier descends from the high peaks of the central Alaska Range and has been relatively little studied compared to its larger neighbours. Its upper cirques are fed by the orographic precipitation driven by storms approaching from the south, and the glacier's gradient is steep enough to produce impressive icefall features in its upper reaches. Access is by bush plane, and the glacier sees occasional use as an approach for routes on unnamed and seldom-climbed peaks in the interior of the range.
9. Herron Glacier, Alaska Range
The Herron Glacier flows west from the central Alaska Range and was the subject of historical expeditions by early Alaskan explorers attempting to cross the range from the north. The glacier and the Herron River drainage were mapped in the early 20th century during surveys aimed at assessing the potential for a railway route across the Alaska Range — a route that was never built. The glacier's moderate gradient and relatively stable terminus make it one of the more approachable of the larger Alaska Range glaciers for ski touring parties.
10. Peters Glacier, North Alaska Range
The Peters Glacier flows north from the Denali massif and terminates in the lowlands of the Wonder Lake area in Denali National Park. It is one of the few Alaska Range glaciers accessible without a bush plane flight: the park road approaches within hiking distance of the glacier's lower tongue. The Peters is best viewed from the Wonder Lake campground, from which the full sweep of the northern Alaska Range — including Denali's massive north face — forms the backdrop to the glacier's debris-covered terminus. This combination of road accessibility and dramatic mountain scenery makes it one of the most photographed glacier landscapes in the national park.