Kenai Fjords National Park guide · 2 min read
Climbing the Harding Icefield Trail
The Harding Icefield Trail is an 8.2-mile round trip that most hikers finish in six to eight hours.
The climb is strenuous, gaining about 3,000 feet, but the ice at the end makes it worthwhile.
You reach the trailhead by driving 12 miles from Seward to the end of Exit Glacier Road, the only part of the park you can reach by car. The trail starts just beyond the parking lot, close to the Exit Glacier Nature Center. For a stretch it runs alongside Exit Glacier, with the glacier and valley opening wider as you climb.
The lower section passes through cottonwood and alder forest and across heather meadows before the trail climbs above tree line. Marmot Meadows sits 1.4 miles in and Top of the Cliff 2.4 miles along, both good places to rest or turn back early. Above that, ice and snow spread out in every direction, broken now and then by a nunatak, a rock peak rising through the ice.
The Harding Icefield is the park's central feature and a major reason Kenai Fjords was created. From the trail's end, you look out over a huge sheet of ice, among the biggest in the country, and its ice feeds the glaciers across the park. If you would rather not walk, scenic flights offer a view of its scale, but the hike brings you to its edge on foot.
Watch for bears, mountain goats, and hoary marmots, all seen along this route. Look up conditions before heading out, since snow can linger on the upper trail and avalanche danger is possible. Pack warm layers, a rain jacket, solid footwear, sunglasses, sunscreen, and at least two liters of water per person, and expect storms, gusty wind, and quick temperature swings. Stay on the trail, since alpine plants are easily damaged and cutting switchbacks causes erosion.
