Kenai Fjords National Park guide · 1 min read
Retreating Exit Glacier and New Land
Exit Glacier is the most accessible glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park, and visitors can reach it by car, which no other glacier in the park allows.
A road 12 miles from Seward leads to the Exit Glacier area. From there, a handful of short trails wind toward the terminus, the spot where the ice ends, so you can see how the glacier reshapes the ground around it.
Exit Glacier is pulling back. Over the twentieth century, the park's glaciers withdrew and left bare ground where ice once sat, and the trails near the glacier now cross that former ice. Walking them gives you a direct view of how much the landscape has changed.
Bare rock left behind by a retreating glacier does not stay empty for long. Plants gradually spread onto these young surfaces, and animals have started to settle there too. Ranger-led programs at the Exit Glacier Nature Center explain what to look for as you pass through this new terrain.
Shrinking glaciers are among the clearest signs of a changing climate, and the park keeps watch on them. Weather stations across the park log temperature and precipitation, both as current readings and as historical records. Icefield coverage has also declined, shrinking by about three percent over a 16-year study period.
The Harding Icefield sits at the heart of this system. It is the largest icefield lying wholly inside the nation's borders, and more than thirty glaciers flow out of it. Hikers can make the trip on foot along a route of over eight miles there and back, or take in the view from the air on a flightseeing tour.
