Holgate Glacier, a tidewater glacier, occasionally calves small icebergs. Enjoy an opportunity
to witness this exciting occurrence on one of AAU’s Alaska Glacier Tours!
Glaciers come in a variety of shapes, forms, and locations – it’s just one of many facts that make Alaska glacier tours so popular!
If you’ve a fascination for seeing or visiting glaciers, indulging in an AAU Alaska land tour will satisfy that interest, big time. Alaska has an estimated 100,000-plus glaciers – and they’re not all alike. There are alpine glaciers, tidewater glaciers, piedmont glaciers, hanging glaciers, rock glaciers, icefields, ice caps, glaciers that are retreating, and some that surge. There are glaciers at the water’s edge and glaciers stranded high and alone, in remote, alpine valleys.
Alaska Adventure Unlimited prides itself in providing access or views to a wide variety of these icons of the north with our Alaska glacier tours. Here’s a short list of some of the types you can book an Alaska land tour with us to see!
Piedmont Glaciers
Matanuska Glacier is an example of a piedmont glacier
Another great example is Matanuska Glacier, a visit to which is included in the majority of Alaska Adventure Unlimited’s guided Alaska vacation packages!
Alpine Glaciers
Alpine glaciers, also known as hanging glaciers, are isolated in smaller, high valleys. They’re the separate remnants of larger, valley glaciers that have melted or are now remote and still retreating. If you’ve ever heard of a hanging valley, this is a term used for a valley that once held a now melted hanging glacier.
You will see many hanging valleys and alpine glaciers during the Flightseeing portion of your Alaska Adventure Unlimited guided Alaska vacation!
Tidewater Glaciers
A tidewater glacier is a glacier that spills all of the way down to the sea and can often be seen calving off small icebergs. Although the icebergs from a tidewater glacier are not as impressive or problematic as the more famous and imposing Antarctic icebergs, these smaller calvings can also cause shipping lane issues.
Alaska Adventure Unlimited’s 10-Day Grand Discovery Alaska Tour includes a cruise in Resurrection Bay with views of Holgate Glacier, an active tidewater glacier. You may even see a calving!
Rock Glaciers
Rock glaciers are glaciers that have accumulated lots of rocks, dirt, and other debris on top of them. This extra material becomes incorporated into the ice when the glacier passes through steep-sided valleys or down steep inclines where falling debris has no choice but to land atop the slow-moving glacier.
The majority of Alaska Adventure Unlimited’s guided Alaska vacation packages include a scenic tour of Hatcher Pass, where you can visit a rock glacier.
Alaska Glacier Tours
Whatever form your Alaska wilderness interest takes, Alaska Adventure Unlimited delivers. Be sure to visit our Alaska Guided Tour Comparison Chart to see which tours have the details that you want to experience!