Some 18,000 years ago this glacier covered the entire area where the city of Palmer sits today. It must have appeared a supernatural force back then, whereas these days it’s merely a grand spectacle and open geological classroom.
Entry to Matanuska is via Glacier Park Resort (Mile 102), which charges $20 to follow its private road to a parking lot at the terminal moraine. From there, a self-guided trail will take you a couple of hundred yards onto the gravel-laced ice, carved and braided with translucent blue streams and pitted with deep ponds.
To go further, duck into the office of MICA Guides , where you’ll be outfitted with a helmet, crampons and trekking poles, and led on a 1½-hour glacier tour ($45), a three-hour trek ($69) or a six-hour ice-climbing excursion ($129).
There's also a 500yd-long zip line ($49)
