Matanuska
is the largest Glacier in the US that can be accessed by car. Its
location is between Anchorage and Kennicott along Glenn Highway. You can see it from the
highway and there are pull-out areas for you to park the car. This 27-mile long glacier is relatively stable; the position
of its terminus (the end of the glacier) has changed very little during
the past 30 years. In the past you could buy a permit and then explore the
glacier on your own. But from this year on you must join a guided tour.
This policy change is reasonable because walking on a glacier could be very
dangerous. If you slip and fall on ice, you could fall all the way down
into the icy water. There is no non-slippery surface you could grab
onto and hypothermia could limit your mobility. The last picture on
this page shows a rock carved by the glacier. The pattern on the rock
looks like a painting.
