Valdez Glacier Lake, Alaska, United States
4.0 (35 reviews) Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #7 in Valdez Bodies of Water
Nice little place
The lake itself is not too far from Valdez. While driving you will have to drive the unpaved road to reach the lake and at the end, you will be welcomed with a lake full of floating glacier ice with a backdrop of mountains. Worth that short drive to enjoy nature for yourself. There are some mines that are around which is not really great to see around, but it is what it is....
Address
Glacier Campground road, Valdez, AK 99686
Current local date and time now
Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 9:22
User Ratings
4.0 based on (35 reviews)
Excellent
43%
Good
37%
Satisfactory
14%
Poor
3%
Terrible
3%
Reviews
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4KGTraveler_13 5:00 PM Dec 23, 2018
Climate Change is REAL, Y'all (Exhibit C)
We had a great day for our kayak trip on the lake and were to paddle to the glacier, where we would then get to hike on it. Only the latter part of our plans were altered thanks to an event two days prior to our visit. On that day, the glacier calved (huge chunks broke off into the lake) WITH hikers from a tour ON the glacier. Thankfully, none of the hikers were near the portion of glacier that broke away, so they were okay -- but they were still in need of rescue. We were told by the tour company that the break-away ice pushed the groups' kayaks into the middle of the lake, which then had to be retrieved and brought back to the glacier, where the hikers then rappelled down to their boats and were led to safety. So, to be sure we would be safe and because of concern that the glacier could still calve again, the company adjusted our game plan. We instead hiked up a steep (thankfully short and aided by a tow rope at the steepest section) to an overlook that allowed us to get a closer look at the glacier from above. We then returned to our boats and paddled across the lake (and around the icebergs and smaller obstacles resulting from the calving) to a spot where a picnic was set up for us. We also were able to explore where melt was coursing down through a section of the land we were on and we could see the wide moraine that was forming. The guides were terrific, making sure to alert us where we should and should not paddle, and making sure we had all that we needed. So, in spite of the altered plans, we still had a great experience and saw some more of the power of nature (and of our own actions and its impact on nature).
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3Joe B 5:00 PM Jul 26, 2020
Not bad.
It wasn't quite what I expected. You can't really see the glacier face from the lake at this point (it has receded quite a bit). There are no facilities or information about the Glacier or Lake in the area. Really just a gravel lot next to a small lake. I will say that its pretty cool to see all the ice from the glacier floating in the lake. You can take kayaks around to the face of the glacier and, I believe, there is a rough path from the lake but we did not find it.
