America's Largest Glaciers and Icefields

Special Report

Published: December 7, 2021 1:00 pm

Glaciers, rivers of ice, thousands of years old, that move slowly through mountain ranges, fueled by gravity and their own weight and dynamics, are found on every continent except Australia. Formed by abundant snowfall, accumulating and compressing faster than the snow can melt, glaciers can reach thousands of feet in depth and over a hundred miles in length.

All told, the world’s glaciers hold about 69% of the world’s fresh water, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. They also account for — and have created — some of the world’s most awe-inspiring landscapes, even as their annual melt feeds rivers and streams throughout much of the world. (Here are stunning photos of America’s largest attractions.)

To find the largest glaciers and icefields in the U.S., 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Census Bureau’s Tigerweb database.

The United States has glaciers in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and most prominently, Alaska, where nearly 100,000 glaciers cover 5% of the state’s surface area. This one state has more active glaciers than any other region in the world. All 50 of the largest U.S. glaciers and icefields are found in Alaska.

Alaska’s largest glacier is the Bering Glacier, measuring nearly 500 square miles, and, when combined with the Begley icefield, which feeds it, measures 1,900 square miles. Even the Bear Glacier, the smallest of the country’s 50 most extensive glaciers, is an impressive 41.4 square miles in area.

The largest icefield, generally defined as an immense ice mass comprising interconnected glaciers, is the Juneau icefield, which is made up of and feeds dozens of individual glaciers. (For the other extreme, here are the most dangerous volcanoes on the planet.)

Glaciers provide one of the most dramatic measures of climate change. Globally, glaciers are melting at an accelerating pace, losing 31% more ice and snow each year than they did 15 years ago, according to a study of satellite imagery published in April in Nature.

The Alaskan glaciers are among the fastest melting in the world, contributing about 7% of the ice melt fueling sea level rise, while the state’s ice cover is only 1% of the world’s total, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Here are the country’s 50 largest glaciers and icefields

Columbia Glacier... by Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2018

Columbia Glacier... (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) by Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2018

50. First Branch Columbia Glacier
> Land area: 36.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Valdez, Alaska (pop: 3,985)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.152, Long: -147.286

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Source: U.S. Forest Service. 1950. Dixon Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

49. Dixon Glacier
> Land area: 37.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: St. Mary, Montana (pop: 50)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 48.929, Long: -114.016

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Source: Post, Austin. 1984. Scott Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

48. Scott Glacier
> Land area: 38.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Cordova, Alaska (pop: 2,239)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.673, Long: -145.200

Source: alaskanps / Flickr

47. Rohn Glacier
> Land area: 38.7 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.767, Long: -142.639

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Source: patrickhadorn / Getty Images

46. Dahlgren Ridge Glacier
> Land area: 39.0 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.241, Long: -142.271

Shamrock Glacier... by Photo by Austin Post in the Glaciers and Landforms Photograph Collection via University of Washington: Special Collections and USGS

Shamrock Glacier... (Public Domain) by Photo by Austin Post in the Glaciers and Landforms Photograph Collection via University of Washington: Special Collections and USGS

45. Shamrock Glacier
> Land area: 40.7 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Tyonek, Alaska (pop: 171)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.082, Long: -152.859

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Source: SL_Photography / iStock via Getty Images

44. Bear Glacier
> Land area: 41.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Lowell Point, Alaska (pop: 80)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.027, Long: -149.652

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Source: Courtesy of Post, Austin. 1984. Woodworth Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

43. Woodworth Glacier
> Land area: 43.8 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Valdez, Alaska (pop: 3,985)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.936, Long: -145.512

Source: Louis Sass, USGS via www2.usgs.gov / Public Domain

42. Wolverine Glacier
> Land area: 46.6 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Primrose, Alaska (pop: 78)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.458, Long: -148.927

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Alaska 2009 087 (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Bryan Price

41. Susitna Glacier
> Land area: 52.8 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska (pop: 96,849)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 63.549, Long: -146.843

Source: Unidentified via the United States Air Force. 1954. Johnson Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

40. Johnson Glacier
> Land area: 53.0 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Dry Creek, Alaska (pop: 94)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 63.352, Long: -145.109

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Taku Glacier (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Joseph

39. Taku Glacier
> Land area: 54.5 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Juneau, Alaska (pop: 32,227)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 58.574, Long: -134.162

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Double-Glacier Amy-Miller NPS1 by Amy Miller, National Park Service

Double-Glacier Amy-Miller NPS1 (Public Domain) by Amy Miller, National Park Service

38. Double Glacier
> Land area: 55.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska (pop: 58,464)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.660, Long: -152.669

Source: Mendenhall, W.C.. 1898. Gakona Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

37. Gakona Glacier
> Land area: 57.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Dry Creek, Alaska (pop: 94)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 63.158, Long: -145.154

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Source: alaskanps / Flickr

36. Baldwin Glacier
> Land area: 63.9 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Yakutat, Alaska (pop: 649)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.685, Long: -141.321

Source: alaskanps / Flickr

35. Tana Glacier
> Land area: 64.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Cordova, Alaska (pop: 2,239)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.699, Long: -142.682

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MtChurchill-KlutlanGlacier by tR. McGimsey, U.S. Geological Survey

MtChurchill-KlutlanGlacier (Public Domain) by tR. McGimsey, U.S. Geological Survey

34. Klutlan Glacier
> Land area: 64.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.416, Long: -141.359

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Source: alaskanps / Flickr

33. Bremner Glacier
> Land area: 67.5 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.849, Long: -143.412

Allen glacier... by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Allen glacier... (Public Domain) by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

32. Allen Glacier
> Land area: 69.0 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Cordova, Alaska (pop: 2,239)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.788, Long: -144.940

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Source: Andrew Peacock / Getty Images

31. Russell Glacier
> Land area: 70.2 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Idanha, Alaska (pop: 134)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 44.691, Long: -121.820

Mount Spurr by United States Geological Survey

Mount Spurr (Public Domain) by United States Geological Survey

30. Triumvirate Glacier
> Land area: 71.6 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Beluga, Alaska (pop: 20)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.462, Long: -152.076

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Source: kenaifjordsnps / Flickr

29. Holgate Glacier
> Land area: 71.7 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska (pop: 58,464)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 59.878, Long: -149.939

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Logan Glacier (Public Domain) by NPS / Jacob W. Frank

28. Logan Glacier
> Land area: 72.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.903, Long: -141.201

Malaspina-panorama-no-type by Tom Patterson

Malaspina-panorama-no-type (Public Domain) by Tom Patterson

27. St Elias Icefield
> Land area: 77.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.416, Long: -141.700

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Source: EWTRAVEL / Flickr

26. Harvard Glacier
> Land area: 79.2 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Chugach School District, Alaska (pop: 370)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.310, Long: -147.655

Source: alaskanps / Flickr

25. Kennicott Glacier
> Land area: 80.7 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.613, Long: -143.068

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_MG_1939 (2)a (CC BY 2.0) by mark byzewski

24. Baird Glacier
> Land area: 81.8 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska (pop: 2,502)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 57.207, Long: -132.523

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Blackstone Bay Glacier (CC BY 2.0) by Cecil Sanders

23. Blackstone Glacier
> Land area: 85.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Whittier, Alaska (pop: 272)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.635, Long: -148.790

Source: Courtesy of Sater, John. 1964. Cheshnina Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

22. Cheshinina Glacier
> Land area: 86.6 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Copper Center, Alaska (pop: 338)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.942, Long: -144.074

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Map of Disenchantment Bay by U.S. Geological Survey

Map of Disenchantment Bay (Public Domain) by U.S. Geological Survey

21. Valerie Glacier
> Land area: 101.7 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Yakutat, Alaska (pop: 649)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.197, Long: -139.641

Wrangells1... (CC BY-SA 3.0) by AlaskaTrekker

20. Sanford Icefield
> Land area: 103.2 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Gakona, Alaska (pop: 218)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 62.248, Long: -144.118

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Chitina Glacier by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Chitina Glacier (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

19. Chitina Glacier
> Land area: 108.6 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.014, Long: -141.316

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Capps Glacier... by Photo by Austin Post / Glaciers and Landforms Photograph Collection / United States Geological Survey

Capps Glacier... (Public Domain) by Photo by Austin Post / Glaciers and Landforms Photograph Collection / United States Geological Survey

18. Capps Glacier
> Land area: 118.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Beluga, Alaska (pop: 20)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.428, Long: -152.118

Nelchina Glacier... (CC BY-SA 4.0) by Enrico Blasutto

17. Nelchina Glacier
> Land area: 121.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Glacier View, Alaska (pop: 234)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.690, Long: -147.065

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columbia glacier (CC BY 2.0) by John Johnston

16. Columbia Glacier
> Land area: 161.5 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Chugach School District, Alaska (pop: 370)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.177, Long: -147.028

Source: Dave Oxford / iStock via Getty Images

15. Ruth Glacier
> Land area: 163.2 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Trapper Creek, Alaska (pop: 481)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 62.923, Long: -150.749

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Tazlina Glacier in the distanc... by sf-dvs

Tazlina Glacier in the distanc... (CC BY 2.0) by sf-dvs

14. Tazlina Glacier
> Land area: 163.8 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Copper River School District, Alaska (pop: 446)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.523, Long: -146.557

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Barnard Glacier by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Barnard Glacier (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

13. Barnard Glacier
> Land area: 177.0 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.199, Long: -141.588

Chenega Glacier by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Chenega Glacier (Public Domain) by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

12. Sargent Icefield
> Land area: 184.5 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Primrose, Alaska (pop: 78)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.413, Long: -148.603

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Miles Glacier (CC BY 2.0) by NASA ICE

11. Miles Glacier
> Land area: 187.5 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Chugach School District, Alaska (pop: 370)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.620, Long: -144.203

Source: Post, Austin via the University of Washington. 1960. Black Rapids Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media. (nsidc.org)

10. Black Rapids Glacier
> Land area: 197.2 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Alaska (pop: 15,969)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 63.479, Long: -146.921

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Source: Michael Pegram / iStock via Getty Images

9. Hubbard Glacier
> Land area: 214.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Yakutat, Alaska (pop: 649)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.239, Long: -139.355

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PSM V79 D432... (Public Domain) by tUnknown author

8. Martin River Glacier
> Land area: 243.8 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Cordova, Alaska (pop: 2,239)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.552, Long: -143.670

MountWrangell by Photo by B. Cella, US National Park Service

MountWrangell (Public Domain) by Photo by B. Cella, US National Park Service

7. Wrangell Icefield
> Land area: 246.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Silver Springs, Alaska (pop: 114)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 62.033, Long: -143.922

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Source: HenrikNorway / Getty Images

6. Jefferies Glacier
> Land area: 310.3 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.585, Long: -142.025

Nabesna Glacier and Mt. Blackb... by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Nabesna Glacier and Mt. Blackb... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

5. Nabesna Glacier
> Land area: 353.1 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 61.870, Long: -143.220

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Source: trait2lumiere / iStock via Getty Images

4. Harding Icefield
> Land area: 398.7 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska (pop: 58,464)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.008, Long: -150.070

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Source: usforestservice / Flickr

3. Juneau Icefield
> Land area: 563.0 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Juneau, Alaska (pop: 32,227)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 58.644, Long: -134.281

Bering Glacier. Bering Glacier... by Bureau of Land Management Alaska

Bering Glacier. Bering Glacier... (CC BY 2.0) by Bureau of Land Management Alaska

2. Bering Glacier
> Land area: 624.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: McCarthy, Alaska (pop: 28)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.525, Long: -142.631

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Bagley Icefield by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Bagley Icefield (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

1. Bagley Icefield
> Land area: 863.4 square miles
> Closest town, borough, or school district: Cordova, Alaska (pop: 2,239)
> Map coordinates: Lat: 60.521, Long: -142.713

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