The Glacier View region contains one of the Mat-Su Valley's greatest gems. Matanuska Glacier is the largest road accessible glacier and there are a variety of ways to explore it from a highway side overlook with interpretive signs all the way to a winter trek into one of its frozen drainage tunnels. In the summer these tunnels and collection points fill to the brim with the bluest meltwater on the planet.
Mark Fleenor of Sheep Mountain Lodge, who offers scenic helicopter tours over the glacier year round, is as passionate about diving as he is about his home in Alaska. Who would have thought that he could pursue this hobby on a glacier of all places?!

Obviously, glacier diving requires the right equipment and expertise, but you don't have to don a snorkel and fins just to get a close-up view of these glacial pools. Flightseeing and trekking tours are wonderful ways to experience the Valley's glaciers. Paddleboarding on the glacier has also become very popular. ATV tours in this region can take you right up to the terminus of these landlocked behemoths, and you can even book a jetboat excursion for a sightseeing excursion up the glacial river right to the face of the ice.
When you go, you're bound to meet some Alaska residents who are just as excited to experience the ice as you are. We may live here year round, and some of us have been residents our whole lives, but like you we just can't get over how breathtaking that blue ice is up close. Who can blame our friend Mark for taking a plunge once in a while and snapping some incredible underwater shots!