Glaciers of Colorado
Why do we care about glaciers?
Where we operate our dog sled rides is a plateau in the Fraser Valley. In the best winter years, we have usable snow on the ground for six months. The dogs, however, like to pull stuff about twelve months a year. We do offer the cart rides, but the dogs prefer pulling stuff on snow. That began our search for glaciers in Colorado
Depending on how you define glacier and how you count, we found somewhere between ten and 140 glaciers in Colorado. Load up the dogs and sleds, let's go for a ride! Not so fast. When I think of a glacier, it turns out what comes to mind are the long valley glaciers of Alaska. We don't have that kind here. We have cirque, mountain and rock glaciers in Colorado.
How do Colorado glaciers compare?
The largest glacier in the world is the Lambert-Fisher Glacier in Antarctica. It is 250 miles long, and up to 60 miles wide or about 9 million acres. We could do quite a dog sled ride on that sucker. The largest glacier in Alaska is the Bering Glacier. Being generous, it is about 1 million acres. We can still do one heck of a ride on that one. What is the biggest glacier in Colorado you ask? 39 acres. Huh? How can something 9 million acres be the same kind of thing as something 39 acres? It turns out there are thirteen kinds of glaciers, so the range of snow and ice structures that are called glaciers is quite large. What we have in Colorado these days could be more accurately called permanent snowfields.
Fourteen, nearby Colorado glaciers
Having said all that, here are fourteen of the closest glaciers to us that we found in our research. Click the name of the glacier to see it's location in Google Maps.
- Andrews Glacier 40°17'15.2"N 105°41'05.3"W
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Located in Rocky Mountain National Park, Andrews Glacier is located just
below Otis Peak. This glacier ends at Andrews Tarn, a beautiful mountain lake.
- Arapaho Glacier 40°01′24″N 105°38′52″W
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Arapaho Glacier is the largest glacier in Colorado, coming in at a whopping
39 acres. It is in a valley just southeast of North Arapaho Peak. Although
this glacier has been shrinking in recent years, it was once a primary water
source for Boulder.
- The Dove 40°15′32″N 105°37′05″W
- Near the Keyhole on Longs Peak, The Dove is a small glacier that can be found on a north facing slope. This glacier is also retreating, but can be viewed along much of the climbing route up Longs Peak.
- Fair Glacier 40°03′36″N 105°39′26″W
- Just west of the Continental Divide in Roosevelt National Forest, Fair Glacier is a small retreating glacier less than a quarter square mile in size.
- Isabelle Glacier 40°03′48″N 105°38′42″W
- On the other side of the Continental Divide from Fair Glacier, Isabelle Glacier is the source of South Saint Vrain Creek and is accessible via an 8.4 mile round trip hike from the Isabelle Glacier Trailhead.
- Mills Glacier 40°15′20″N 105°36′38″W
- At the base of the east side of Longs Peak, Mills Glacier is a small, retreating glacier that is slowly beginning to blend into the talus of the mountain.
- Moomaw Glacier 40°12′43″N 105°40′10″W
- Another glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park, Moomaw Glacier can be found about one mile northeast of Isolation Peak. Similar to other glaciers mentioned here, this glacier is retreating slowly into talus.
- Peck Glacier 40°03′35″N 105°39′56″W
- Peck Glacier is close to Monarch Lake in Roosevelt National Forest. This glacier is only about a half mile northwest of Fair Glacier and is also close to Isabelle Glacier.
- Rowe Glacier 40°29′18″N 105°38′46″W
- Nestled near the top of Hagues Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Rowe Glacier was the first glacier to be identified as a true glacier in Colorado. It is also interesting to note that Rowe Glacier is the source of the North Fork of the Big Thompson River.
- Saint Mary's Glacier 39°50′09″N 105°38′49″W
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Saint Mary’s Glacier has been featured before by Out There Colorado and has
beautiful hiking trails on and around the glacier and nearby James Peak.
Accessible via I-70, Saint Mary’s makes a great weekend trip.
- Saint Vrain Glaciers 40°09′34″N 105°39′52″W
- A series of small, northeast facing glaciers, the Saint Vrain Glaciers are a series of alpine glaciers in Roosevelt National Park. These glaciers are close to nearby Isolation Peak and Isabelle Glacier.
- Sprague Glacier 40°20′32″N 105°44′00″W
- Only a quarter mile southeast of Sprague Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Sprague Glacier culminates in a number of small alpine lakes. This glacier is a cirque glacier, a bowl-shaped depression in between mountains.
- Taylor Glacier 40°16′15″N 105°40′37″W
- Also in Rocky Mountain National Park, Taylor Glacier is a combination of an ice and a rock glacier with the lower portion of the glacier primarily being made up of rock combined with small amounts of ice. This glacier can be found on the east side of the Continental Divide.
- Tyndall Glacier 40°18′17″N 105°41′22″W
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Named after John Tyndall, the first mountaineer to ascend the Weisshorn,
Tyndall Glacier is a small glacier in a bowl just north of Hallett Peak in
Rocky Mountain National Park.
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