Information About

Bench Glacier

Quick Facts

Open in The Map Bench Glacier on The Map

Location

61 ° 1' 32.203" N,
145 ° 40' 35.897" W

Region

Valdez-Cordova (CA)

Nearest City

Valdez

Tributary to

Bench Creek

Length

3.85 mi (6.2 km)

Width

0.84 mi (1.35 km)

Elevation

4590 ft (1399.03 m)

Bench Glacier in Detail.

Getting There

From Valdez one can get a lift out with helicopter access in summer or a heli-skiing operator, or Tok Air Service (operating out of Thompson Pass Mar-Apr), in winter.

For on the ground access, if in summer the easiest access is from 19 mile Richardson Highway, the road going south, east of Sheep Creek. Drive to the bottom of the road and park along the pipeline, bring a packraft to cross Lowe River, stay east of Wortmanns Creek. Proceed up the ridge between Bench Creek and Wortmanns Creek.

In winter pull in to the DOT materials yard at 18 mile Richardson Highway, by the time there is a decent base local snowmachiners will have put in a trail to follow.

About

Heads 11 mi. NE of Meteorite Mtn., trends NW to its terminus (1953) at head of Bench Creek, 4.8 mi. SE of Wortmanns and 18 mi. SE of Valdez, Chugach Mts. 5 miles long.

Bench Glacier is a fair sided glacier located just out of Valdez in the Chugach Mountains, across from Thompson Pass. It's a mild valley glacier, without many deep wide crevasses.

The glacier is seldom ever accessed in summer if at all. However in winter it is occasionally accessed by snowmachiners (snowmobilers) or the occasional skier.

As the glacier melts it forms Bench Creek.

History

Named in 1963 by A. S. Post, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), "because the glacier terminates at the head of a bench."

Naming: Named in 1963 by A.S. Port USGS, "because the glacier terminates at the head of a bench."

Bench Glacier Gallery

Pictures of, from, or near Bench Glacier.

Places Near Bench Glacier
Cities:

Ptarmigan, Wortmanns,

Crags:

101 Wall, Blueberry Block, Republic of Boulder, The Sunny Side,

Flats:

Dutch Flat,

Glaciers:

Bench Glacier, Cordova Glacier, Deserted Glacier, DOT Glacier, Glacier G214116E60878N, Glacier G214117E61192N, Glacier G214132E60990N, Glacier G214139E61173N, Glacier G214141E60880N, Glacier G214148E60959N, Glacier G214151E61165N, Glacier G214161E60914N, Glacier G214161E61234N, Glacier G214166E60906N, Glacier G214169E60899N, Glacier G214170E60888N, Glacier G214175E61036N, Glacier G214177E61238N, Glacier G214183E60923N, Glacier G214183E61143N, Glacier G214188E61150N, Glacier G214191E61237N, Glacier G214199E61016N, Glacier G214210E61229N, Glacier G214214E61240N, Glacier G214222E60989N, Glacier G214237E60874N, Glacier G214247E61202N, Glacier G214252E61197N, Glacier G214282E60871N, Glacier G214285E60829N, Glacier G214286E60849N, Glacier G214289E60837N, Glacier G214291E60861N, Glacier G214314E61049N, Glacier G214320E61230N, Glacier G214328E60976N, Glacier G214334E60964N, Glacier G214344E60960N, Glacier G214354E60949N, Glacier G214367E61057N, Glacier G214428E61155N, Glacier G214430E61162N, Glacier G214432E61145N, Heiden Glacier, Hoodoo Glacier, Marshall Glacier, Tasnuna Glacier, The Beach, Twentyseven Mile Glacier, Worthington Glacier, Wortmanns Glacier,

Routes:

Angel, Cidersicle, Fast Friends, Hanging Tree Left, Hanging Tree Right, Plastic Jesus, Plow Truck, Popsicle Pillar, Secret Journey, Spring Loaded, Stem City, The Bight, Tokyo Express, Tsuri Gane,

Lakes:

Blueberry Lake, Rude Lake, Thompson Lake, Worthington Lake,

Locales:

19 Mile Wall, Bald Boy, Bro Bowl, Catchers Mitt, Cracked Ice, Diamond, DOT Face, Fracture Canyon, Girls, Gun Barrels, Heavenly, Heiden View Face, Little Diamond, Little Girls, Little Odyssey, Loveland Basin, Mega Sumo, Mercury, Moonlight Basin, Nick's Happy Valley, North Odyssey, Promise Land, Python, RFS, Road Run, School Bus, Skate Park, Snatch, Stairway, Valley of the Tusk, Vertigo,

Mountains:

Mount Dimond, Mount Dimond, Girls Mountain, The Island, Odessey, Pontoon,

Parks:

Blueberry Lake State Recreation Site,

Mountain Passes:

Marshall Pass, Ptarmigan Drop, Thompson Pass,

Peaks:

Acapulco, Berlin Wall, Bronto, Cracked Ice, Goodwills, Halibut Head, Ivory Tusk, Little Matterhorn, Loveland Peak, Python, Repeater Peak, RFS, Rhinestone Cowgirl, Sapphire, Stairway, Stone Mountain, The Tusk, Tones Temple, Twentyseven Mile Peak, Whistlers Mother,

Ridges:

Hippy Ridge, Sushi Bar, The Books,

Routes:

300 Days of Sunshine and Attitude, 5 Star Everything, 919, Afternoon Shadow Boxing, Anchor Man, Another Foolish Route, Artic Oven Lovin, Babar Yoga, Backflip Bum, Balaclava Joy, Bio-Dome, Blueberry Crack , Bluebies, Casa Bonita, Chain Letters From the Dalai Lama, Chain Letters to the Dalai Lama, Curry Popcorn, E-Talk the Talk, Elitist's Overcompensation, Entrepreneur, Ewok the Walk, Find The Cure, Fixe Fixie, Flatirons, Follow the Medallion, Game On!, Gingerade, Grandma's Barley Soup, Happy Rosh Hashana, Honey Badger, Hunka Munka, I Got A Fever of 5.7, I Love Lamp, Kombucha Crack, Last Train to Chossville, Learning Center for Ants, Love Bubble, Lucky Number Fifty-Sleven, McCarthy Bus Lane, McSchmiggens, Mecha Streisand, Meet You at the Station, Mimosa Morning, My Subaru Loves the Environment, Neptune, North Slope, Northurn Lights Delight, On The Grid, Organic, Party on Garth, Party on Wayne, Philanthroparian, Pika's Penthouse, Pika's Playhouse, Ping Pong Madness, S.K.K., Salami Heist, Saturday Night Fever, Scouts Honor, Sharp End, Six Figure Bums, Snot a Rocket, South Park, Steave's Goalie, Steve's Tanker, Stoken the Stove, Sway Penny Yoga, Talons, Thursday Night Cruiser, Tibetan Prayer Flags Made in China, Trustafarian (Rasta With a Trust Fund), Unknown, Unknown 3, Valet at the Movement, What Would Squeak Do?, Yippie (Yuppie Hippie),

Streams:

Bear Creek, Bench Creek, Cascade Creek, Heiden Creek, Ptarmigan Creek, Sheep Creek, Small Creek, Wortmanns Creek,

Routes:

DOT Glacier Trail, Little Odessey Trail, Thompson Pass Pipeline Access Road, Trans-Alaska Trail - Valdez to Thompson Pass, Tsina River Trail, Worthington Glacier Ridge Trail,

Valleys:

Heiden Canyon, Snowslide Gulch,

Waterfalls:

Bridal Veil Falls, Rudleston Falls,