Information About

Heiden Glacier

Quick Facts

Open in The Map Heiden Glacier on The Map

Location

61 ° 2' 46.421" N,
145 ° 39' 40.288" W

Region

Valdez-Cordova (CA)

Nearest City

Valdez

Length

3.5 mi (5.63 km)

Elevation

4570 ft (1392.94 m)

Uses

Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowmachining

Heiden Glacier in Detail.

Getting There

Heiden Glacier can be accessed by heliski operators in March and April, or by Tok Air Service during that same time. Just tell them you want to go to The Books.

The most common way to access Heiden Glacier is by snowmachine (snowmobile) from parking at the DOT gravel shed at 19 mile just east of the Welcome to Valdez sign.

From the parking area follow the trail back to Sheep Creek. It then follows Sheep Creek down to Lowe River. Just before it enters the Lowe the trail crosses Sheep Creek, then shortly goes up along the Lowe River before crossing it. The trail then follows Wortmanns Creek until just before it enters the canyon. At that point the trail will make a break to the left (east) and into the woods. The trail then does some weaving and bobbing through the trees with gradual climbing until it hits tree line. Then depending on snow cover it maybe and open run up to the bench or still traveling the trail through the alders.

Soon after you will be on top of the bench and the trail runs east along the bench until rounding the peak on the west of Heiden Glaicer. From there it’s a short steep run up on to a shelf, a few hundred yards along the base of the peak and then drops down on to Heiden Glacier.

About

Trends N-S, in the Chugach Mountains,draining into Heiden Creek, between Bench Glacier, to the W, and Deserted Glacier, to the E, 20 mi ESE of Valdez. 3.5 miles long.

Heiden Glacier is a small glacier on the north side of a horseshoe shaped ridge. The eastern ridge is known as The Books. It’s a striking ridge so it often gets more attention than Heiden Glacier itself.

The head of the glacier can be seen from the road coming down the backside of Thompson Pass.

Since the glacier has little vertical descent there is little risk for crevasses. Its run off flows north to join the Lowe River.

History

Named about 1962 by Austin S. Post, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); derived from Heiden Canyon.

Heiden Glacier Gallery

Pictures of, from, or near Heiden Glacier.

Places Near Heiden 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 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 G214304E61253N, Glacier G214314E61049N, Glacier G214320E61230N, Glacier G214324E61260N, Glacier G214328E60976N, Glacier G214334E60964N, Glacier G214344E60960N, Glacier G214354E60949N, Glacier G214367E61057N, Glacier G214372E61254N, Glacier G214425E61262N, Glacier G214428E61155N, Glacier G214430E61162N, Glacier G214432E61145N, Glacier G214486E61259N, Glacier G214552E61248N, Heiden Glacier, Hoodoo Glacier, Marshall Glacier, Tasnuna Glacier, The Beach, Tsina Glacier, Twentyseven Mile Glacier, Worthington Glacier, Wortmanns Glacier,

Routes:

Angel, Fast Friends, Plastic Jesus, Plow Truck, Secret Journey, Spring Loaded, Stem City, Tokyo Express, Tsuri Gane,

Lakes:

Blueberry 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, Lizard Head, 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,