Last updated: February 27, 2023
Place
Malaspina Glacier
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, Alaska
Significance:
The largest piedmont glacier in North America and one of the largest outside the ice cap regions of the world.
Designation:
National Natural Landmark
Amenities
1 listed
Scenic View/Photo Spot
Malaspina Glacier, located primarily within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on the coast, is the largest piedmont glacier in North America and one of the largest outside the ice cap regions of the world, at 1,075,409 acres in size. It provides classic examples of glacial mechanisms and fluctuations. This large body of ice has been noted by explorers concerned with navigation of the western coast of North America for more than two centuries. It was designated as a National Natural Landscape in 1968.
Malaspina is the colonial name for the glacier, in honor of Alessandro Malaspina, a Tuscan explorer in the service of the Spanish Navy, who visited the area in 1791. In 1874, W.H. Dall, of the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, bestowed the name "Malaspina Plateau". Originally, its indigenous name in Tlingit is Sít' Tlein, meaning 'big glacier'.
Latitude: 59.971466064453125 Longitude: -140.52377319335938
Malaspina is the colonial name for the glacier, in honor of Alessandro Malaspina, a Tuscan explorer in the service of the Spanish Navy, who visited the area in 1791. In 1874, W.H. Dall, of the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, bestowed the name "Malaspina Plateau". Originally, its indigenous name in Tlingit is Sít' Tlein, meaning 'big glacier'.
Latitude: 59.971466064453125 Longitude: -140.52377319335938