If you are looking for a tour of Castner Glacier, please see the Castner Glacier Winter Tours page.

November 14, 2024 Update:

Yes, the ice cave at the front of Castner Glacier still exists and did not collapse as many people around Fairbanks currently misunderstand! The very front portion of the cave recedes as it melts during each summer and may suffer minor partial collapses occasionally as a result, but the cave is nearly a quarter-mile long so these partial collapses do not result in a significant reduction in the length of the cave. Reports about these minor partial collapses have been misinterpreted by many non-experts to mean the entire cave collapsed and no longer exists, which is not true. I’m there every week during winter, I should know!

The ice cave is not visible until you are standing in front of it now. It is located on the south corner of the glacier terminus where Castner Creek empties from the glacier. Castner Creek has frozen over along most of its length but there are several areas with thin ice or holes covered by snow where hikers have fallen in recently. Stick to the trail on the south side of the bridge, and if the trail has disappeared then hug the extreme edge of the creek or stay on the bank or gravel bars. You may encounter some overflow along the route during cold weather. Don’t follow the trail on the north side of the bridge unless you want to suffer. There is about a foot of snow along the creek, though the wind has blown much of it around so it is shallower in some places and deeper in others. Don’t expect great trail conditions for the foreseeable future as there are not many people visiting the glacier right now to keep the trail packed down and new snow/wind continue to affect the trail almost daily. The ice cave is accessible, but some of the ice on the walls and ceiling is unstable right now due to a recent cold snap causing the ice surface to cool rapidly, resulting in density changes in the ice that cause cracking. A large section of ice fractured off the ceiling in the past few days, and while that area is probably now safe from further ice fracturing, the ice along the left side of the cave is still actively cracking away from the wall in spots. There is also water overflowing on the lefthand side of the cave and in the dark part of the cave due to new ice forming during this most recent cold spell acting as an ice dam. This overflow will eventually freeze over, but right now the inside of the cave is a bit messy and potentially dangerous, so I recommend only viewing the cave from outside or staying on the raised area just inside the cave on the righthand side. There will still be open water deep inside the cave after everything freezes back up near the entrance. The water on the left side of the cave is deep just inside the entrance and the ice overhead is unstable. You will see chunks of ice that broke off the ceiling in mid-October beneath the unstable ice, so avoid that area. You may encounter a side trail breaking off to the left (north) as you near the glacier; it leads to a cool ice wall on the north side of the glacier but the hike there is a bit more rugged with brushy/uneven terrain and deeper snow, and is best done with snowshoes.

When the weather is nice and the trail is in good shape and participants are adequately clothed and equipped with headlamps, the consequence of starting late may be fairly low, though visitors won’t be able to see or photograph the ice cave well in the dark. However, in cold/snowy/windy weather starting late is very dangerous. The trail can disappear quickly when the wind is blowing or heavy snow is falling and it’s harder to follow in the dark. If you lose the trail in the dark you will be lost without cell phone service and sinking in very deep snow as you struggle to find your way back to the highway, which is a great way to get frostbite or die of hypothermia. I personally stopped one group of highly unprepared tourists attempting to start their hike in early December after dark with no lights, snowshoes, or any clue where they were going in a snowstorm with a -15°F wind chill. One of the people in this group even had an apparent exercise-induced asthma attack and required their inhaler. Please have respect for the extreme weather in the mountains and don’t try anything this brazenly stupid, because no one will likely be there to stop you or save you. Other tourists suffered frostbite on their faces in late February/early March while attempting the hike in a -40 to -50F wind chill (-15F temp with 20-30mph wind) because they did not properly cover their faces on the hike or understand the danger of a -40 wind chill, where frostbite can occur on exposed skin in 5-10 minutes. On nice weather days when the trail is packed, Castner can be mostly easy, and this is what the people who tell you it’s an easy hike experienced when they visited. But on bad weather days when the trail is snowed over it is an experts-only hike and beginner hikers or those without extreme cold weather experience should not attempt it on their own. Imagine getting lost in the dark in snow up to your waist while your fingers, toes, and face are freezing because you went out without the proper gear for subzero weather, your cell phone doesn’t have any service, and you suddenly need your inhaler but you left it in the car or you dropped it in the snow while you were stumbling around in the dark. C’MON! You can literally die in conditions like that, let alone lose some fingers and toes!

Once Castner Creek has frozen over near the ice cave in late October/early November, please hike up the SOUTH side of the creek now through the rest of winter and do not walk across the bridge as doing so is quite dangerous. DO NOT follow directions on AllTrails or other sites that indicate you should follow the north side of the creek as there is no parking or trail on that side in winter. ALWAYS test the ice before each step when crossing Castner Creek with a hiking pole, axe, or other tool—you are most likely to encounter thin ice in the middle of the creek where you may also hear the water rushing beneath you. If there is a packed trail in the snow, stick to it to avoid sinking in deeper snow or breaking through the ice on Castner Creek. There are many spots along the creek which are still unfrozen or only covered by thin ice, and some of the holes may be bridged by snow. Falling in the creek can be quite dangerous in extreme cold where frostbite or hypothermia may quickly ensue. If you visit while it is snowing or shortly after heavy snow has fallen and there is no trail to follow, you will struggle to find the ice cave unless you have been there before or are an experienced winter Alaska explorer. I have observed many self-guided groups fail to reach the cave both due to the difficulty and due to starting late, while many who made it struggled heavily because the trail was not solidly packed and they did not have snowshoes. The floor of the ice cave never freezes all the way inside the cave, so expect to find open water and thin ice deeper inside where running water can usually be clearly heard and seen with a bright light. Bring headlamps or bright flashlights if you want to explore inside the cave—phone flashlights do not illuminate very well and phone batteries often drain in the cold, especially older phones. In fact, you should always have a headlamp when hiking in case you run late and find yourself still hiking in the dark. The front of the cave may still periodically overflow, but typically there will only be a few inches of water on top of existing ice when this happens. Budget at least 2 hours before sunset for your hike. The drive usually takes 3+ hours in winter, longer than Google Maps will predict because most groups will stop for a break in Delta Junction and in a few spots for photos, and bad weather or icy roads may slow you down.

If you are planning to visit in winter, note that conditions and difficulty will vary considerably month-to-month as freeze-up occurs and snow accumulates, but also day-to-day depending on the weather. If you are parking on the south side of the Castner Creek bridge, DO NOT CROSS THE BRIDGE as it is very dangerous! Watch for traffic (especially big trucks traveling 65mph!) as you walk from the parking area to the bridge and stay out of the road. In good weather, you will usually find a packed trail in the snow leading to the ice cave, though the trail may be confusing to follow due to diverging tracks left by others and lack of signage. Be advised that during or shortly following snowy or windy weather these tracks will disappear under snow. Breaking trail to the cave is very difficult without snowshoes and potentially dangerous if you fall in a hole concealed by snow along Castner Creek — I don’t recommend doing so unless you are adequately prepared and know exactly where you are going. (I am quite often the person who breaks in the trail after snowstorms.) Always avoid low spots & sagging snow in the creek and do not navigate along the middle of the creek—stick to the extreme edge and keep your distance from open water. I have seen many groups fail to reach the ice cave on bad weather days and I’ve watched many others struggle heavily without snowshoes when trail conditions were poor. Check the weather for “Black Rapids, Alaska” before you go and view driving conditions for the Richardson Highway on 511.Alaska.Gov from Mile 266 in Delta Junction to Mile 218 at Castner Creek to ensure the highway is not closed or hazardous. The hike is 1.25 miles each way and takes an average group at least 40 minutes each way in GOOD conditions, so do not attempt to hike to the cave less than two hours before sunset. In POOR conditions, the hike may take well over an hour each way and the trail may disappear under snow on your return hike if a strong wind is blowing or heavy snow is falling. I see people almost every day between November and early March attempting to start the hike late and many turn around without reaching the cave or they get lost in the dark on their return, so don’t be like them! If you are overweight and sedentary, you will struggle heavily on this hike even when trail conditions are good, and if you are also near 60 years of age or older you may not be able to complete it. (“Sedentary” is the main factor. If you haven’t walked 3 miles in the past few years, don’t expect to easily walk 3 miles through snow in the cold.) If you are not adequately dressed for the cold, you are risking frostbite and hypothermia, especially when wind chills are below zero degrees F. Always bring extra layers and dry socks. I don’t recommend bringing infants or toddlers to the cave who cannot walk themselves when the temperature or wind chill is below zero degrees F since they will have trouble staying warm and may not be able to communicate adequately if their fingers or toes are freezing. (Experienced parents from Interior Alaska excluded.) Please note that deep inside the ice cave the temperature remains constant near freezing, so it may serve as an emergency warming shelter even when the temperature outside is well below zero F. Cell service is not reliable along Castner Creek (or anywhere in the mountains if you have Verizon) and the nearest emergency services are located one hour away, so be prepared to take care of yourself.