Harding Icefield Trail Seward Alaska

"My new favorite trail in Alaska! The views from Marmot Meadow and Top of the Cliffs are great, but don't stop there! Go to the end of the trail, beyond the Emergency Hut for a fantastamazing (that's really a word from the movie Trolls) view. YES, plan 6-8 hours, or longer, for this hike. Don't attempt this hike with time constraints on your day. It doesn't get dark till midnight, so go for it. This is the only thing you will do all day. Schedule one WHOLE day for the hike, no plans for after, just the hike. We learned that the hike is better LATER in the summer. A local trail runner we spoke with in the parking lot said the same thing. We went July 17th and there was plenty of snow to deal with (more on that later). Another review has a photo from the Fall that shows no snow at the Emergency Hut.
Lather up with sunscreen. Bring more food and water than you'd expect to use (shouldn't you do that on every hike?), but also bring these other items on this super cool hike. Chances are you'll hike through some snow. Bring hiking poles, but make sure to pack the snow baskets with you, they will be nice when/if you hit the snow fields as we did mid-July. Bring a large CONSTRUCTION grade black garbage bag and some duct tape (or snow pants) to attach to the backside of your thighs and cover your crotch and butt for when you glissade down the snowfields, so freaking fun. There were well traveled paths across the snow and it's nice to use them on the way UP, but you can actually walk pretty much anywhere on the snow. We never post-holed (July 17, 2025). On the way down, it's almost better to travel on fresh untracked snow. You can hike down by jamming your heels in to the soft snow, or, a lot of younger more athletic types were sort of ski-sliding-running down the snowfields.
A friend of ours talked up this trail for years. We waited for a nice day to do this hike, forecast was for mostly sunny, no chance of rain. We woke up at 0430 and drove 3.5 hrs to hike on that day. I recommend you do the same if you have the flexibility to choose your day. Well worth it. I hiked in a T-shirt the entire day.
Have you really read this far? Wow and thanks. Here's the funny part. We didn't make it to the end, to the final viewpoint overlooking the Icefield. We got to see the Emergency Hut, and we could've been there in 30 minutes but my wife had had enough. We ate some food on some rocks that formed perfect little ledges for sitting on. That's where we turned around. But I'll go back, to hike all the way to the Icefield viewpoint. And I can't wait!
I learned back in my road cycling days that we've got about two hours of energy stored in our muscles for strenuous activities like this hike. So in order to do this entire hike, and feel okay from beginning to end, you need to be eating food on the way up. Have a sandwich at Marmot Meadows or at the Top of the Cliffs, chow down at the turn around, drink lots of water all day (I brought 3 liters), snack all day, supplement with a bottle or two of Liquid IV or some similar electrolyte product. My wife chose not to eat sufficiently during the day and because of that, we turned around too soon and she struggled on the way down. I tag this on at the end of the review just in case you've got a stubborn partner who you can't tell these things to, the kind that gets all pissy with you if you suggest they eat more during the day, one that doesn't bring enough water and drinks yours. You can read this review together and I'll take the heat, not you, haha. And next time, and there will be a next time, I will do the hike without her and go all the way."

Thomas Moreau

"Amazing trail, not that hard on a sunny fall day. There wasn’t any snow so the hike was pretty straight forward. I would say anyone can do it if you give yourself enough time and keep at it. In the winter and spring time though, is another story. I’ve read that the last mile with snow is extremely hard to hike."

Jenny Su

"Very nice and beautifull hike but strengthous. We saw moose, bear and dall sheep (but started early at 7 am)"

Mark Snel