College Fjord

In scenic Prince William Sound, College Fjord(a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity) is home to several glaciers named for the East Coast universities that funded the 1899 discovery and exploration of the fjord. Carved by the glaciers, the steep, forested cliffs rise high above the water. In 1964 College Fjord was the epicenter of the Good Friday Earthquake(1964), the most powerful earthquake in U.S.history.

The fjord contains five tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in water), five large valley glaciers, and dozens of smaller glaciers, most named after renowned East Coast colleges (women’s colleges for the NW side, and men’s colleges for the SE side). College Fjord was discovered in 1899 during the Harriman Expedition, at which time the glaciers were named. The expedition included a Harvard and an Amherst professor, and they named many of the glaciers after elite colleges. According to Bruce Molina, author of Alaska’s Glaciers, “They took great delight in ignoring Princeton.

College Fjord

Smith Glacier

Smith Glacier

College Fjord

College Fjord

Yale Glacier

Yale Glacier

Yale Glacier is a 20-mile-long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It begins at the saddle between Mount Witherspoon and Mount Einstein, and trends southwest to Yale Arm of College Fjord, 47 miles west of Valdez. It was named for Yale University by members of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition.

Bryn-Mawr Glacier

Bryn-Mawr Glacier

Bryn Mawr Glacier is a 4.5-mile-long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends southeast to Harvard Arm of College Fjord, 2 miles northwest of College Point and 52 miles west of Valdez. It was named for Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania by members of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition.

Smith Glacier

Smith Glacier

Smith Glacier

Smith Glacier

Smith Glacier is a 5.5-mile long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends southeast to Harvard Arm of College Fjord, 2.8 miles northwest of College Point and 51 miles west of Valdez. It was named for Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts by members of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition.

Vassar Glacier

Vassar Glacier

Vassar Glacier

Vassar Glacier

Vassar Glacier is a 4.3-mile long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends southeast to College Fjord, 2 mi west of College Point and 52 mi west of Valdez. It was named for Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, by members of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition.

Harvard Glacier

Harvard Glacier

The Harvard Glacier is a large tidewater glacier in the Alaska's Prince William Sound. The glacier has a 1.5-mile wide face where it calves into the College Fjord. It is 300 ft thick and covers 120,000 acres of Chugach National Forest. The Harvard Glacier is the second largest glacier in the Prince William Sound, after the Columbia Glacier. It is a popular destination of cruise ships in the Prince William Sound.

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