Exit Glacier Roadside Viewpoint

Exit Glacier Roadside Viewpoint is a named roadside stop on Herman Leirer Road, on the drive toward Kenai Fjords’ Exit Glacier area. It faces west across the braided outwash plain toward the glacier between steep mountain slopes. Treat it as a quick, distant view: the trails farther west by the nature center get you closer to the ice.

This is separate from Glacier View Loop and the trail to Exit Glacier Overlook, which start at the nature-center area. The Exit Glacier area is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park accessible by road. For restrooms, summer water and picnic tables, continue to the nature-center parking area; those facilities aren’t verified at this roadside stop.

Herman Leirer Road branches from Seward Highway at mile 3 and runs 8.4 miles to the nature-center parking area. This viewpoint is on the approach, east of the center. The road is usually inaccessible to cars from late October through mid-May because of snow, so check current conditions before a winter drive. There’s no mobile reception recorded here; load directions before setting out.

The view crosses a broad plain of gravel and braided channels between the forest and the ice. As Exit Glacier retreats, it exposes barren ground that plants gradually reclaim; the wider area makes that process easy to understand.

For a photo, keep some of the outwash plain and its braided streams in front of the glacier. That foreground shows the distance between the roadside viewpoint and the ice, and gives the glacier a sense of scale.