Emmons Glacier is a glacier on the northeast flank of Mount Rainier, in Washington. It is the largest glacier (by area) in the continental United States, with a surface area of 4.3 square miles (11 km²).

In the 1930s, the glacier was found to be receding quickly. However, in 1963, a rock fall from Little Tahoma Peak covered the lower glacier with rock debris. The debris cover insulates the ice from melting. As a result of decreased melting, the glacier advanced rapidly in the early 1980s. That advance continues today, but at a slower rate. Ice beneath the rock debris is melting irregularly and forming a vast hummocky area.

Emmons Glacier is often used as a route to climb to the summit of Mount Rainier which is called Columbia Crest.

The glacier was named after the geologist Samuel Franklin Emmons, born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 29th, 1841. In 1870 he worked on a survey of Mount Rainier.

External link and source

• Glaciers of Mount Rainier National Park (public domain source)

Glaciers of the United States