Saint Mary's Glacier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Mary's Glacier is a permanent snow field located at 11,000 feet (3,000 m) in the Colorado Rockies north of Interstate 70. It is approximately 10 acres (4 ha) and offers year-round skiing and snowboarding. There are several hiking trails that go around and through the snow field. Although not actually considered a glacier because it does not move, Saint Mary's Glacier is one of the biggest snow fields in central Colorado and thus receives that status.^{[citation needed]} Its terminus is at St. Mary's Lake located below timberline at 10,540 ft (3,210 m).^{[dubious – discuss]} From there, the melt water flows down Sliver Creek into Fall River into Clear Creek into the South Platte River into the Missouri River into the Mississippi River and finally into the Gulf of Mexico.^[clarify] In the 1950's a housing development was created near the glacier and is called Alice. Currently, the snow field has not receded in the past years due to northern exposure and recent high snowfall.^{[citation needed]}