Taking a brief trip to Alaska in mid August and cannot decide between these two. On one hand with Matanuska, its a legit hike ON the glacier whereas Harding Icefield its a hike along the side of the glacier where you end up at what is really more of an overlook, at the end. That being said, as I'm someone who's all about seeing the best things I can, while Matanuska Glacier looks awesome, Harding Icefield looks stunning to me. Lastly, while a guided tour on an actual glacier is cool, I'm also never crazy about these group tours where you may be with a TON of people (apparently 20 max) and the thing can subtly start feeling like a chore where other people start asking lame questions, the tour guide takes time explaining something you just don't care about, etc. But again, I do think there is definitely something very cool about hiking on the actual glacier.

I guess I'm just very curious to those who may have done both, which one might be better.. I understand that Harding Icefield Trail is also quite challenging at 4 elevating miles each way, but is the payoff at the end truly worth it? TIA

edit: the price for Matanuska isn’t a factor for me