Grasshopper Glacier

This post was written by Marlene Affeld on February 6, 2009
Posted Under: Beauty of Nature

Montana is home to an amazing and fascinating natural phenomenon: Grasshopper Glacier. Near Cooke City, Montana, in the heart of the Beartooth Mountain Range, Grasshopper Glacier is named for the millions of grasshoppers entombed within the lower fringes of its ice.

Grasshopper Glacier was discovered in the early 1900’s by Dr. J.P. Kimball. Dr. Kimball was an engineer and mining geologist with the US Geological Survey. He and his crew were amazed at the mass and density of the grasshopper deposit. A photographer on the expedition, Anders Wilse, wrote that the magnitude of grasshoppers frozen in the ice “look like the skin of an elephant”. Since its discovery, Grasshopper Glacier continues to intrigue and mystify scientists as well as visitors.

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