The facility is located at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado, and is managed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

[1] Funding for the facility comes from the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, while scientific research is managed by the University of New Hampshire.

In addition to providing a large storage facility, maintained at -35 °C, NSF-ICF also has one of the largest sub-zero research and sample preparation spaces in the world.

In addition to the primary archive freezer, NSF-ICF has a nonsterile exam room, as well as a FED-STD-209E class-100 HEPA-filtered, cold cleanroom held at -24 °C that scientists use when examining ice cores.

In addition to research activities, NSF-ICF also participates in public outreach and gives ~100 tours per year.39°42′50″N 105°07′32″W / 39.71376°N 105.12566°W / 39.71376; -105.12566