Most investigations addressing the global structure of the heliosphere, including explicitly the interaction between the solar wind and the partially ionized local interstellar medium (LISM), have focused on hydrogen since it is the most abundant particle species. We use kinetic models that include heavy elements such as He, C, N, O, and others, to study the heliospheric distribution of neutrals and the singly charged ions of these species, besides H. Our model describes the evolution of interstellar heavy neutral atom distributions throughout the heliosphere, and we include the interaction of heavy particles with neutral hydrogen and protons through charge exchange (i.e., the creation of pickup ions), while the heavy particles are subject to photoionization and gravity. We use improved, recently published charge exchange cross‐sections as well as recently identified LISM boundary conditions. A realistic description of the basic heavy element distribution and filtration at heliospheric boundaries will provide an important theoretical basis for interpreting observations of pickup ions made by Ulysses and ACE. © 2003 American Institute of Physics