mendenhall glacier tours cancelled

Alaska’s capital built a beautiful tourist center in sight of its epic glacier. Then the glacier began to rapidly shrink

Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier.

A craggy expanse of gray, white and blue, the glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residents flee to quieter places during the summer, and a deal between the city and cruise industry will limit how many ships arrive next year.

But climate change is melting the Mendenhall Glacier. It is receding so quickly that by 2050, it might no longer be visible from the visitor center it once loomed outside.

That’s prompted another question Juneau is only now starting to contemplate: What happens then?

“We need to be thinking about our glaciers and the ability to view glaciers as they recede,” said Alexandra Pierce, the city’s tourism manager. There also needs to be a focus on reducing environmental impacts, she said. “People come to Alaska to see what they consider to be a pristine environment and it’s our responsibility to preserve that for residents and visitors.”

The glacier pours from rocky terrain between mountains into a lake dotted by stray icebergs. Its face retreated eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, according to estimates from University of Alaska Southeast researchers. Trail markers memorialize the glacier’s backward march, showing where the ice once stood. Thickets of vegetation have grown in its wake.

While massive chunks have broken off, most ice loss has come from the thinning due to warming temperatures, said Eran Hood, a University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science. The Mendenhall has now largely receded from the lake that bears its name.

Scientists are trying to understand what the changes might mean for the ecosystem, including salmon habitat.

There are uncertainties for tourism, too.

Most people enjoy the glacier from trails across Mendenhall Lake near the visitor center. Caves of dizzying blues that drew crowds several years ago have collapsed and pools of water now stand where one could once step from the rocks onto the ice.

Manoj Pillai, a cruise ship worker from India, took pictures from a popular overlook on a recent day off.

“If the glacier is so beautiful now, how would it be, like, 10 or 20 years before? I just imagine that,” he said.

Officials with the Tongass National Forest, under which the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area falls, are bracing for more visitors over the next 30 years even as they contemplate a future when the glacier slips from casual view.

The agency is proposing new trails and parking areas, an additional visitor center and public use cabins at a lakeside campground. Researchers do not expect the glacier to disappear completely for at least a century.

“We did talk about, ‘Is it worth the investment in the facilities if the glacier does go out of sight?’” said Tristan Fluharty, the forest’s Juneau district ranger. “Would we still get the same amount of visitation?”

A thundering waterfall that is a popular place for selfies, salmon runs, black bears and trails could continue attracting tourists when the glacier is not visible from the visitor center, but “the glacier is the big draw,” he said.

Around 700,000 people are expected to visit this year, with about 1 million projected by 2050.

Other sites offer a cautionary tale. Annual visitation peaked in the 1990s at around 400,000 to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, southeast of Anchorage, with the Portage Glacier serving as a draw. But now, on clear days, a sliver of the glacier remains visible from the center, which was visited by about 30,000 people last year, said Brandon Raile, a spokesperson with the Chugach National Forest, which manages the site. Officials are discussing the center’s future, he said.

“Where do we go with the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center?” Raile said. “How do we keep it relevant as we go forward when the original reason for it being put there is not really relevant anymore?”

At the Mendenhall, rangers talk to visitors about climate change. They aim to “inspire wonder and awe but also to inspire hope and action,” said Laura Buchheit, the forest’s Juneau deputy district ranger.

After  pandemic-stunted seasons , about 1.6 million cruise passengers are expected in Juneau this year, during a season stretching from April through October.

The city, nestled in a rainforest, is one stop on what are generally week-long cruises to Alaska beginning in Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. Tourists can leave the docks and move up the side of a mountain in minutes via a popular tram, see bald eagles perch on light posts and enjoy a vibrant Alaska Native arts community.

On the busiest days, about 20,000 people, equal to two-thirds of the city’s population, pour from the boats.

City leaders and major cruise lines agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. But critics worry that won’t ease congestion if the vessels keep getting bigger. Some residents would like one day a week without ships. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year.

Juneau Tours and Whale Watch is one of about two dozen companies with permits for services like transportation or guiding at the glacier. Serene Hutchinson, the company’s general manager, said demand has been so high that she neared her allotment halfway through the season. Shuttle service to the glacier had to be suspended, but her business still offers limited tours that include the glacier, she said.

Other bus operators are reaching their limits, and tourism officials are encouraging visitors to see other sites or get to the glacier by different means.

Limits on visitation can benefit tour companies by improving the experience rather than having tourists “shoehorned” at the glacier, said Hutchinson, who doesn’t worry about Juneau losing its luster as the glacier recedes.

“Alaska does the work for us, right?” she said. “All we have to do is just kind of get out of the way and let people look around and smell and breathe.”

Pierce, Juneau’s tourism manager, said discussions are just beginning around what a sustainable southeast Alaska tourism industry should look like.

In Sitka, home to a slumbering volcano, the number of cruise passengers on a day earlier this summer exceeded the town’s population of 8,400, overwhelming businesses, dragging down internet speeds and prompting officials to question how much tourism is too much.

Juneau plans to conduct a survey that could guide future growth, such as building trails for tourism companies.

Kerry Kirkpatrick, a Juneau resident of nearly 30 years, recalls when the Mendenhall’s face was “long across the water and high above our heads.” She called the glacier a national treasure for its accessibility and noted an irony in carbon-emitting helicopters and cruise ships chasing a melting glacier. She worries the current level of tourism isn’t sustainable.

As the Mendenhall recedes, plants and animals will need time to adjust, she said.

So will humans.

“There’s too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things,” Kirkpatrick said. “You don’t want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, ‘I’m the last one in and you can’t come in.’ But we do have to have the ability to say, ‘No, no more.’”

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Alaska's tourist-packed capital ponders fate as popular Mendenhall Glacier recedes

JUNEAU, Alaska — Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier.

A craggy expanse of gray, white and blue, the glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residents flee to quieter places during the summer, and a deal between the city and cruise industry will limit how many ships arrive next year.

But climate change is melting the Mendenhall Glacier. It is receding so quickly that by 2050, it might no longer be visible from the visitor center it once loomed outside.

That’s prompted another question Juneau is only now starting to contemplate: What happens then?

“We need to be thinking about our glaciers and the ability to view glaciers as they recede,” said Alexandra Pierce, the city’s tourism manager. There also needs to be a focus on reducing environmental impacts, she said. “People come to Alaska to see what they consider to be a pristine environment and it’s our responsibility to preserve that for residents and visitors.”

The glacier pours from rocky terrain between mountains into a lake dotted by stray icebergs. Its face retreated eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, according to estimates from University of Alaska Southeast researchers. Trail markers memorialize the glacier's backward march, showing where the ice once stood. Thickets of vegetation have grown in its wake.

While massive chunks have broken off, most ice loss has come from the thinning due to warming temperatures, said Eran Hood, a University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science. The Mendenhall has now largely receded from the lake that bears its name.

Scientists are trying to understand what the changes might mean for the ecosystem, including salmon habitat.

There are uncertainties for tourism, too.

Most people enjoy the glacier from trails across Mendenhall Lake near the visitor center. Caves of dizzying blues that drew crowds several years ago have collapsed and pools of water now stand where one could once step from the rocks onto the ice.

Manoj Pillai, a cruise ship worker from India, took pictures from a popular overlook on a recent day off.

“If the glacier is so beautiful now, how would it be, like, 10 or 20 years before? I just imagine that,” he said.

Officials with the Tongass National Forest, under which the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area falls, are bracing for more visitors over the next 30 years even as they contemplate a future when the glacier slips from casual view.

The agency is proposing new trails and parking areas, an additional visitor center and public use cabins at a lakeside campground. Researchers do not expect the glacier to disappear completely for at least a century.

“We did talk about, ‘Is it worth the investment in the facilities if the glacier does go out of sight?’" said Tristan Fluharty, the forest’s Juneau district ranger. “Would we still get the same amount of visitation?”

A thundering waterfall that is a popular place for selfies, salmon runs, black bears and trails could continue attracting tourists when the glacier is not visible from the visitor center, but “the glacier is the big draw,” he said.

Around 700,000 people are expected to visit this year, with about 1 million projected by 2050.

Other sites offer a cautionary tale. Annual visitation peaked in the 1990s at around 400,000 to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, southeast of Anchorage, with the Portage Glacier serving as a draw. But now, on clear days, a sliver of the glacier remains visible from the center, which was visited by about 30,000 people last year, said Brandon Raile, a spokesperson with the Chugach National Forest, which manages the site. Officials are discussing the center's future, he said.

“Where do we go with the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center?" Raile said. “How do we keep it relevant as we go forward when the original reason for it being put there is not really relevant anymore?”

At the Mendenhall, rangers talk to visitors about climate change. They aim to “inspire wonder and awe but also to inspire hope and action," said Laura Buchheit, the forest's Juneau deputy district ranger.

After  pandemic-stunted seasons , about 1.6 million cruise passengers are expected in Juneau this year, during a season stretching from April through October.

The city, nestled in a rainforest, is one stop on what are generally week-long cruises to Alaska beginning in Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. Tourists can leave the docks and move up the side of a mountain in minutes via a popular tram, see bald eagles perch on light posts and enjoy a vibrant Alaska Native arts community.

On the busiest days, about 20,000 people, equal to two-thirds of the city’s population, pour from the boats.

City leaders and major cruise lines agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. But critics worry that won’t ease congestion if the vessels keep getting bigger. Some residents would like one day a week without ships. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year.

Juneau Tours and Whale Watch is one of about two dozen companies with permits for services like transportation or guiding at the glacier. Serene Hutchinson, the company's general manager, said demand has been so high that she neared her allotment halfway through the season. Shuttle service to the glacier had to be suspended, but her business still offers limited tours that include the glacier, she said.

Other bus operators are reaching their limits, and tourism officials are encouraging visitors to see other sites or get to the glacier by different means.

Limits on visitation can benefit tour companies by improving the experience rather than having tourists “shoehorned” at the glacier, said Hutchinson, who doesn't worry about Juneau losing its luster as the glacier recedes.

“Alaska does the work for us, right?" she said. “All we have to do is just kind of get out of the way and let people look around and smell and breathe.”

Pierce, Juneau’s tourism manager, said discussions are just beginning around what a sustainable southeast Alaska tourism industry should look like.

In Sitka, home to a slumbering volcano, the number of cruise passengers on a day earlier this summer exceeded the town’s population of 8,400, overwhelming businesses, dragging down internet speeds and prompting officials to question how much tourism is too much.

Juneau plans to conduct a survey that could guide future growth, such as building trails for tourism companies.

Kerry Kirkpatrick, a Juneau resident of nearly 30 years, recalls when the Mendenhall’s face was “long across the water and high above our heads.” She called the glacier a national treasure for its accessibility and noted an irony in carbon-emitting helicopters and cruise ships chasing a melting glacier. She worries the current level of tourism isn't sustainable.

As the Mendenhall recedes, plants and animals will need time to adjust, she said.

So will humans.

“There’s too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things,” Kirkpatrick said. "You don’t want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, ‘I’m the last one in and you can’t come in.’ But we do have to have the ability to say, ‘No, no more.’”

As Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, officials in Juneau are asking: Will Alaska tourism continue?

JUNEAU, Alaska — Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier.

A craggy expanse of gray, white and blue, the glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residents flee to quieter places during the summer, and a deal between the city and cruise industry will limit how many ships arrive next year.

But climate change is melting the Mendenhall Glacier. It is receding so quickly that by 2050, it might no longer be visible from the visitor center it once loomed outside.

That’s prompted another question Juneau is only now starting to contemplate: What happens then?

“We need to be thinking about our glaciers and the ability to view glaciers as they recede,” said Alexandra Pierce, the city’s tourism manager. There also needs to be a focus on reducing environmental impacts, she said. “People come to Alaska to see what they consider to be a pristine environment and it’s our responsibility to preserve that for residents and visitors.”

The glacier pours from rocky terrain between mountains into a lake dotted by stray icebergs. Its face retreated eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, according to estimates from University of Alaska Southeast researchers. Trail markers memorialize the glacier’s backward march, showing where the ice once stood. Thickets of vegetation have grown in its wake.

While massive chunks have broken off, most ice loss has come from the thinning due to warming temperatures, said Eran Hood, a University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science. The Mendenhall has now largely receded from the lake that bears its name.

Scientists are trying to understand what the changes might mean for the ecosystem, including salmon habitat.

There are uncertainties for tourism, too.

Most people enjoy the glacier from trails across Mendenhall Lake near the visitor center. Caves of dizzying blues that drew crowds several years ago have collapsed and pools of water now stand where one could once step from the rocks onto the ice.

Manoj Pillai, a cruise ship worker from India, took pictures from a popular overlook on a recent day off.

“If the glacier is so beautiful now, how would it be, like, 10 or 20 years before? I just imagine that,” he said.

Officials with the Tongass National Forest, under which the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area falls, are bracing for more visitors over the next 30 years even as they contemplate a future when the glacier slips from casual view.

The agency is proposing new trails and parking areas, an additional visitor center and public use cabins at a lakeside campground. Researchers do not expect the glacier to disappear completely for at least a century.

“We did talk about, ‘Is it worth the investment in the facilities if the glacier does go out of sight?’ ” said Tristan Fluharty, the forest’s Juneau district ranger. “Would we still get the same amount of visitation?”

A thundering waterfall that is a popular place for selfies, salmon runs, black bears and trails could continue attracting tourists when the glacier is not visible from the visitor center, but “the glacier is the big draw,” he said.

Around 700,000 people are expected to visit this year, with about 1 million projected by 2050.

Other sites offer a cautionary tale. Annual visitation peaked in the 1990s at around 400,000 to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, southeast of Anchorage, with the Portage Glacier serving as a draw. But now, on clear days, a sliver of the glacier remains visible from the center, which was visited by about 30,000 people last year, said Brandon Raile, a spokesperson with the Chugach National Forest, which manages the site. Officials are discussing the center’s future, he said.

“Where do we go with the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center?” Raile said. “How do we keep it relevant as we go forward when the original reason for it being put there is not really relevant anymore?”

‘Hope and action’

At the Mendenhall, rangers talk to visitors about climate change. They aim to “inspire wonder and awe but also to inspire hope and action,” said Laura Buchheit, the forest’s Juneau deputy district ranger.

After pandemic-stunted seasons, about 1.6 million cruise passengers are expected in Juneau this year, during a season stretching from April through October.

The city, nestled in a rainforest, is one stop on what are generally weeklong cruises to Alaska beginning in Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. Tourists can leave the docks and move up the side of a mountain in minutes via a popular tram, see bald eagles perch on light posts and enjoy a vibrant Alaska Native arts community.

On the busiest days, about 20,000 people, equal to two-thirds of the city’s population, pour from the boats.

City leaders and major cruise lines agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. But critics worry that won’t ease congestion if the vessels keep getting bigger. Some residents would like one day a week without ships. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year.

Juneau Tours and Whale Watch is one of about two dozen companies with permits for services like transportation or guiding at the glacier. Serene Hutchinson, the company’s general manager, said demand has been so high that she neared her allotment halfway through the season. Shuttle service to the glacier had to be suspended, but her business still offers limited tours that include the glacier, she said.

Other bus operators are reaching their limits, and tourism officials are encouraging visitors to see other sites or get to the glacier by different means.

Limits on visitation can benefit tour companies by improving the experience rather than having tourists “shoehorned” at the glacier, said Hutchinson, who doesn’t worry about Juneau losing its luster as the glacier recedes.

“Alaska does the work for us, right?” she said. “All we have to do is just kind of get out of the way and let people look around and smell and breathe.”

Pierce, Juneau’s tourism manager, said discussions are just beginning around what a sustainable southeast Alaska tourism industry should look like.

In Sitka, home to a slumbering volcano, the number of cruise passengers on a day earlier this summer exceeded the town’s population of 8,400, overwhelming businesses, dragging down internet speeds and prompting officials to question how much tourism is too much.

Juneau plans to conduct a survey that could guide future growth, such as building trails for tourism companies.

Kerry Kirkpatrick, a Juneau resident of nearly 30 years, recalls when the Mendenhall’s face was “long across the water and high above our heads.” She called the glacier a national treasure for its accessibility and noted an irony in carbon-emitting helicopters and cruise ships chasing a melting glacier. She worries the current level of tourism isn’t sustainable.

As the Mendenhall recedes, plants and animals will need time to adjust, she said.

So will humans.

“There’s too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things,” Kirkpatrick said. “You don’t want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, ‘I’m the last one in and you can’t come in.’ But we do have to have the ability to say, ‘No, no more.’ ”

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Tour operators will exceed visitor limit at Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier

July 19, 2023

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Crammed with tourists, Alaska’s capital wonders what will happen as its magnificent glacier recedes

A record number of cruise passengers are expected this year in Alaska’s capital, drawn by the Mendenhall Glacier. But Juneau’s main attraction is rapidly retreating because of climate change, prompting the question what will happen next? (August 6) (AP Video by Becky Bohrer, Manuel Valdes)

Passengers disembark from a cruise ship that has docked on June 12, 2023, in downtown Juneau, Alaska. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

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A floatplane taxis near docked cruise ships as it prepares to take off on July 6, 2023, in the Gastineau Channel, along the downtown waterfront in Juneau, Alaska. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Cruise ships are shown near downtown Juneau on June 7, 2023, along the Gastineau Channel, in Alaska. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Tourists stop at booths along the sea walk on June 12, 2023, in downtown Juneau, Alaska, where they can book activities to do while they’re in town. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

A group of people take in the views of the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The glacier in the summer is accessible by kayak or canoe, by foot on a challenging trail or by helicopter. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

People mill about on the sea walk along which cruise ships dock on June 12, 2023, in downtown Juneau, Alaska. Buses stand ready to take tourists to activities around town. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people.(AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

The Mendenhall Glacier, rear, is seen from the glacier visitor center, on June 30, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. Pictured at right is Nugget Falls. Estimates suggest that by 2050, the glacier may not be visible from the visitor center. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

The Mendenhall Glacier, glimpsed from along the West Glacier trail, on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The glacier spills out toward Mendenhall Lake. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

The jagged surface of the Mendenhall Glacier is shown on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The glacier is a top attraction in Juneau, Alaska’s capital city. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

An iceberg floats in front of the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. Mendenhall Lake separates the glacier from the visitor center area, where buses drop tourists. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

A helicopter flies over the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The glacier in the summer is accessible by kayak or canoe, by foot or by helicopter. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

The “Ice Limit 2011" sign shows the Mendenhall Glacier’s retreat on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Thousands of tourists spill onto a boardwalk in Alaska’s capital city every day from cruise ships towering over downtown. Vendors hawk shoreside trips and rows of buses stand ready to whisk visitors away, with many headed for the area’s crown jewel: the Mendenhall Glacier.

A craggy expanse of gray, white and blue, the glacier gets swarmed by sightseeing helicopters and attracts visitors by kayak, canoe and foot. So many come to see the glacier and Juneau’s other wonders that the city’s immediate concern is how to manage them all as a record number are expected this year. Some residents flee to quieter places during the summer, and a deal between the city and cruise industry will limit how many ships arrive next year.

But climate change is melting the Mendenhall Glacier. It is receding so quickly that by 2050, it might no longer be visible from the visitor center it once loomed outside.

That’s prompted another question Juneau is only now starting to contemplate: What happens then?

“We need to be thinking about our glaciers and the ability to view glaciers as they recede,” said Alexandra Pierce, the city’s tourism manager. There also needs to be a focus on reducing environmental impacts, she said. “People come to Alaska to see what they consider to be a pristine environment and it’s our responsibility to preserve that for residents and visitors.”

The glacier pours from rocky terrain between mountains into a lake dotted by stray icebergs. Its face retreated eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, according to estimates from University of Alaska Southeast researchers. Trail markers memorialize the glacier’s backward march, showing where the ice once stood. Thickets of vegetation have grown in its wake.

While massive chunks have broken off, most ice loss has come from the thinning due to warming temperatures, said Eran Hood, a University of Alaska Southeast professor of environmental science. The Mendenhall has now largely receded from the lake that bears its name.

Scientists are trying to understand what the changes might mean for the ecosystem, including salmon habitat.

There are uncertainties for tourism, too.

Most people enjoy the glacier from trails across Mendenhall Lake near the visitor center. Caves of dizzying blues that drew crowds several years ago have collapsed and pools of water now stand where one could once step from the rocks onto the ice.

Manoj Pillai, a cruise ship worker from India, took pictures from a popular overlook on a recent day off.

“If the glacier is so beautiful now, how would it be, like, 10 or 20 years before? I just imagine that,” he said.

Officials with the Tongass National Forest, under which the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area falls, are bracing for more visitors over the next 30 years even as they contemplate a future when the glacier slips from casual view.

The agency is proposing new trails and parking areas, an additional visitor center and public use cabins at a lakeside campground. Researchers do not expect the glacier to disappear completely for at least a century.

“We did talk about, ‘Is it worth the investment in the facilities if the glacier does go out of sight?’” said Tristan Fluharty, the forest’s Juneau district ranger. “Would we still get the same amount of visitation?”

A thundering waterfall that is a popular place for selfies, salmon runs, black bears and trails could continue attracting tourists when the glacier is not visible from the visitor center, but “the glacier is the big draw,” he said.

Around 700,000 people are expected to visit this year, with about 1 million projected by 2050.

Other sites offer a cautionary tale. Annual visitation peaked in the 1990s at around 400,000 to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, southeast of Anchorage, with the Portage Glacier serving as a draw. But now, on clear days, a sliver of the glacier remains visible from the center, which was visited by about 30,000 people last year, said Brandon Raile, a spokesperson with the Chugach National Forest, which manages the site. Officials are discussing the center’s future, he said.

“Where do we go with the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center?” Raile said. “How do we keep it relevant as we go forward when the original reason for it being put there is not really relevant anymore?”

At the Mendenhall, rangers talk to visitors about climate change. They aim to “inspire wonder and awe but also to inspire hope and action,” said Laura Buchheit, the forest’s Juneau deputy district ranger.

After pandemic-stunted seasons , about 1.6 million cruise passengers are expected in Juneau this year, during a season stretching from April through October.

The city, nestled in a rainforest, is one stop on what are generally week-long cruises to Alaska beginning in Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. Tourists can leave the docks and move up the side of a mountain in minutes via a popular tram, see bald eagles perch on light posts and enjoy a vibrant Alaska Native arts community.

On the busiest days, about 20,000 people, equal to two-thirds of the city’s population, pour from the boats.

City leaders and major cruise lines agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. But critics worry that won’t ease congestion if the vessels keep getting bigger. Some residents would like one day a week without ships. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year.

Juneau Tours and Whale Watch is one of about two dozen companies with permits for services like transportation or guiding at the glacier. Serene Hutchinson, the company’s general manager, said demand has been so high that she neared her allotment halfway through the season. Shuttle service to the glacier had to be suspended, but her business still offers limited tours that include the glacier, she said.

Other bus operators are reaching their limits, and tourism officials are encouraging visitors to see other sites or get to the glacier by different means.

Limits on visitation can benefit tour companies by improving the experience rather than having tourists “shoehorned” at the glacier, said Hutchinson, who doesn’t worry about Juneau losing its luster as the glacier recedes.

“Alaska does the work for us, right?” she said. “All we have to do is just kind of get out of the way and let people look around and smell and breathe.”

Pierce, Juneau’s tourism manager, said discussions are just beginning around what a sustainable southeast Alaska tourism industry should look like.

In Sitka, home to a slumbering volcano, the number of cruise passengers on a day earlier this summer exceeded the town’s population of 8,400, overwhelming businesses, dragging down internet speeds and prompting officials to question how much tourism is too much.

Juneau plans to conduct a survey that could guide future growth, such as building trails for tourism companies.

Kerry Kirkpatrick, a Juneau resident of nearly 30 years, recalls when the Mendenhall’s face was “long across the water and high above our heads.” She called the glacier a national treasure for its accessibility and noted an irony in carbon-emitting helicopters and cruise ships chasing a melting glacier. She worries the current level of tourism isn’t sustainable.

As the Mendenhall recedes, plants and animals will need time to adjust, she said.

So will humans.

“There’s too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things,” Kirkpatrick said. “You don’t want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, ‘I’m the last one in and you can’t come in.’ But we do have to have the ability to say, ‘No, no more.’”

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Mendenhall Glacier shuttle in July 2023 🏔 What’s going on with the shuttle from Juneau cruise port? 🏔 Alaska cruise travel blog

Getting to the Mendenhall Glacier from the Juneau cruise port has gotten harder for the rest of the summer.

People who have had Mendenhall Glacier shuttles pre-booked for late in the summer report that they are getting their shuttle tickets canceled.

While Mendenhall Glacier shuttles and Mendenhall Glacier tours are much more limited for the rest of 2023, you can still go to Mendenhall Glacier on your own in the same way you could earlier in the season.

Earlier in the Alaska cruise season, you used to be able to buy shuttle tickets easily to go to the Mendenhall Glacier.

The cost of the Mendenhall Glacier shuttle is around $50 round trip.

In addition to being able to book a shuttle like the Blue Bus shuttle in advance, you could generally just start walking towards town once you got off the cruise ship, and there would be booths selling tickets for the Mendenhall Glacier shuttle.

So if your Alaska cruise is early in the Alaska cruise season in 2024… this is what you can do!

When you are looking for Mendenhall Glacier shuttles for future cruise seasons, you will want to look out for whether or not you have unlimited time at the Mendenhall Glacier.

There are shuttles like the Blue Bus shuttle that you can get a drop-off, and then you can just return to the shuttle stop for pick-up at your convenience.

The Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area is a part of Tongass National Forest, which is managed by the US Forest Service.

Every year, the US Forest Service gives out a limited number of permits designated for commercial tours.

This means that every year, there is a limit on Mendenhall Glacier shuttles and Mendenhall Glacier tours.

Juneau tour companies that provide shuttles are included in needing these national forest permits in order to drop off people from the Juneau cruise port.

In 2023, these permits were practically used up in the middle of the summer.

Here is what the Juneau tourism people said on July 7, 2023, about the shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier:

Transportation and tours to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and the surrounding area operate under annual permits through the USDA Forest Service. Because of record-breaking numbers of visitors to Alaska’s Capital City, all shuttle operators are approaching their annual limit. There are a small number of combo tours to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center available for purchase, same-day, on the docks. Alternatives to the shuttles include car rental, taxis, Uber, and Lyft.

The Juneau tourism people also discourage you from taking public transportation to Mendenhall Glacier . I don’t think I have ever seen that from a tourism department before. This is Alaska! You can read about it .

If you are starting your cruise in Whittier or ending your cruise in Whittier … or it will be in the middle of it… I would like to recommend to you the 26 glacier tour as an alternative to the Mendenhall Glacier! You will get a better view of glaciers compared to seeing the Mendenhall Glacier from the visitor center, which is what most people do.

More for your Alaska cruise:

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• Juneau excursions
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• Seaplane tours in Alaska (to the wilderness!)
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Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tour & Guided Walk

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Excursion Overview

Once in a life-time helicopter tour to the famous mendenhall glacier.

Soar through the air via helicopter over rainforest, lakes, and ice where no alpine ridge or mountain peak escapes your view. These sights and Alaskan grandeur will pave your journey as you fly over and land directly on the famous Mendenhall Glacier. From the air, you will be able to see the deep blue crevasses, glacial pools, and streams of the mighty Mendenhall. You will hear how glaciers form and carve the landscape around you. Before the pilot lands on the ice, you will fly past the Mendenhall Towers - the rock sentinels that leave you in awe as they extend over 7,000 feet into the sky. Once you've landed, you will be greeted by a tour guide who will take you on a short glacier walk. You will have the opportunity to take photos, explore the surface of the ice, and ask your guide questions. You may catch a glimpse of some Alaskan wildlife, so make sure to scan the ridges around you! At the end of your guided experience on the glacier, you will take off for your return flight back to the heliport and then return to town. This Juneau Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour is one you will always remember.

Reporting Accurate Weights

Please report proper weights of all guests (including the weight of clothes and boots). Inputting improper weights, or selecting the wrong passenger type can lead to cancellation without refund. Please be aware that every guest is individually weighed at the helicopter base.

Things You Need to Know

Inclusions:.

• Roundtrip transportation
• Traction overboots
• Rain jacket if needed
• Water and hot beverages are available at the helicopter base
• Infants under 2 years old are free and do not require a ticket. Please indicate that you are traveling with an infant during checkout.
• Restroom facilities are available at the helicopter base before you depart on your excursion, but there are no restrooms available during the helicopter and glacier portion of the tour.

Requirements:

• Guests must be comfortable walking short distances on uneven and occasionally icy surfaces
• Passenger names and weights are required by the FAA for passenger safety and comfort, as well as weight and balance calculations for flight manifesting. Any passenger whose weight is 250 pounds (113 kilograms) or more fully clothed at the time of departure will have a surcharge fee added to the ticket price at the time of booking.
• Guests should wear appropriate clothing for glacier temperatures (15-20°F cooler than ground level) and wear close-toed shoes.

Duration: 2.5 hours (Roundtrip from cruise ship terminal.)

• 15~20 minutes - transportation to the heliport
• 30 minutes - preflight safety briefing and preparation
• 15 minutes - glacier flightseeing via helicopter
• 20~25 minutes - guided walk on the glacier with guides
• 15 minutes - helicopter time back to the heliport
• 15 minutes - arrive at the base to de-gear and visit the gift shop
• 15~20 minutes - transportation back to the port area

Meeting Instructions:

• This tour meets in front of the Goldbelt Mt. Robert's Tramway building. Fully detailed instructions are included on your finalized ticket vouchers.

ADA Accessibility of Tour:

• This tour is limited mobility accessible. Guests who use wheelchairs or scooters must be able to walk approximately 100 feet to and from the helicopters and be able to navigate the 18-inch steps into the helicopter mostly unassisted. The natural surface of the glacier can be uneven and cracked. Please note that the dog sledding camp is covered with snow. Due to liability reasons, our employees cannot lift guests in or out of the helicopter. Staff will be there to lend a helping hand, though ultimately guests are responsible for navigating these steps on their own. There is limited space for collapsible wheelchairs and walkers. There is no storage available for motorized scooters. Please leave a comment during checkout if you plan to bring accessibility equipment on this excursion.

Refund Policy:

• You may cancel for any reason up to seven (7) days prior to the date of the tour for a full refund.
• Please see our Refund Policy Page for complete details.

Tours can be canceled for any reason up until seven (7) days prior to the date of the tour for a full refund unless otherwise noted on the individual tour product page in the Things to Know section. To cancel a tour, please use the cancelation request link within your e-ticket that was emailed to you OR send an email to  [email protected] with the following information:

- Order number

- Tour you are canceling

- Number of passengers you wish to cancel

Within 0-7 days before the tour date, cancelations are eligible for a full refund only in the following scenarios:

- The tour is canceled by the tour operator for any reason (for example: bad weather or mechanical issue)

- You experience a medical emergency during this window and can provide documentation (documentation must be submitted within 30 days to receive a refund)

- Your ship changes port itineraries causing you to miss an excursion

All refunds are processed through Alaska Shore Excursions, and will not be processed through any cruise line or local tour provider. Refunds will appear under Alaska Shore Excursions on your bank/credit card statement. Credit card refunds are processed within 10 business days of the request. Exceptions to the refund policy include multi-day packages and some day tours. Please refer to the specific refund policy listed on the individual tour product page.

Frequently Asked Questions

There is a maximum of 6 passengers per helicopter. If there are more than 6 passengers, multiple helicopters will fly at the same time and land on the glacier together.

You will be outfitted with NEOS brand overboots that slip over your shoes. They are large boots with traction soles, available in sizes XS - XXL. They fit U.S. Men's sizes 3-17 and U.S. Women's sizes 4.5-15. For EU sizing information, please reach out to us! Snow boots are provided for children to wear instead of their current footwear. For guests whose feet will not fit in the overboots, Yaktrax brand elastic traction cleats are provided. If you think you may need this option, please be sure to wear thick socks and close-toed shoes that can be exposed to ice and snow.

You may bring a bag with personal items, but all bags will have to be left at the base in a locked container during the tour. The following items are not permitted on the aircraft: Carry-on bags of any kind (incl. camera bags, purses, backpacks) GoPro extension poles or selfie sticks iPads, iPad minis, or any other tablets Drones Animals of any kind (incl. service animals) Food or beverages Any smoking products including e-cigarettes

Personal walking sticks are not allowed on this tour as they tend to slip on the ice. We have glacier trekking poles with spiked bottoms available for use upon request.

Yes, you can bring your camera. Camera bags are not allowed and we recommend having a neck strap.

Most guests choose to utilize a baby carrier. If your infant is walking, small boots will be provided for them!

No, no bags are allowed in the aircraft. Any necessary items for the infant will need to be stored in someone's pockets.

Yes, noise-blocking headsets are provided for all guests, including babies.

Layers are always key in Southeast Alaska during the summer. This should include waterproof outerwear, long pants, gloves, a hat, and sunglasses. We strongly encourage bringing sunglasses as well; the sun's glare off the ice and snow is much stronger than you might expect (even on an overcast day).

There are two front seats and four rear seats; FAA safety guidelines require seating positions to be assigned based on weight and balance of all passengers for each helicopter.

The average temperature is between 15-20°F cooler than on the ground.

Wildlife is abundant in Southeast Alaska and sightings are possible on any tour, however this is not a designated wildlife tour and nothing can be guaranteed.

There are no age restrictions for this tour. Children under 2 are free and must sit on an adult's lap. On a child's second birthday they become a ticketed passenger and need their own ticket. This policy is set by Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

Water and hot beverages are available at the helicopter base. No food or drink is provided while on tour.

For safety reasons, service animals are not allowed on this tour.

Guests must be comfortable walking short distances on uneven and occasionally icy surfaces.

There are restroom facilities at the helicopter base before and after you depart on your tour, but there are no restrooms available on the glacier.

Check out other frequently asked questions  here !

Guest Reviews

On sep 2023.

Awesome adventure. They were so efficient and friendly, they even dropped us off after the tour directly at our cruise ship. The helicopter ride was smooth,safe, and had amazing views. The time on the glacier was incredible. The guides kept us safe, told informative and entertaining stories, and showed us fascinating features of the glacier. Don't miss this chance to do something amazing while you're in Alaska; you won't regret spending the money on this adventure.

We had such a COOL time!! This was mine and my husband's highlight of our Alaska cruise. Helicopter tour (my first!) was exciting. The views were stunning and the ride was smooth. The guides on the glacier were nice, welcoming, funny, and very informative. Views there were spectacular as well. Loved every minute. Thank you!

Christopher F

So much fun. Worth the cost. Once in a lifetime. No problems getting back to our ship on time.

On Aug 2023

Amazing experience!! Staff on the ground was helpful and informative. The guide on the glacier was friendly and knowledgeable. Really enjoyed the entire experience and would recommend the excursion to anyone.

Excellent excursion! Well worth it! First class, efficient operation! You won't be disappointed.

• Reviews Showing: 111

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The Glacier Shuttle Tour is a quick and convenient way to travel to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors’ Center. Our tour is provided under a permit with the USDA Forest Service.  We have departures almost every hour. It is a 30 minute narrated tour to the park, you get two hours to explore on your own, then meet your tour guide for the rest of your tour! Pickup and drop off is conveniently located at the cruise ship terminal next to the Goldbelt Tramway. This tour includes entrance fee to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors’ Center, which is open daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM in the summer months sits on the edge of the Mendenhall Glacier, one of 38 large glaciers that flow off the Juneau Icefield.

Once you arrive at Juneau’s natural treasure the  Mendenhall Glacier , you’re free to explore this wonder from a variety of perspectives like  Nugget Creek Falls , Photo Point Trail, which winds along Mendenhall Lake to an unobstructed view of the glacier’s face, or the East Glacier Loop. Pay careful attention to your pick up time for your return trip to the cruise ship dock. The hike time to the Nugget Falls and back is 40 minutes round trip. Wear comfortable shoes and have fun!

There’s plenty to do outside, but for a closer look at the history and geology of the glacier, your ticket includes entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center . You can study the elevated view of the glacier on display as well as interactive geological exhibits explaining glacial formation.  

The glacier is named after  Thomas Corwin Mendenhall , a noted scientist, who served on the Alaska Boundary Commission that was responsible for surveying the international boundary between Canada and Alaska. In 1892, this glacier was renamed to honor Mendenhall. One of the founding board members of Ohio State University, Mendenhall never actually visited Alaska, however it was his techniques that ended a long-standing dispute over the actual boundaries of the country.

Canada is not far away. A short helicopter flight over the mountains will take you into British Columbia, just 40 or so miles away. The ice field is the reason that Juneau has no roads running in or out.

For more information call (907) 723-9209 or book online .

Juneau Tours LLC

PO Box 21795 Juneau AK 99802

[email protected]

1-907-523-6095

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Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tour

Embark on a soaring adventure via helicopter over rainforests, lakes, and ice, where every alpine ridge and mountain peak is within your view. This journey showcases Alaskan grandeur as you fly over and land directly on the famous Mendenhall Glacier .

From the air, witness the deep blue crevasses, glacial pools, and streams of the mighty Mendenhall. Listen as the pilot explains how glaciers form and carve the surrounding landscape. Before landing on the ice, fly past the Mendenhall Towers - towering rock formations that extend over 7,000 feet into the sky, leaving you in awe.

Upon landing, a tour guide will greet you for a short glacier walk . This is a perfect opportunity to take photos, explore the ice's surface, and ask your guide questions. Keep your eyes peeled for Alaskan wildlife on the surrounding ridges! Your guided experience on the glacier concludes with a return flight to the heliport, followed by a journey back to town. This Juneau Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour is an unforgettable experience.

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How To Get To Mendenhall Glacier From The Cruise Port

Located in the Mendenhall Valley, approximately 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier is a popular tourist destination for Alaska cruise ship passengers . The spectacular Mendenhall Glacier offers visitors a close-up view of a glacier. 

In this article, you’ll discover options of getting to Mendenhall Glacier from the cruise port and what you’ll see there. Regardless of your favorite cruise line, there are many Juneau cruising options available.

In addition, once you arrive in Juneau, there are many excursions available . However, pick the right excursion according to how much time you have in port.

Planning your trip to Mendenhall Glacier last minute?

Skip the line and get your tickets for the shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier. You can explore and return when you want.

Mendenhall and whale watching – Combine both tours for your day in Juneau.

The picturesque Juneau glacier cascades into Mendenhall Lake, and it’s not unusual to see enormous icebergs floating in the waters below. Like many other Alaska glaciers, Mendenhall is retreating due to warmer temperatures and climate change.

If you’re traveling to Alaska and want to see Alaska’s most accessible glacier, come and explore the fantastic Mendenhall.

Take The Mendenhall Glacier Shuttle

Since one million cruise ship passengers visit Alaska and Juneau each year, there are daily shuttles to the visitors center during the summer months. Passengers can pick up shuttle buses outside the Roberts Tramway Ticket Office close to the cruise terminal.

For under USD 50, the bus will provide you with a 30-minute ride to and from the visitor’s center and includes your park fee of USD 5.

Once your shuttle has dropped you off, make sure you know where to wait for the ride back and what your bus looks like. The Mendenhall Glacier blue bus is the most popular choice.

Many companies run services to the glacier, so make sure you know when the last bus leaves for Juneau. It’s important not to wait for the final bus because the line-up can get very long.

[Update for 2023] The visitor center has limited the number of visitors by commercial vehicle. Since most of the allotments were used in May and June, some tours to Mendenhall Glacier are getting cancelled, have a backup plan.

During my visits to Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, I generally planned for the second to last bus back. That way, I had some leeway should a crowd of people queuing.

Grab A Taxi To Mendenhall Glacier

If you’re traveling with more than two, it’s cheaper and quicker to grab a taxi. We cruised with four in 2022, and the taxi cost us USD 33 each way, plus a fee of USD 12 per person to access the park.

I questioned the price of USD 12 because the park charges USD 5. However, the taxi driver said the park charges the taxi company an access fee. I later learned from the park employees that this was not true.

We got a business card for the taxi and texted for a ride back about 20 minutes before we needed it. When we arrived back at the taxi area, multiple taxis were waiting, so we may not have needed to make that call.

Use Ride Share

While Uber doesn’t operate in Juneau, Lyft does. You can use your Lyft app from other areas to request a ride. Lyft charges USD 27+ for a one-way journey to Mendenhall Glacier.

However, unlike Juneau taxi companies, it does not impose an additional fee to access the park. The fare rate does not include your park pass of USD 5. But, visitors can get one at the self-dispenser in the visitors center parking lot.

There are limited Lyft cars available, so if there are multiple ships in port, getting a Lyft might prove problematic, so you’ll need a plan B. Lyft cannot drop off at the visitor center (although some break the rules) so you’ll need to walk a distance from your drop off point.

Take The City Bus

If you’re  traveling inexpensively, it costs USD 2 to take the city bus from the downtown transit center. This option provides the cheapest way to get to Mendenhall Glacier. Be sure to have the correct change. 

The bus drops passengers at the corner of Mendenhall Glacier Loop Road and Glacier Spur Road. Expect the ride to take up to an hour, depending on the number of stops.

From there, it’s a little over a mile to walk to the visitors’ center. Park-goers can purchase a USD 5 pass from a ticket machine in the parking lot at the visitors’ center.

Take A Cruise Line Tour

If you’re worried about time and trying to do multiple things in the capital, sometimes it pays to take a tour. While whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier is the most popular combo, there are other options too.

Having done that combination on two of my trips, I tried the Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake last trip. The outdoor barbeque was well organised and the grilled salmon delicious.

The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center

The United States Forest Service operates the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The center is open year-round but requires a pass to view the exhibits and access the Pavilion and the restrooms from May 1 until September 30.

Ironically, this happens to be cruise ship season. However, the fee is just USD 5 per person and helps to maintain the center, trails, and areas frequented by visitors.

This Juneau hot spot receives almost half a million visitors a year, and I’ve been one of them several times. Mendenhall is one of 38 glaciers flowing from the Juneau Icefield. It’s also the most accessible glacier.

Inside the center, visitors learn about the area’s flora and see how fast Mendenhall is retreating. It’s astonishing to learn that ice has melted back 1/3 mile in the last 15 years.

Bull’s Eye Lichen, one of the first plants to colonize after the glacier, grows on the rocky terrain outside and around the building.

From the visitors’ center, you’ll enjoy the best views of the glacier and Nugget Falls. At 1.5 miles wide, it pales in comparison to Hubbard Glacier, but its aquamarine hues are sure to delight.

The Mendenhall Glacier Park has an abundance of popular hiking trails . Whatever your hiking ability, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Near the parking lot, you’ll find a Mendenhall Glacier trail map to show you the different options.

Enjoy The Steep Creek Trail

After reading the area’s history and learning about Alaskan wildlife, take a short walk on the nearby Steep Creek trail. This elevated boardwalk offers views of salmon spawning, and if you’re lucky or unlucky (however you like to look at it), you may encounter a black bear.

Bears are common in Juneau , especially around Steep Creek. Park rangers are on hand to answer all of your questions and keep visitors at a safe distance from the bears.

You are advised not to bring food or flavored drinks into the area due to the frequency of black bears. It was too early to see bears in May, but we did see a porcupine in a tree.

If you walk a bit further to the river’s edge, huge icebergs are often spotted floating in the water. I was quite surprised at how warm the air temperature was, considering how close I was to a glacier.

This is not the case when you’re viewing the glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park. If you want to know what to wear to Mendenhall Glacier, I suggest good walking shoes, some layers, and a lightweight waterproof jacket .

Walk The Trail To Nugget Falls

To get a closer look at Mendenhall Glacier, I suggest taking the Nugget Falls trail. It’s a leisurely stroll at 0.8 miles, and not only will you get a closer look at the glacier’s ice, but you’ll be treated to views of a thundering waterfall too. Plan to spend some time here so you can witness the glacier calving.

From the visitors’ center, walk towards the glacier and take the right-hand route at the fork. The path is flat and offers various flora of fireweed, lichens, alder, and spruce seedlings.

At the base of Nugget Falls, we could fly a drone for aerial shots of the falls and Mendenhall Glacier. While you can’t fly a drone in a National Park, Mendenhall is a US Park, and we asked two park employees for permission to fly.

At the sand flats in front of the waterfall, I could get better views of Mendenhall ice. However, the land obstructs the toe’s views. But for better vistas of the terminus, stop at the Photo Point Trail on the walk back.

The Photo Point Trail

If you’re limited in time and want some great glacier shots, head to the Photo Point Trail instead. It’s a mere 1/3 mile round-trip and takes only 15 minutes. This short walk will take you to the edge of Mendenhall Lake. Here, you’ll have clear views across the water of the icebergs and the glacier’s terminus.

Other Mendenhall Glacier Park Trails

On a warm summer’s day when several cruise ships are in port, the Mendenhall area can become quite congested. Try the East Glacier Loop instead if you want to escape the crowds and avoid the easy trails.

You’ll need a good pair of hiking shoes  and a lightweight jacket because the climate can change quite a bit. The 3.5-mile looping trail is a moderate hike with stairs and switchbacks through a beautiful rainforest. 

You’ll be treated to several waterfalls and streams as you traverse the boulders and tree roots on the trail. If you choose to hike the entire loop, expect it to take approximately two hours.

Alternatively, the 1-mile Trail of Time offers a gravel trail just south of the East Glacier Loop route. It’s a pleasant walk to view birds in a beautiful rainforest. On the walk, you’ll learn about the retreat of Mendenhall and see where the glacier used to be in 1916.

Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves

On the other side of the lake is the West Glacier Trail. It offers access to the glacier itself and a chance to see the Mendenhall Glacier caves, should there be any. If you want to experience the glacier up close and personal, this is the trail for you.

It’s advisable to book one of the Mendenhall Glacier tours with trained guides who know the area. They will keep you safe, and if they discover a cave, will access its stability before allowing you to enter. These Juneau tours are quite popular but also fairly strenuous.

Mendenhall Glacier ice caves form as the water melts and create an underwater channel for the water to run. These caves may be small or quite extensive. When ice cave forms, they may last days, weeks, or even months.

Since Mendenhall is receding and melting at an alarming rate, ice caves can collapse at any moment. What may be there today, next week, or next month, may not be around next year. The scenery is always changing in Alaska’s land of ice.

Book a Mendenhall canoe paddle and trek if a strenuous hike isn’t up your alley. Instead of the leg power for hiking, you’ll need the arm power for canoeing up the river to the tip of the glacier. The canoe ride combined with a Mendenhall Glacier hike offers one of the best Alaska tours.

Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tours

There is nothing more magical than viewing the magnificent blue hues of the Juneau icefields by air. Taking a helicopter ride out of Juneau is an exhilarating experience that I’d highly recommend.

Juneau helicopter tours and the guided hike is not inexpensive but worth every dollar you spend. Having experienced a helicopter tour myself, it’s one of the best things to do in Juneau, Alaska. 

While I haven’t flown over Mendenhall Glacier, I did view it from my helicopter ride to Herbert Glacier. I remember my first experience of walking on a glacier all too well. The deep crevices and icy rivers of water running on top of the glacier amazed me.

Trekkers are warned to stay together and step carefully. Fresh snow sometimes covers large holes in the icy surface. My guide said if I fell into a crevice, I’d be discovered 2,000 years later when the ice melted. That was enough to keep me grounded in a safe spot, lol.

If you’re looking for a unique way to see and enjoy Mendenhall Glacier, consider a dog sledding adventure to the top of the glacier. You can read about my dog sledding experience to Herbert Glacier.

An unforgettable vacation to Alaska offers an array of Alaska glacier tours. Consider combining your trip to Mendenhall Glacier with a Juneau whale-watching tour.

A have done the Mendenhall Glacier and whale-watching excursion several times, and it’s a doable tour on an Alaska cruise port day.

Other Tours To Mendenhall

While taking the bus to the Juneau glacier is the most popular route chosen by visitors, there are other unique tours that offer a different perspective.

How about a kayak Mendenhall Glacier tour, a Mendenhall Glacier float trip that offers a river rafting experience, or a Juneau glacier tour with an Alaskan salmon bake?

Regardless of your age or level of activity, there is a Mendenhall Glacier tour for everyone.

Mendenhall Glacier Tours

• Premier Whale Watch and Mendenhall Glacier Combo with an informative professional driver guide during transfers
• Juneau Wildlife Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier with a driver-guide
• Juneau Highlights and Mendenhall Glacier Tour
• Juneau City Sightseeing and Mendenhall Glacier Tour with a professional guide

Happy travels ~ Karen

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irma alanis

Sunday 18th of February 2024

thank you so much for all this info is well explained and easy to understand for newies

Thursday 30th of June 2022

Thank you so much for this amazing info! I wanted to ask a clarifying question, is Lyft able to drop right at the visitors center? I’ve seen conflicting information. We are trying to get from auke bay to the visitors center after a whale watching tour vs going all the way back to cruise ship for another tour

Dan Kassner

Sunday 19th of March 2023

@Kelley, Neither Lyft nor Uber are authorized carriers into the Mendenhall national park.

Forever Karen

Hi Kelley, taxi drivers will tell you that only certain companies are authorized to drop off at the visitors center. This isn't true and it also isn't true that the Mendenhall Visitors Center charges a fee for taxis to drop off. Lyft is harder to get when there are lots of ships in port. If you're doing the whale watching tour and Mendenhall Glacier tour together, they take you from Auke Bay right to the visitors center.

Privacy Overview

Juneau - Cancelled Helicopter Tours

By seychellesdream , June 22, 2008 in Alaska

Was your helicopter tour cancelled in Juneau ?   34 members have voted

1. was your helicopter tour cancelled in juneau .

• Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

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seychellesdream

So I've been reading the boards in preparation for my Inside Passage cruise and have noticed several people mention that their heli tours were cancelled. I am assuming it was because of weather ? I'm booked for a glacier & dogsledding tour hence the poll.

Has your helicopter tour in Juneau been cancelled ? yes or no ?

- how close to departure time you were told ?

- were alternate tours offered by the company ?

- what did you end up doing instead ?

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Oh, gosh, I haven't heard about this! :eek: I too am scheduled for a helicopter ride to the glacier and a ride with the sled dogs. My cruise leaves in 4 days. If this is a weather related occurrence, then I'd better start praying right now for good weather on the 30th.

keepercruisin

HI to all....we too are going on July 27th Inside Passage leaving out of Seattle. We have booked the Heli & Dog Sled tour in Skagway, & Whale watching in Juneau. Now I am not so sure...maybe reading these threads is always not such a good thing. I am second guessing myself if I chose the right excursions. I think I should switch to the Mendenhall Glacier & Dog Sledding. My fear now is I won't get to experience a Glacier at it's fullest, and that the dog sledding tour is going to be cancelled. I am not usually this panicky...but this is my first time and maybe my last, I want to get it right....any input????:confused:

They can be cancelled due to fog or heavy rains. We scheduled ours for 10:15 AM. Not sure if that would allow time for the fog to burn off or not, but hopeful we'll make it.

For those that voted that their tour was cancelled, how close to departure time was it cancelled and what did you end up doing instead ? I would like to have a plan B should my tour be cancelled. Thanks.

We went on a glacier helicopter tour on June 3rd. It was a rainy, foggy day, and so we wondered if we'd be canceled. Our trip was not canceled, but the dog sled trip going out at the same time was. Those people were offered the glacier trip instead, and took that option. They found out the dog sled had been canceled when they arrived at Coastal.

By the way, when we took off in the helicopter the weather cleared up, and the sights were amazing. We had a little drizzle on the glacier, but not too bad.

shootingstar07

So I've been reading the boards in preparation for my Inside Passage cruise and have noticed several people mention that their heli tours were cancelled. I am assuming it was because of weather ? I'm booked for a glacier & dogsledding tour hence the poll.   Has your helicopter tour in Juneau been cancelled ? yes or no ?   If yes:   - how close to departure time you were told ? - were alternate tours offered by the company ? - what did you end up doing instead ?

I was on the Island Princess in Juneau on June 11. Those that booked the Princess tours were cancelled. There was a low ceiling, but no rain. Our private excursion went off - I was not worried or afraid.

A friend of mine on the ship booked her excursion through Princess. She went to the airport for an early tour and found out that it was cancelled. They scheduled her for a later tour. She went back to town and then back to the airport at the appointed hour. Again cancelled. They told her she could again go back to town and come back for a 2 p.m. excursion (same time as mine) but she said no. She was pretty disappointed. She didn't have any backup excursion planned.

Good luck with your choice. Hope you have good weather. It was a great tour, we landed on Herbert Glacier with Coastal Helicopters.

:) Hi There...

Okay, I have read so much on this website regarding our cruise to Alaska and this is what I know...

a) Dog Sled tours are the number one cancelled tours becuase the tours are at a much higher elevation, on snow, not ice. The company I talked to was Temsco (Private and not thru Princess Lines) they confirmed that if the dog sled tour is cancelled they try and offer the glacier tour. But most all the comments I have read on this board are about the tours people did take...which is great news. Much higher majority of tours were taken than cancelled from what I read.

b) The Glacier tour is on Ice...no snow. This is at a lower elevation and because they have a choice of several glaciers, they have a bit more flexibility. Temsco said these tours are rarely cancelled but they do happen.

c) Best advice on the boards have been to have a back up in every port...weather is so unpredictable.

That being said, my family is taking the Glacier Tour in Skagway but not because of a question of cancellation...but becuase my kids wanted to walk on a Glacier/Ice as opposed to being on the snow...although the dogs were tough to turn down! I think both of the tours would be awesome and wish we could do them both!

Most of the other excursions we are doing you will do rain or shine...and rain gear is provided. I'm traveling with 2 sons 11 and 14 and DH...so our excursions are all about the "thrill" :eek:...not much quiet time...that is reserved for the ship!

Hope that helps...like I said, this board has just been a wealth of info! Good luck!

bottom-dragger

and wind. i've overheaded juneau many times due to wind. or rather WIND!!

A few years ago my dogsledding helicopter excursion in Juneau was cancelled. found out when i went to meet up with the rep on the pier that afternoon. the ceiling wasn't great but i had seen some helicopters in the distance at mendenhall earlier that day so was still hopeful. it was too late for anything else so i bought myself something at an art gallery but it didn't make the disappointment go away:( . the only thing I would have done differently was schedule this excursion the first available port and hope I'd have a second chance if it was scrubbed for weather. I am going early August and signed up to do this in Skagway since I'd potentially have another chance in Juneau if there was availability. Another option is with Godwin in Seward before my cruise but I am travelling with other family and am not entirely sure what time I would have to do this with our other plans.

Really hoping I make it this year,

Lakeside Annie

Just got back from AK.

My brother treated my DS17 (just graduated HS) and me to a Heli tour in Juneau! :D

We were scheduled at 10:30. My brother arranged our trip through our cruiseline (RCCL) and the heli tour ended up being with Temsco. Most of our entire 2-week cruisetour was overcast and indeed, on the day of our heli tour, it was also overcast. Our tour was NOT cancelled... we went up and landed on two glaciers. Our pilot stayed well below the clouds (he said we would have gone higher if it weren't for the clouds.)

We had an AWESOME trip!

(and if KingDoggie reads this... Thanks again! xoxo)

It's a fact of life up here that trips influenced by the weather have been cancelled up here without prior notice. High winds last year cancelled all copter flights out of Skagway in late June. Boat trips into Kenai Fjords can be scrubbed or reduced in length due to rough seas.

Over the years, there have been accidents that were weather-related so you can't blame the companies for erring on the side of caution.

It's a fact of life up here that trips influenced by the weather have been cancelled up here without prior notice. <snip> Over the years , there have been accidents that were weather-related so you can't blame the companies for erring on the side of caution .

Definitely. I agree 100%. I just want to get a sense of what others have experienced and have plan B should our tour be cancelled. I've travelled enough to know Mother Nature doesn't always serve up excellent weather. ;)

We were in Juneau 6/18 and were scheduled with Coastal for the glacier landing and dog sledding at 8:15. I originally thought this time to be too early but when booking was advised that the earlier tours had a better chance of getting off if there was fog - fog gets worse during the day instead of better. Met our rep at the pier and was told that the dog sledding would be canceled - the helicopter has to land at 4,000 feet and the fog was too dense. They did offer a full refund if we chose to cancel, but instead we opted to go for the glacier landing and they refunded us half the original cost. We landed on the glacier at 1,800 feet and since it was overcast, the blues in the ice are much more brilliant than they would be on a sunny day. We were disappointed that the dog sledding had been canceled but heard that even glacier landings had been canceled later in the day due to fog so I'm glad we at least got to do that!

Well, so far the odds are in my favor ! :D

Yes, our helicopter dog sledding tour was cancelled due to weather which I have read is very common in Juneau. They told us right at the time we were supposed to go on the shuttle to the airport.

Yes, TEMSCO offered a refund, the Pilot's Choice tour which was $200 less than dog sledding...I was very glad about this change because it was a great experience to fly over the glaciers for 45 minutes and landed twice. They also offered the Mendenhall Glacier landing tour. They were very apologetic and did everything to accomodate us. Apparently the dog sledding is cancelled a lot because of where the dog camp is located.

We did the Pilot's Choice and will do it again on our next trip! Highly recommend it! :)

Our "Pilot's choice" tour through Princess was canceled in may, 2005 because not enough passengers signed up for it. We were offered walking on one glacier instead and we took it.

My parents did the "Pilot's Choice" through Princess back in 1997 and say that there's was the only tour NOT canceled the day they were in Juneau. They were the last of the day and all before them never made it up.

Just got back from AK. My brother treated my DS17 (just graduated HS) and me to a Heli tour in Juneau! :D We were scheduled at 10:30. My brother arranged our trip through our cruiseline (RCCL) and the heli tour ended up being with Temsco. Most of our entire 2-week cruisetour was overcast and indeed, on the day of our heli tour, it was also overcast. Our tour was NOT cancelled... we went up and landed on two glaciers. Our pilot stayed well below the clouds (he said we would have gone higher if it weren't for the clouds.) We had an AWESOME trip! (and if KingDoggie reads this... Thanks again! xoxo)

Which tour did you take ... the Juneau Icefields or the Mendehall glacier

I was on the Island Princess in Juneau on June 11. Those that booked the Princess tours were cancelled. There was a low ceiling, but no rain. Our private excursion went off - I was not worried or afraid.   A friend of mine on the ship booked her excursion through Princess. She went to the airport for an early tour and found out that it was cancelled. They scheduled her for a later tour. She went back to town and then back to the airport at the appointed hour. Again cancelled. They told her she could again go back to town and come back for a 2 p.m. excursion (same time as mine) but she said no. She was pretty disappointed. She didn't have any backup excursion planned.   Good luck with your choice. Hope you have good weather. It was a great tour, we landed on Herbert Glacier with Coastal Helicopters.   Kathleen

If the tour is cancelled, can you get your full money back, and go look for another excursion, or do you hav eto go with the re-scheduled time (without a refund) ... what if you have booked something else for that re-scheduled time slot ???

Another tour that your boys may be interested in is hiking to the Mendenhall Glacier and then trekking and ice climbing on it. http://www.beyondak.com. Just a suggestion, then you may be able to still do the dogsledding.

A couple years ago, we were in Juneau in September. We had booked a whale watch with Captain Larry (Orca Enterprises) followed by a glacier helicopter flight/landing with Coastal. We booked both of them through Orca (no extra fee). When we got there, it promised to be a foggy day. Orca went out of their way to rearrange our schedule. We got in our glacier landing (in fact, we were the only ones who did that day) and the shuttle bus to the whale watch was waiting for us when we got off the helicopter.

Heaps of praise to Orca Enterprises for going above and beyond the call of duty. We are looking forward to Captain Larry again this fall.

Moral of the story? Book privately (obviously we recommend Orca, but would be fine booking directly with Coastal) and schedule the glacier early in the day.

Happy Sails to You

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

To be honest, I'm hoping my tour will be cancelled. I'm not a good flyer and have only agreed to this under pressure. I cancelled my tour the last time I was in Juneau, and brought my Xanex to get me through this tour. I HATE flying. Understand, my Dad was a Captain for Eastern, so I've done my fair share. I just HATE it. Total torture for me. I would rather go whale watching.

We just went on the Mendenhall helicopter and dogsledding tour thru Temsco on June 17, 2008. Our tour was scheduled for 8:45 am and it was NOT canceled. It was amazing - we were told that we had one of the best weather. I had asked about cancellations and they said it does happen but not as often as people hear about. They said they only time they cancel is for safety reasons - so how disappointed can one be if they are trying to keep everyone safe.

If you book in Juneau and it gets canceled, Temsco also has an operation in Skagway that offers and glacier and dogsledding tour (not Mendenhall of course) so maybe you can reschedule with them there is Juneau gets canceled. Just a thought.

This is a tour that is worth stressing over! =)

yes, our helicopter tour was cancelled due to weather and we were told when we got off the ship to go to the tour. a full refund was posted on our account.

i am sure alternate tours were offered but the weather was so bad we went back to the ship and stayed warm by reading a book from lounge chairs at the indoor pool.

Krazy Kruizers

Yes - in May the FAA wouldn't let the helicopters or float planes take off as there was so much rain and heavy fog.

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Big changes are coming to Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

After nearly a decade, the U.S. Forest Service has  finalized its plan  to overhaul Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. 

The project has provoked hundreds — if not thousands — of public comments from the Juneau community over the years. 

“I like to see a plan that’s well managed and that listens to residents’ concerns,” said Alexandra Pierce, the city’s tourism manager. “People didn’t want to see motorized boats on the lake and additional visitor center facilities and the Forest Service listens to the public on that, which is a positive thing.”

The finalized plan includes a new welcome center and improvements to the old one. The plan also increases parking, expands trail systems, and adds an amphitheater and new public-use cabins.

The glacier is one of Alaska’s most-visited tourist attractions. Forest Service officials say the improvements will help  manage the pressure  from Juneau’s rapid growth in cruise ship tourism in recent years. 

When the visitor center was built in the 1960s, the area saw about 23,000 visitors annually. Today, about 700,000 come to the glacier each year. The Forest Service estimates that by 2050, that number could grow to nearly a million.

But as more and more visitors have been coming to the glacier, the glacier has been moving farther away — a process that’s accelerating due to climate change. Researchers from the University of Alaska Southeast estimate that between 2007 and 2021, the glacier has receded the equivalent of eight football fields. 

In a few decades, it likely won’t be visible from the current visitor center at all. As the Forest Service plan took shape, suggestions for dealing with that included building the new center closer to the glacier’s face or allowing motorized boats on Mendenhall Lake to get people closer. Neither made it into the final plan. 

Pierce said that listening to residents’ concerns about overcrowding while knowing that tourism will keep growing makes managing the area a constant balancing act. 

“I do think that’s a difficult puzzle for the Forest Service to try to solve,” she said. “I think we’re all concerned about the receding glacier and what that means for the visitor experience in our community.” 

According to Tongass National Forest Supervisor Frank Sherman, rather than make drastic changes to get people closer to the glacier, the USFS opted to address more pressing needs like overcrowding, restrooms and the aging visitor center.

Clarise Larson, KTOO - Juneau

Related articles more from author, bronson, lafrance challenge each other’s record during anchorage chamber mayoral debate, lawmakers push to revive senate-passed pension bill stuck in house committee, both sides of alaska homeschool case want programs in place, disagree over how it should happen.

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