After our Whale-Watching Tour in Auke Bay, our tour went even further. By coach we drove 10 kilometers to the parking lot of Juneau’s most popular attraction: the Mendenhall Glacier.
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The Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier, formerly known as Auke Glacier, is one of the foothills of the Juneau Icefield. The glacier river has a length of almost 20 kilometers. The ice is at least 150 years old at the glacier tongue, up to 67 meters high and more than 2 kilometers wide and flows into a glacial lake, Mendenhall Lake. The glacier was named in 1892 in honor of the American scientist Thomas Corwin Mendenhall.
To the slightly higher Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center you can either take the stairs or take a lift. Here you can learn about the history of the glacier, the changing climate and the effects on the eternal ice. You can also see a 15-minute film explaining the interplay between the Tongass National Forest and its many glaciers.
The Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Waterfall
A map of the hiking trails in the glacier area
Here we have found a good overview map, which shows all important hiking trails in the glacier area.
A map with all hiking trails at the Mendenhall Glacier
Viewpoints on the glacier
From the large car park it is not far to the first lookout point on the glacier. That’s why the Mendenhall Glacier is often referred to as “Alaska’s famous drive-in glacier” 🙂 We took the first pictures of the pavilion and then walked along the “Photo Point Trail”.
The Nugget Waterfall
Already from a distance you can see the water masses of the Nugget waterfall, which lies on the right side of the glacier. To get to the waterfall, go from the “Photo Point Trail” the junction to the “Nugget Falls Trail”. This is a 2 km long hiking trail that leads directly to the waterfall and for which one-way should be planned for about 15-20 minutes. The trail leads through partly dense forest and along Mendenhall Lake. The whole area is bear and porcupine area! So you should always keep your eyes open. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any bears, but we saw a porcupine that climbed up the tree 🙂
The Nugget Waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier
The Steep Creek Trail
The Steep Creek Trail is a small trail that leads along a small river. Due to the many salmon in the river, there is also the possibility to observe bears in the wild.
Even though we couldn’t see any bears today, we have at least seen a beautiful bald eagle.
A bald eagle at Mendenhall Glacier
All travelogues from our Alaska Cruise
Our cruise on the Royal Princess took us for a week along the coast from Vancouver north to Whittier (Anchorage). On this great cruise adventure around the northernmost state of the USA we visited the cities of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We also took a scenic cruise in Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord with breathtaking views of Alaska's glaciers.
Day 1: Visa – Entry to Canada (eTA Application) & to the USA (ESTA Application)
Day 1: Vancouver – Tourist Attractions, Things to Do & Photo spots (Canada)
Day 1: Royal Princess – Our ship for the Alaska Cruise
Day 2: Day at Sea
Day 3: Ketchikan – Totemp poles, bald eagles & salmon (USA)
Day 4: Juneau – Things to do in the capital of Alaska (USA)
Day 4: Juneau – Orcas and humpback whales at Whale Watching (USA)
Day 4: Juneau – A trip to mendenhall Glacier (USA)
Day 5: Skagway – A walk through the old gold mining town (USA)
Day 5: Skagway – Musher’s Camp & Dog Sled Adventure (USA)
Day 5: Haines – Bears and bald eagles on the Chilkoot River (USA)
Day 6: Glacier Bay National Park – A Scenic Cruise in Alaska (USA)
Day 7: College Fjord – A Scenic Cruise & Arrival in Whittier (USA)
Day 8: Anchorage – Seward Highway & Alaska Wildlife Center (USA)