Mendenhall Glacier Guided Hike Juneau
Description
Experience the Mendenhall Glacier Guide Hike, a thrilling 6-7 mile adventure! Your journey begins with a 3-mile trek through the Tongass National Forest, the world's largest temperate rainforest. Your experienced guide will lead you through this wilderness, winding past beaver ponds and scrambling up exposed glacial terrain, where the trail fades into the wild. Upon emerging from the forest and reaching the final ridge, you'll be greeted by the breathtaking view of the Mendenhall Glacier's jagged facade and its ice river. Here, we savor panoramic views of the glacier, indulge in hearty snacks, and capture awe-inspiring photos. Gaze upon the glacier's deep blue crevasses, cascading icefall, surrounding mountains and Nugget Falls. This hiking tour is not for the faint of heart; it demands exceptional balance and sure-footedness. The trail includes 800 feet of elevation gain, through rocky, uneven, and slippery terrain. It's a memorable journey that promises unforgettable views.
Tour Options
Itinerary
located just 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Alaska. It is the only glacier in Southeast Alaska accessible by road. Famous for its brilliant blue ice and calving icebergs, it is a prime destination for hiking, wildlife viewing, and ice cave exploration.
The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at 16.7 million acres, an expanse larger than 10 U.S. states and 75 U.N. member nations. Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna.
The West Glacier Trail, located near Juneau, Alaska, offers a unique opportunity to experience the beauty and power of the Mendenhall Glacier. This trail follows the western side of Mendenhall Lake, leading hikers towards the glacier as it descends from the mountains.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The “C” Sign, located near the cruise ship docks directly between Mt. Roberts Tramway and the green Taku Smokeries building, is our centralized downtown meeting location for all clients in the downtown area, including the majority of cruise ship passengers. Clients staying at major hotels in the Mendenhall Valley may be picked up directly from their hotel. Clients with their own transportation need to contact our office to arrange a meeting location.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have a high level of physical fitness
- Please note, this tour requires a minimum of 4 to operate. If minimum requirement is not met, reservation is subject to change or cancellation.
- Minimum age is 10 years. For families with children between 8-9, we can customize a private trip.
- All clients must be in good enough shape, conditioned and capable of hiking up to 4 hours, covering about 7 miles roundtrip.
- Clients need to wear sturdy hiking boots that provide good ankle support while hiking on uneven, rocky terrain . All clients will need to hike with a backpack the entire way on this trip.
- Due to the inherent risks involved, we do not permit pregnant guests to participant
- This tour does not include trekking on the glacier or exploring around the glacier's edge, but will get groups to the glacier view vista.
- A specific amount of time spent at the glacier viewing area cannot be guaranteed. The amount time is dependent on the group's pace and weather conditions.
- With group departures we try to maximize our trip capacity and subsequently may need to alter the time to accommodate additional customers. If your trip's departure time changes we will notify you as soon as possible.
- Clients must disclose information regarding pertinent medical conditions/history, allergies and any type of restriction or limitation that might introduce a higher degree of challenge on this trip.
- A rescue fee of $250 per client will be charged for any rescue based on the client’s inability to complete the trek due to undisclosed medical conditions/limitations or an insufficient level of physical fitness that significantly inhibits the group’s pace.
- RELEASE OF LIABILITY/ASSUMPTION OF RISK FORM: Every participant on the trip must sign a Release of Liability/Assumption of Risk form at the start of the trip. Alterations and/or deletions to the waiver are not permitted.
Reviews(128)
Had a fantastic time hiking with Reina in a small group of 8 on the 23 June. She is very personable and managed to make everyone feel very welcomed while keeping us safe, sharing her knowledge and making sure no one gets left behind. Great humour and wonderful group altogether. It was great to get away from the busy tourist towns to experience this. There are some rock scrambling towards the end but Reina gave great instructions and made it an easier experience. Loved the encouraging high fives she gives at the end of a climb. The bonus was having a group that hiked quickly that we get to spend 30 mins at the peninsula before hiking back.
Beautiful view of the glacier, hike can be challenging at certain parts. Enjoyed our guide Heather!!!!! She was very informative and made the trip
This was a great, challenging hike with views that made it worth the effort. Julia was a fantastic guide and was super helpful.
Thank you for your review! We're so glad you enjoyed the hike and found the incredible views worth the challenge. It's great to hear that your guide made your experience even better. We appreciate you joining us and hope to see you again on another Alaska adventure!
Enjoyed a great hike to Mendenhall Glacier, Katie and Reyna were our guides and they were the most positive, happy and helpful guides ever! It was really beautiful and not a hard 6 mile (total) hike. The four of us are in our 60's and it was completely fine, if you're in decent shape. Would highly recommend it. Did not walk on the glacier (this part was a bit confusing to us), but decided we were actually good with that.
Thank you so much for the wonderful review! We’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed your hike to Mendenhall Glacier and had such a positive experience with Katie and Reyna—they’ll be happy to hear your kind words. We also appreciate you sharing your perspective on the hike difficulty and the glacier access, as that’s very helpful for future guests. Thank you for the recommendation, and we hope to see you again!
We did the Mendenhall Glacier Guides Choice Trail with Hailee on August 30th. Hailee was absolutely great she had great information on the landscape and Glacier, she was very personable and to my amazement learned everyone's name in the group. She also took the time to take as many pictures as we wanted. Great experience would highly recommend.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a great time on the hike and that Hailee made it so memorable. We’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to her. We truly appreciate the recommendation and hope to welcome you back to Juneau in the future!
Reina and Katie were excellent guides, very passionate about nature and considerate towards the group. They helped us go everywhere we wanted to on the hike but also provided great easier options for any who weren’t comfortable. Would definitely recommend.
Thank you so much for your review! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed your time with Reina and Katie. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we hope you join us again for another adventure!
This is a hard hike but so worth it. The guide Heather was so good at telling you where to place your feet and hands when it comes to the scrambling part. Heather was informative about the area, knew the answers to all of our questions. Highly recommend if you want quite a challenge to reach views like no other.
Alyssa, thank you so much for your review! We are thrilled to hear you enjoyed your time with Heather and got some beautiful rewarding views. We hope to welcome you back again soon!
Great hike with our informative and helpful guide Randy. Nice views and photo opps. Nice smallish group, which meant there was time to ask questions. Recommend waterproof boots as it is a good track but wet !
We're so glad you enjoyed the hike and the beautiful views! Thank you for this review and for making us a part of your time in Alaska!
Great hike, great guide, great comms, great company. Adventurous hike (wet/slippery, varied terrains, scrambles) - exactly what we wanted!
Wow, thank you for this kind review! We are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed every aspect of your experience with us from the communication to the tour itself. We appreciate you choosing us and hope to see you on the trail again someday!
Our guide was amazing. Told us lot about the area, glaciers and wildlife. Suggested some local food and brewery, which we enjoyed. Will definitely recommend this excursion.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a positive review! We are happy to hear that you enjoyed your hike with us, and even learned quite a bit about the area! We appreciate the recommendation, and hope to host you on another adventure soon.
