Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center
Experience the splendor of Mendenhall Glacier at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Here, you can enjoy views of the thirteen-mile-long river of ice, which terminates on the far side of Mendenhall Lake, and watch blue icebergs floating in the water amidst reflections of southeast Alaska’s coast mountains. The Mendenhall Glacier is one of many major glaciers that connect to the vast Juneau Ice Field, a 1,500 square mile remnant of the last ice age, cradled high in the coast mountain’s lofty peaks.
The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is accessible from the parking lots by stairs, elevators, and an easy ramp. U.S. Forest Service Rangers staff the center and are available to answer questions and interpret the landscape around you. The story of Mendenhall centers on a changing climate and retreating glacier but includes the return of a forest and wildlife. State-of-the-art exhibits, a 15-minute film featuring the dynamic interplay between the Tongass National Forest and its many glaciers, and the Discovery Southeast bookstore will enrich your Visitor Center experience.
Several trails of varying distance and challenge bring you close to cascading waterfalls or salmon streams. Be prepared to meet wildlife, including black bears, porcupines, beavers, bald eagles, and seasonally returning arctic terns, waterfowl, and sockeye and Coho salmon. Stroll through a moist rainforest laden with moss or meander along the shore of Mendenhall Lake to Nugget Falls, counting ice bergs as you go. Explore the ever-evolving landscape of the Mendenhall Glacier and experience the changes brought about by decades of glacial activity and the annual turning of the seasons.
For more information, call 907-789-0097.
- Getting from downtown Juneau to the Visitor Center & Recreation Area - Information on getting from the ship to the center
- Recreation Area Permitted Tour Companies - Information on booking a guided tour
- Can I bring and consume food and beverages inside the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area and surrounding trails?
- Fees & Passes - Fee cost to access the center & trails, accepted passes, and how to tell if you need a pass
- Just for Kids!
- Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area Prospectus
Mendenhall Lake Campground Auk Village Campground Walking Map & Brochure
Hours
November - March
- Open from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, excluding federal holidays.
- The visitor center will be open intermittently during the months of April and October.
- The grounds surrounding the visitor center are open from 6:00 a.m. to midnight year-round.
- For more information about our schedule and access, please call the visitor center at 907-789-0097.
May - September
- Open from 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., seven days a week.
- The grounds surrounding the visitor center are open from 6:00 a.m. to midnight year-round.
- For more information about our schedule and access, please call the visitor center at 907-789-0097.
Do I need a pass?
May 1–September 30 visitors are required to purchase a pass to enter the Visitor Center. Passes can be purchased at the automated machines available in the Mendenhall Glacier parking lots or inside the visitor center at the Discovery Southeast bookstore. Day use passes sell for $5 per person and collectible season passes will be for sale for $15 for the card holder and one guest the entire season. Those age 15 and younger are free. The passes also allow access to the Pavilion, Photo Point and Steep Creek Trails. Fees are not necessary for accessing the parking areas, or hiking Nugget Falls Trail, East Glacier Trail, Powerline Trail, Moraine Ecology Trail, the Trail of Time, and all the Dredge Lakes and West Glacier Trails. Federal lands passes such as the “America the Beautiful” pass, Senior Pass, or Military Pass are also accepted.
Visitor fees provide education, interpretation, and visitor services at the Mendenhall Glacier. This past winter, fees funded virtual ranger visits in over 40 Juneau pre-K to eighth grade classrooms and funded the popular winter fireside chat program. Fees also fund fish and wildlife restoration projects, the live cams that spotlight the Photo Point tern nesting area, Steep Creek salmon spawning, and local beaver activity, and all the various maintenance activities that make the Mendenhall an Alaskan treasure, such as keeping the sidewalks and Nugget Falls Trail plowed all winter. Click HERE for a map of Short Walks 7 Hikes around the Mendenhall Glacier.
Fireside Lectures 2026
Facilities Master Plan
The Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area (MGRA) Conceptual Development Plan will guide the development of recreation infrastructure in the MGRA accommodating the anticipated visitation needs over the next 20 years with a goal of addressing all anticipated demand, while providing a vision for the next 50 years. The geographic scope of this effort will include all three Units of the MGRA (Visitor Center, Dredge Lakes and West Glacier) a total area of nearly 6,000 acres.
The plan will include innovative planning solutions throughout the MGRA, to accommodate all that want to visit and experience the Mendenhall Glacier and its surrounding landscapes; while balancing the needs of the visitors with the directive for resource protection. The project will be developed within an inclusive process that allows public input and review of the Plan by residents, stakeholders and visitors. The project is expected to take two years to guide future facility developments within the MRGA. For more information about this project, please visit our project page at About Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area (MGRA) Conceptual Development Plan.
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