Guide · Fees and hours

Is Mendenhall Glacier a national park?

Is Mendenhall Glacier a national park? No, and that changes what you pay and who runs it. Here is how the land is managed, what the visitor center charges, when it opens and what a visit costs in total.

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Editorial team, mendenhallglaciertrolleytour.comUpdated October 16, 20267 min read15 sources

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In short

01Status: National forest land on the Tongass, not a national park.¹
02Managed as: The Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, set up in 1947.²
03Entrance fee: $5 for visitors 16 and over, May 1 to September 30.³
04Free: The grounds, open 6:00 am to midnight all year.⁴
05Summer hours: In 2025: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Sunday to Friday.⁵

National forest, not national park

The short answer is no. Mendenhall Glacier lies on the Tongass National Forest, and some 700,000 people visit it each year, according to the federal land agency that wrote about its protection.¹ National forests and national parks are both federal land, but they belong to different departments and follow different rules, which explains why you will not find park rangers in the familiar flat hats or a national park entrance gate here.

The glacier, the lake and the land around them are managed as a recreation area. The Forest Service's regional forester established the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area in 1947, setting the ground aside for public enjoyment rather than logging or mining.² Day to day, that means the paths, the visitor center and the viewing platforms are run by the Forest Service, and the rules you see on the signs come from them.

For you as a visitor the practical difference is small but worth knowing. A national park pass you may have bought for another trip does not work like an entry ticket here, there is no road toll at a park gate, and the only routine charge is the fee for the visitor center building in summer. Everything else, from the lakeshore to most of the trails, is open land you can walk without a ticket.

History

How the glacier became a public place

1892

The name

Renamed for Thomas Corwin Mendenhall of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.⁶
1907

Tongass

The ice and the young lake became part of the new national forest.⁷
1947

Recreation area

The Forest Service set the area aside for public recreation.²
1962

Visitor center

The first visitor center in the National Forest System opened.⁸
Today

Busy summers

Some 700,000 people visit the glacier each year.¹

What the visitor center charges

The Mendenhall Glacier entrance fee applies to the visitor center building, and only in the summer season. Travel Juneau lists it as $5 for visitors aged 16 and over, charged from May 1 to September 30.³ Children and teenagers below that age enter free, which makes the visitor center an easy stop for families with a tight budget for the day. Keep the receipt or pass if you plan to come back the same day.

What does the fee buy you? The building has large windows facing the ice, exhibits on how glaciers move and melt, and a short film about the Juneau Icefield that feeds the glacier, an icefield of 1,500 square miles.⁹ Staff are on hand to answer questions about the area, the trails and the wildlife, and on a wet day the warm, dry viewing area is welcome for its own sake.

You do not need to pay to see the glacier itself. The parking areas, the lakeshore and most of the trails are outside the fee, so you can walk to the viewpoints, take your photos and head back without going inside. Many visitors on a short schedule do exactly that and then decide on the spot whether they have time for the exhibits as well. Bring a little cash or a card in case you change your mind once you see the windows from outside.

Visitor numbers

A building that outgrew its plans

people a year

Design capacity, capacity after the 1997-99 enlargement, and annual visitors to the glacier.⁸ ¹

At a glance

Fees and hours by season

Season	Visitor center	Fee	Grounds
May to September	10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Sun to Fri (2025)	$5, ages 16 and over	6:00 am to midnight
April and October	open now and then	none listed	6:00 am to midnight
November to March	10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Fri and Sat	none listed	6:00 am to midnight

Schedules change by year; check the Forest Service before your visit.³ ⁵ ⁴ ¹⁰

Three budgets

What your visit can cost

Lowest

On your own

City bus and a walk

Bus: $2 each way
Fee: $5 in summer
Parking: not needed

See the options

Guided ride

Glacier trolley

From the Goldbelt Tram

Price: from $79
Duration: 3 hrs
Rating: 4.49

See the options

Adventure

Canoe on the lake

Small group

Price: from $251
Duration: 4 hrs
Rating: 4.89

See the options

Decision helper

Do you need to pay?

Tap the plan that matches yours

I only want the view and a photo I want the exhibits and the film I travel with children under 16 I visit on a winter weekday

No fee

The grounds are open without a ticket.⁴

Pay the summer fee

$5 for ages 16 and over.³

They enter free

The fee applies from age 16.³

Expect it closed

Winter opening is Fridays and Saturdays.¹⁰

By 2050 the glacier is expected to be completely out of view from the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center at the southeast corner of Mendenhall Lake.

U.S. Bureau of Land ManagementSource 11

Opening hours through the year

The visitor center's hours change with the seasons, and they have changed from year to year, so treat any schedule as a guide and check before your day. For the 2025 summer months, May to September, the center opened from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Sunday to Friday, and stayed closed on Saturdays.⁵ A Saturday visit therefore meant the grounds and trails without the building.

In winter, from November to March, the center opens from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, except on federal holidays, and it opens only now and then in April and October.¹⁰ Winter visits can be beautiful, with fresh snow on the mountains and the lake frozen, but plan around those short opening days if the exhibits matter to you. On those days, the trails and viewpoints are still there for you even when the doors stay shut.

The grounds are a different story. The area around the visitor center is open from 6:00 am to midnight all year, so you can walk to the viewpoints early in the morning or in the long summer evenings when most tour buses have gone.⁴ Those quiet hours are often the best time for photos, when the light is soft and the paths are almost empty. Bring a headlamp in the darker months, because the paths are not lit.

Checklist

Paid and free at the glacier

Free to use

The lakeshore and most trails
The parking areas
The grounds from early morning to midnight

Paid in summer

Entry to the visitor center building
Free for visitors under 16³
Charged from May to September

Cost calculator

The cost of a guided visit

Set a tour and a head count to add up the guided options.

Glacier trolley3 hoursfrom $79 Canoe on the lake4 hoursfrom $251 On the ice5 hoursfrom $377

People 2

Total from$158

per traveler from $79

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Amounts start from the cheapest per-person price that GetYourGuide or Viator lists, converted at the ECB reference rate; the seller's checkout has the exact figure.

Video

Our Expert Guide to Mendenhall Glacier

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A short history of the place

The glacier carries the name of Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, after the geographic name was changed in 1892.⁶ Long before that the valley was part of the ancestral lands of the Tlingit people, and the glacier had other names, which you will see mentioned in the exhibits and on some of the signs along the paths. Those older names remind you that the valley had a long human history before the maps.

Mendenhall Lake, the meltwater lake in front of the ice, formed in the early 1900s, and the ice and the lake became part of the Tongass National Forest when it was established in 1907.⁷ Decades later the recreation area followed, and with it the idea of a place where anyone could come and look at a glacier up close without special gear. That idea still shapes the place: wide paths, clear signs and viewpoints built for everyone.

The visitor center opened in 1962 as the first of its kind in the National Forest System, originally designed for 23,000 people a year.⁸ It was renovated and enlarged in 1997-99, raising its capacity to 485,000.⁸ With some 700,000 visitors a year today, the building and the paths are busy in high summer, and an early start pays off.¹ Midweek mornings are usually calmer.

What a visit costs in total

If you are wondering what it costs to go to Mendenhall Glacier, add the transport to the fee. The cheapest combination is the city bus at $2 per adult each way, paid in cash, plus the visitor center fee in summer if you want to go inside.¹² ³ That keeps the whole outing remarkably cheap, as long as you have time for the slower trip and the walk from the stop.

The trolley tour sold on this site starts from $79 for the round trip from the downtown docks, with a guide, about 2 hours at the glacier area and free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. Driving yourself costs the rental and the fuel, while parking at the visitor center is free.¹³ For a family, the bus and the fee usually work out cheaper, while the trolley buys time and convenience.

Guided options on the lake and the ice cost more, because they add equipment and a small group. A canoe tour on Mendenhall Lake starts from $251, and a guided adventure onto the glacier starts from $377. The calculator on this page adds up a group total for you, so you can see the difference in one place. Remember that tips and snacks come on top of any listed price.

Is the glacier open right now?

The visitor center and the trails next to it, including the Nugget Falls Trail, are open, while the Forest Service is assessing the west side of the lake, according to Travel Juneau.¹⁴ The west side has been affected by flooding in recent summers, so trails there can close at short notice while the damage is checked and repaired. Ask the staff at the visitor center about any closures when you arrive.

The floods come from Suicide Basin, a lake held back by the glacier above the valley. Outburst floods there were first reported in 2011 and may recur every year while the glacier is present.¹⁵ They mostly affect the lake level and the river downstream, but they explain why some paths near the water close in late summer. Stay well back from the water's edge if the lake is high.

Before you go, look at the Forest Service notices and Travel Juneau for the day of your visit, especially if you plan a longer hike on the west side. For the classic visit, the visitor center, Photo Point and the walk to Nugget Falls, the current word is that everything is open and ready to welcome you. Enjoy the classic loop, and save the longer trails for a calmer, drier day.

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