Guide · Without a tour

Can you go to Mendenhall Glacier on your own?

Can you go to Mendenhall Glacier on your own? You can, and plenty of cruise guests do. The real choice is between saving money and saving time, and how much walking and planning you want on a port day.

Check availabilityfrom $79 · no cancellation fee

Editorial team, mendenhallglaciertrolleytour.comUpdated October 16, 20267 min read12 sources

This guide's tour Mendenhall Glacier Trolley Tour from the cruise docks 4.5 (796 reviews) 3 hoursMeets at the Goldbelt TramAbout 2 hours at the glacier from$79per person Check availabilityFree cancellation until 24 hrs before start

Straight answer

01Yes, you can: The grounds are open to everyone, with no tour required.¹
02By bus: $2 for an adult, then a walk of 1.5 miles (2.4 km).² ³
03By car: A 12-mile drive with free parking at the end.⁴ ⁵
04On foot: Too far from the docks for a port day.
05Inside fee: $5 for the visitor center in summer, ages 16 and over.⁶

Yes, the glacier is open to everyone

You do not need a tour, a guide or a ticket to see Mendenhall Glacier. The land around the visitor center is public, and the grounds are open from 6:00 am to midnight all year.¹ You can walk the paths, stand at the viewpoints and take your photos at your own pace, and the only routine charge is the summer fee for going inside the visitor center building. Nobody checks tickets at the trailheads.

What a tour adds is transport, timing and commentary, not access. That makes the question mostly about logistics: the glacier is out in the Mendenhall Valley, not beside the cruise docks, and you need a way to get there and back before your ship sails. Once you have that sorted, a self-guided visit is easy, well signed and suitable for most ages and fitness levels. Signs and maps at the visitor center make the paths easy to follow.

The do-it-yourself route suits independent travelers, people on a budget and anyone who likes to linger at a viewpoint without a group waiting. It suits you less if your port call is short, if the weather is foul and you would rather not stand at a bus stop, or if you prefer someone else to watch the clock while you enjoy the ice and the lake. Think about which of those describes your day before you choose.

A day on your own

Docks to glacier and back by bus

Morning

Find the transit center

Walk from your terminal to the downtown bus station with the exact fare in cash.
On the bus

Ride to Dredge Lake Road

Routes 3, 4 and 8 stop there; ask the driver to call it.³
On foot

The bike path

About 30 minutes on a flat paved path to the visitor center.⁷
At the glacier

Photo Point and the falls

Start at the lookout, then walk to Nugget Falls if time allows.⁸ ⁹
Afternoon

Back to town

Walk back to the stop and catch a bus to downtown.

Can you walk there from the cruise ship?

Plenty of people ask whether they can walk to Mendenhall Glacier from the cruise ship, and the honest answer is no, not on a normal port day. The glacier is a 12-mile drive on paved roads from downtown, which is far too long to walk there and back with time left to enjoy it.⁴ Even fit hikers would spend most of the day on the roadside rather than at the ice. Treat the road as a drive, not a hike.

What you can do on foot is the last stretch. If you ride the city bus, you get off at Dredge Lake Road and walk 1.5 miles (2.4 km) on a flat, paved bike path to the visitor center.³ The city puts that walk at about 30 minutes.⁷ In dry weather it is a pleasant warm-up through the valley; in heavy rain it feels longer, so dress for it. The path is wide and suits strollers and wheelchairs as well.

Some cruise terminals are themselves a walk from the downtown bus station, so check where your ship docks before you plan the day. If you dock at one of the farther terminals, the walk to the bus adds time before you even leave town, and a shuttle or the trolley from the docks may suddenly look like the better use of your hours ashore. Your cruise line's port talk usually names the terminal the day before.

Compared

Doing it yourself or with a ride

Way	Cost	One way	Best when
City bus and walk	$2 adult	up to 1.5 hrs	long day, dry weather
Rental car	free parking	12 miles	you stay in Juneau
Taxi	agree before	door to door	small group
Glacier trolley	from $79	about 30 min	short port call

Fares, times and distance from the city transit page and Travel Juneau; tour price is a from-price.² ⁷ ⁴ ⁵

Your options

Three independent ways and one guided

Cheapest

Bus and walk

Dredge Lake Road stop

Fare: $2 adult
Walk: 1.5 miles
Time: up to 1.5 hrs

Compare

Flexible

Your own car

Glacier Spur Road

Distance: 12 miles
Parking: free
Pace: your own

Compare

Guided

Glacier trolley

From the Goldbelt Tram

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

Compare

Decision helper

On your own or with the trolley?

Tap the sentence that fits your day

We have a long day and like walking Our port call is short We have a rental car It is pouring with rain It is a Sunday evening

Go on your own by bus

$2 each way and a flat walk from the stop.² ³

Take the trolley

About 30 minutes each way, with a guide, from $79.¹⁰

Drive yourself

Free parking at the visitor center.⁵

Take a ride to the door

The bus leaves you with a walk of about 30 minutes.⁷

Check the last bus

The last bus back on Sundays leaves at about 5:25 pm.¹¹

The one-way trip with Capital Transit from downtown Juneau to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center can take up to 1.5 hours, which includes a walk of about 30 minutes.

Capital Transit (City and Borough of Juneau)Source 7

The city bus, step by step

The cheapest way to do the trip yourself is Capital Transit. A ride costs $2 for an adult, $1 for a youth aged 6 to 18 and nothing for children 5 or younger, paid in cash with the exact fare.² Routes 3, 4 and 8 serve the Dredge Lake Road stop, the closest one to the glacier.³ Tell the driver where you are going and listen for the stop announcement.

Allow plenty of time. The city says the one-way trip from downtown can take up to 1.5 hours including the walk.⁷ Double that for the return and it is fine on a long day in port and tight on a short one. If your ship stays into the evening, the bus is a relaxed and inexpensive choice that leaves you free to stay as long as you like. Take something to read for the ride.

Plan the way back before you set off. On Sundays the last bus to downtown leaves Dredge Lake Road at about 5:25 pm, and on other days the last one leaves at about 10:25 pm.¹¹ Buses back to town stop on both sides of the road, so ask the driver on the way out which side you need. Be at the stop a few minutes early, because a missed bus can mean a long wait. Note the stop numbers when you get off.

Checklist

Packing for a self-guided visit

Bring

Exact bus fare in cash
Rain jacket and a warm layer
Shoes for wet gravel paths
Water and a snack

Check first

Your ship's re-boarding time
The last bus back to downtown
The visitor center's hours that day

Cost calculator

If you would rather have a ride

Compare a guided ride for your party against going alone.

Glacier trolley3 hoursfrom $79 E-bike to the glacier3 hoursfrom $164 Glacier and whales4 hoursfrom $152

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

$9 Juneau Excursion: Mendenhall Glacier on a Budget

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Can you drive to Mendenhall Glacier?

Yes, you can drive to Mendenhall Glacier, and it is the most flexible way to do it on your own. Travel Juneau describes the route: Egan Drive out of town, a right turn onto Mendenhall Loop Road, which turns into Glacier Spur Road and ends at the visitor center.⁵ There is plenty of free parking on site, so you do not need to worry about tickets or meters. Arrive early in summer, when the lot fills with tour buses.

The catch on a cruise day is the car itself. You have to collect it, drive out, find the paths, drive back and return it, all inside your hours ashore. That works well for travelers who stay a night or two in Juneau, or for a family that wants to see more of the valley, and less well for a single short call when every quarter hour counts. Rental desks in town keep limited hours on Sundays, too.

A taxi is the in-between choice. You get door-to-door transport without the paperwork of a rental, and you can ask the driver to wait while you walk. Agree on the price and the waiting time before you set off, keep the driver's phone number and set a firm pickup time. Split between a few people, a waiting taxi can cost less than you think. Cash is the safest way to pay.

What to do once you are there

Start at the visitor center and the short Photo Point Trail, which ends at a lookout facing the glacier. Travel Juneau reckons the visitor center and that walk fit into about 90 minutes.⁸ If you only have a short time, this is the classic route, and it shows you the ice face across the lake with the mountains behind it. The lookout is accessible and takes only a few minutes from the building.

With more time, take the moderately easy trail to Nugget Falls, a 377-foot waterfall that drops onto the shore of the iceberg lake with the glacier in the background.⁹ From July through September the boardwalks along Steep Creek beside the visitor center let you watch sockeye salmon spawning, and now and then a black bear fishing for them.¹² Watch the boardwalk signs for any closures because of bears.

Inside the visitor center you pay the summer fee of $5 if you are 16 or older, and you get the exhibits, the film and big windows facing the ice.⁶ Outside, everything is free. Bring layers and rain gear, keep your distance from any wildlife and stay on the marked paths, which are there for your safety as much as for the plants. A small daypack keeps your hands free on the trails.

When a guided ride is the better deal

Going on your own is the cheapest choice, but it is not always the best value. 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. For that you trade a little money for a lot of certainty. You also get the stories that bring the landscape to life.

Private glacier shuttles normally take about 30 minutes from downtown, against up to 1.5 hours by bus and on foot.¹⁰ ⁷ On a short port call that saved time is the difference between seeing Nugget Falls and turning back at Photo Point. Tours built for cruise guests also take your re-boarding time into account when you book, which takes the worry out of the day.

A sensible rule: if you have a long day ashore, good weather and enjoy finding your own way, go independently and take the bus. If your call is short, the forecast is wet or you are traveling with children or older relatives, let the trolley do the driving. Either way you will see the same glacier, the same lake and the same waterfall. Pick the way that fits the day you actually have.

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