Mendenhall Glacier on your own OR shuttle? ($4 vs $90 transportation options from Juneau cruise port)

Hi there!

I’ve seen the Mendenhall Glacier on 5 of my cruise ship visits to Juneau. I’ve seen it in a bunch of different ways, including the budget-friendly $4 way and through a $350 guided excursion. I’ve done an easy walk to see it, a slightly more moderately difficult hike to see it, and even paddled across the lake to see the glacier!

The Mendenhall Glacier is the most popular glacier to see on land during an Alaska cruise, as it’s really the easiest. And you want to go see it before it’s too late! The ice appears to keep shrinking. On my first visit, I actually was standing next to a repeat visitor who was looking at it and saying, “bye bye glacier!”

The glacier is located on national forest land. It’s a part of the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area of Tongass National Forest.

Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States!

You can go and see the Mendenhall Glacier on your own from Juneau cruise port, or you can go and see it through an organized shuttle or tour through the cruise ship or by booking independently. There are dedicated Mendenhall Glacier shuttles and tours, and there are also combo tours that you might like to do.

I’ll let you know about all of these different options below! This is based on my experience and understanding. Your experience may vary!

My most recent visit to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center was June 2025.

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How to get to Mendenhall Glacier from Juneau cruise port

• Public bus: It’s the cheapest way, but requires a 3-mile round-trip walk and extra time in transit. I’ve gone to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center twice by bus, and it’s fine as long as you have lots of time in port and don’t mind walking!
• Glacier shuttle: This is the classic option to avoid extra walking. You’ll get a pick-up near the cruise port, and a drop-off at the visitor center parking lot.
• Private transportation: The ultimate convenience option to get your own ride to and from.
• Whale watching, waterfalls, and glacier combo tour: This is the most efficient way to see Juneau’s “big 2” in one day. You won’t need to coordinate 2 separate activities, and the pick-up will be near the cruise port.
• Canoe tour with landing: This was my Mendenhall Glacier active adventure tour of choice! You paddle out across the lake for a shore landing, and take a short hike across where the glacier used to flow… and then get a closer view of the glacier! You can also do a canoe-only tour without the hike.
• Walk-on-a-glacier helicopter excursion: The ultimate Alaska bucket list splurge. This is the one to do in order to actually step foot and walk across the Mendenhall Glacier!

More below on these options!

The public bus is $4 round trip

The cheapest way to get to the Mendenhall Glacier without a tour is by bus. I’ve been to the visitor center twice by bus, and it can be a reasonable way to get there, but it isn’t for everyone. There’s a lot of extra walking (and time) involved, but it’s only $4 round trip.

So yes, there’s a bus from downtown Juneau near the cruise port to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center… kind of!

The bus stop “near” the visitor center is actually not that close. So you need to be ready to walk a lot. Specifically, an extra 3 miles round trip, on top of the walking you’ll be doing around the visitor center… and to get to the downtown bus stop.

Cruise ships dock in downtown Juneau. From the cruise ship, you’ll walk 10-15 minutes to the downtown transit center bus stop. From there, you can take a bus to Mendenhall Valley. Once you’re on the bus, you want to pull the yellow cord to signal the driver to stop when the visitor center stop is coming up next. The “Mendenhall Loop Road and Dredge Lake Road” stop is the one for the visitor center.

I highly recommend using the google maps public transit option to navigate. I have found it very helpful for the Juneau bus system, which I’ve used to go to the visitor center, the West Glacier trailhead, and Douglas Island. (I’ve taken the bus in Ketchikan using google maps too, for Totem Bight State Historical Park.)

You do need exact change for the Juneau bus fare, which is $2 each way. (Confirm current prices.) I’ve gotten dollar bills from guest services on the cruise ship on Princess cruise ships, so I imagine you’d be able to do so on all cruise lines.

When you include all the extra walking and the bus ride, it might take close to 2 hours one way to get to the visitor center. If you don’t mind the extra time and walking, the bus is a perfectly fine way to see the glacier.

If you do end up taking the bus, don’t just walk the paved path to the visitor center. My video walkthrough shows a “hidden” trail to get there, which is more fun! I didn’t know about it on my first visit so I missed out. Instead of walking the pavement, you can go into the trees at the Tongass National Forest sign to start your hike immediately. If you want to do a good amount of hiking, you can add on the East Glacier Trail on your way to the visitor center.

For another true day hike, you may consider the West Glacier Trail, but this is in a different area compared to the visitor center. You can reach the West Glacier trailhead by bus as well, by getting off at the “Mendenhall Loop Road and Montana Creek Road” stop. (It’s also a long walk to the trailhead.)

This is a rainforest hike on the glacier side of the lake so you’ll get better glacier views compared to the visitor center. It’s typically a 4-6 hour hike, and I did this when I had all day in port, so I had no concern about making it back to the cruise ship in time. It was also a rainy day so I ended up with soaked feet since I was not wearing waterproof shoes. Prepare with rain gear just in case!

You can also do a Mendenhall Glacier guided hiking tour that goes to this side. This meets at the tram which is near the cruise port.

The glacier shuttle gives you 2 hours at Mendenhall Glacier visitor center

If the long bus ride and 3-mile round-trip walk from the bus stop sounds like too much for your port day, a Mendenhall Glacier shuttle is the easiest alternative.

There is no free shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier. Instead, there’s a shuttle that costs around $90 round trip, which will provide you with round-trip transportation to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center from Juneau cruise port. It picks you up right near the cruise port and drops you at the visitor center parking lot for a curbside drop-off. It’s about a 30 minute drive.

In 2026, a Mendenhall Glacier shuttle gives you 2 hours of time on your own at the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center area. This is the perfect amount of time to walk to Photo Point for the glacier view, and then do the full 2-mile round trip easy walk to Nugget Falls without feeling rushed.

The important thing to know is that these shuttles can sell out weeks in advance. A couple of years ago, the US Forest Service started limiting the number of commercial permits, which capped the total number of shuttle tickets and tours. So it’s best to book sooner rather than later.

Even if everything is sold out, you can still go on your own, as the limitation only applies to the tour companies.

I have a video showing you what you can do with 2 hours at the Mendenhall Glacier.

Whale watching and glacier combo tour

If you want to see both whales and the glacier with one day in Juneau, a whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier combo tour is the most convenient way to do it. Juneau is one of the best cruise ports in Alaska for whale watching, so it’s perfect to make it a 2-in-1 with whale watching and glacier.

Icy Strait Point is the other contender for best whale watching with the Icy Strait whale and wildlife tour. I’ve been on 4 whale watching tours in Juneau and Icy Strait Point and have had exciting whale encounters on each one!

The most important thing you need to know before booking a combo tour is to read the description and reviews carefully to check how much time you are given at the visitor center. I have seen some tour reviews that have complained of not having enough time to walk to the waterfalls. (It is enough time to walk to the glacier lookout though.)

And worse, you also need to watch out for the wording “glacier view.” For example, there is a “Juneau whale watching tour with Mendenhall Glacier view.”

In this context, a glacier view means a stop at the Brotherhood Bridge to see the Mendenhall Glacier, which is quite far away. This is totally fine if you are aware that’s what you’re getting and you are okay with it. It’s even great if you are looking for a dedicated whale watching only tour. (More time out on the water = more chances for exciting whale sightings!)

But if your goal is to see the glacier from Photo Point and walk the Nugget Falls Trail, a “glacier view” from the bridge won’t get you there. You need to make sure the tour is going to the visitor center.

Epic Mendenhall Glacier tours: Helicopter vs canoe

If your goal is to actually get close to the glacier (something the bus and shuttle can’t do!) you have to splurge on a helicopter or canoe tour! The biggest difference between these 2 is whether or not you actually want to stand on the ice vs if you will be happy with a closer view of it.

Walk-on-a-glacier helicopter tour

A helicopter tour is the way to actually walk on the Mendenhall Glacier, and there are 2 types.

There’s the glacier walk-about, where you’ll be flown to the glacier for a wild ice landing, and then you have time to walk around on the glacier ice that is literally thousands of years old!

Then there’s the dog sledding on a glacier. You’ll also get a wild ice landing, but this one will specifically be at a fun sled dog camp!

I’ve done both types in Alaska, except in Skagway cruise port. I generally think the glacier walk helicopter tour is better to do in Skagway since the weather tends to be slightly more reliable for flying. The dog sledding is better off in Juneau though, because the Skagway sled dog camp no longer includes the actual sledding on the glacier being pulled by dogs.

No matter where you book your helicopter tour, it’s always weather dependent! It is possible that your tour can be canceled, as last minute cancellations of flightseeing tours are not uncommon in Alaska. I know that would be really disappointing, so it’s best to mentally prepare for it as a possibility!

The other glacier for a helicopter tour in Juneau is the Herbert Glacier walk.

Mendenhall Glacier canoe tour

I did a Mendenhall Glacier canoe tour and it was amazing, but you won’t actually touch the glacier.

You’ll get outfitted in the provided gear and then paddle across the lake to get a much closer view of the glacier than you’d ever see from the visitor center.

But you stay on the water (for the canoe-only tour) or stand across from the glacier (the “ice adventure tour“). You may however have a chance to touch ice that came off the glacier! (No guarantees though.) There was ice from the glacier that fell into the water, and my tour guide grabbed a huge chunk from the water for the group to touch.

The canoe tour that I did was the Mendenhall Glacier ice adventure tour, and it was a completely different experience from the visitor center. We paddled as a group to a get to a shoreline closer to the face of the glacier. We made a wilderness shore landing to get out of the canoe and walk for a better land view of the glacier. It felt like we were getting out in a remote area. We walked across a rocky landscape of where ice used to be.

While I didn’t actually walk on the glacier itself, trekking across the wilderness trail felt like a true Alaska experience. I even told my guide that in order to really experience Alaska during a cruise, I feel like you need to do an excursion like this one! I count this as one of the splurge-worthy Alaska cruise excursions that I did.

What to see at Mendenhall Glacier

Once you arrive at the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center parking lot (aka shuttle drop-off), there are 3 main things to make your goal, which can be done with 2 hours of time.

Photo Point Trail: This is an easy paved walk that takes about 15 minutes round trip… or longer if you want to hang out and take in the views! This is the classic glacier view lookout. Do this first since it’s quick.

Nugget Falls: This is a flat 2-mile round-trip walk on a gravel path. You’ll see a sign pointing to Nugget Falls on your way to Photo Point, so once you’re done with the glacier view, you can follow the sign to get started to the waterfalls! You’ll want to spend some time walking around the base of the waterfalls when you get there.

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center: This is the best place to get an elevated view of the glacier. I thought the view from the top of the stairs was amazing. You’ll follow the path from the parking lot and end up at the visitor center. Do this last, so you have a better judge of time and you can spend the remaining time you have reading up about Alaska’s glaciers and wilderness.

👆 Photo Point Trail is a short paved path to a glacier lookout.

👆 It’s an easy flat walk on the Nugget Falls Trail to get to the waterfalls.

👆 The walk to the most famous waterfalls of Juneau starts at the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center.

👆 The visitor center is at the top of the stairs and you can see the Mendenhall Glacier off in the distance. There is also an elevator that can take you up.