Mendenhall question

[jac1976]

How long did you spend there?

 

My family and I are excited to go see the glacier and visitor center. I usually plan ship's excursions just for the ease of it (especially with 2 children in tow), but the longest one only gives you about 75 minutes at the Visitors Center which just doesn't seem like that long of a time to walk the trails and see the center. So I was planning on taking the big bus I keep reading about so we could spend a few hours there exploring.

 

But then I started to wonder if everyone else spends that small amount of time there because there isn't enough to keep us busy for several hours. Oh, and if it matters, the 3 year old will either be walking or in a backpack, and both kids are used to (and enjoy) hiking as long as the terrain isn't too rough.

 

I'd appreciate any opinions.

 

Thanks!

[Watson's aunt]

there is not much to see at the visitor's center BUT walking down the trail will take some time because like me in June you will be stopping along the was to take photo's when you get to falls you can stay as long as you want, Lots of photo to be taken. IF your lucky you will have sun But even not If its raining (like me) the sun did come out whre I got to falls. I thought it was a long walk but its a easy walk. I am not sure if I got offf and found another trail. Buts its all along the river and it was full of iceburgs. You might be there and see it calving./. I would not miss this and If I go back to Alaska (I will) I will take this walk again. You will meet a lot of people on trail and it will be fun for your family. You might also see some wildlife. Good luck

 

Mary

[Budget Queen]

It is simple to take the shuttle bus back and forth to Mendenhall. Since it is unknown how much time YOU are going to take, then this is the best option. It really doesn't matter what other people do, enjoy your time there as you wish. The Trail of Time is worthwhile, print out and bring the guidesheet with you, then you can also include the Nugget Falls trail.

 

Alternative- would be to just rent a car. It is also simple to drive around Juneau, you could then have several other areas of interest to consider stopping at.

[fleckle]

It is simple to take the shuttle bus back and forth to Mendenhall. Since it is unknown how much time YOU are going to take, then this is the best option. It really doesn't matter what other people do, enjoy your time there as you wish. The Trail of Time is worthwhile, print out and bring the guidesheet with you, then you can also include the Nugget Falls trail.

 

Alternative- would be to just rent a car. It is also simple to drive around Juneau, you could then have several other areas of interest to consider stopping at.

Totally agree. We have gone there a number of times over the years and sometimes spend a lot more time there than other times.

 

Take time at the visitor center to enjoy the sweeping views looking around from up above, sit down and watch the film in their auditorium, look at the exhibits, chat with the rangers, pick up a trail map, get closeup views through their telescopes, browse the gift shop and use the restrooms.

 

Even a 3 year old can walk the photo point trail.

If the weather is nice and your little one is up for a longer walk, the path out to Nugget Falls along the water is very nice and easy. (Where the path forks, the trail to the left is more scenic than the one to the right. Both go to the waterfall.)

Allow about an hour just for the walk out there and back to include time to stop for photos along the way.

 

When we were out there recently we stopped for a while to enjoy watching some children and a yellow lab playing in the water with the glacier behind them. I had expected that the water there would be icy cold, but they said it was warm! Others were splashing around right underneath the waterfall.

 

Don't lock yourselves into a predetermined time limit but leave your options open and wait until you are actually out there to decide how much time you want to spend.

[fleckle]

Oh, another nice advantage to renting a car, especially with children, is that you can bring along everything you think you might need and leave it locked in the car at the sightseeing stops instead of needing to carry it all around with you.

[BIG_Steve]

If a person is interested in seeing a few things in Juneau (Whale watch, Tram, shopping, etc...) then many find 60 minutes at Mendenhall to be enough. If the Glacier is more important to you, then a couple/few hours.

 

My advice would be to line up additional things to do just in case you don't spend as much time there as you're thinking.

[azappraiser]

Oh, another nice advantage to renting a car, especially with children, is that you can bring along everything you think you might need and leave it locked in the car at the sightseeing stops instead of needing to carry it all around with you.

 

Rent-A-Wreck has some reasonable prices for car rental. Don't let the name fool you... they're cars are reliable, they're just not "brand new."

 

I have a reservation with them for our Juneau port-of-call in September.

[Maryutah]

We too are 'Renting A Wreck" - you can pick up the car at the port (I believe the only rental place that is that close to the ships) - and then you can see other points of interest, including the Shrine of Therese' (http://www.shrineofsainttherese.org/) which is not on many tours, but we are excited to see it, w/of course Mendenhall glacier and the falls.

[Keksie]

The Shrine is beautiful. There is an eagle's nest with babies in it there.

[Budget Queen]

We too are 'Renting A Wreck" - you can pick up the car at the port (I believe the only rental place that is that close to the ships) - and then you can see other points of interest, including the Shrine of Therese' (http://www.shrineofsainttherese.org/) which is not on many tours, but we are excited to see it, w/of course Mendenhall glacier and the falls.

 

They no longer shuttle from the dock. They did move their office downtown. So it's either a long walk or short cab ride to Rent A Wreck. National is also at the AJ dock, 1 mile from the tram dock area. If a ship is in port, they do run shuttle buses. Some lines do charge.

[Budget Queen]

We too are 'Renting A Wreck" - you can pick up the car at the port (I believe the only rental place that is that close to the ships) - and then you can see other points of interest, including the Shrine of Therese' (http://www.shrineofsainttherese.org/) which is not on many tours, but we are excited to see it, w/of course Mendenhall glacier and the falls.

 

You may also want to include Chapel on the Lake at Alaska U, which you drive by.

[jac1976]

Thanks for all of your replies!

[bracket_mom]

We were at Mendenhall last week after a whale watch tour w/ Orca Enterprises. I expected we'd stay at Mendenhall longer than an hour and do some short It rained all day and despite wearing rain suits we had had enough after one hour. Part of the Nugget Falls trail flooded a few days prior and it was unpassable. I was bummed that we couldn't walk out to the falls but we did a couple of the short walks near the visitor center and that was fine. One of the park rangers told us they see bears every day going after salmon down by the river (and I really wanted to see one) but we decided it wasn't worth sitting in the rain for he chance a bear might appear.

 

Depending on the age of your kids, you are probably fine with 60-75 minutes there.

[cleophus12]

The bus is so easy and inexpensive and flexible that unless you really need a car for extra sight seeing, I would just go the cheaper route. We had a great morning at the glacier, took our time, walked the trails, and saw a bear by the river. Then we still had plenty of time to walk the streets in Juneau and even ate at the Red Dog (is that the name of it? I forget). It was a terrific day and we got to do everything we wanted.

[Alaskanb]

We were at Mendenhall last week after a whale watch tour w/ Orca Enterprises. I expected we'd stay at Mendenhall longer than an hour and do some short It rained all day and despite wearing rain suits we had had enough after one hour. .

We are also with Orca and having a drop off at Mendenhall. If the weather is lovely I can definitely see staying longer than an hour--if it's pouring then the hour scheduled will be more than enough!

[Maryutah]

You may also want to include Chapel on the Lake at Alaska U, which you drive by.

 

We will be visiting the university as my friend graduated from there and one of the reasons to rent the car - thank you for the suggestion!!