Do we have enough time??

[cjankowski]

Is there enough time in Juneau to include all of the following???:

 

Panning for Gold & Salmon Bake (ship tour @ 4 pm); Mendenhall Glaceier; Fish Hatchiey; Mt. Roberts Tram; State & City Museums

 

We are in town from 11 - 8 pm. We will need to be back to ship for the gold/salman bake for 4 pm. Can we do the other stuff before the gold pan?

 

Should we return car before going on ship tour or should be park it and keep it for later as well? We would like to see / do as much as possible, but our family is okay with only whatever we can fit in a day. If we miss something it is not a deal breaker :)

[cjankowski]

Can anyone help out with timing of places / things? I would like to book the gold pan tour, but need to know if timing would work.

 

I come from a very little town that takes about 2 mins to travel from one end to the other, so I am just wondering about how far apart things are.

 

Thanks to everyone :)

[Shmoo here]

Can anyone help out with timing of places / things? I would like to book the gold pan tour, but need to know if timing would work.

 

I come from a very little town that takes about 2 mins to travel from one end to the other, so I am just wondering about how far apart things are.

 

Thanks to everyone :)

 

I think is was maybe only about 5 minutes from the ship to the tramway when we walked there. I'd allow at least 30 minutes at the top, unless you want to hike around a bit. And, it's possible that the tram may be closed (too foggy)

 

From the ship to the museum was around 15 minutes, maybe. And I'd allow at least a hour there. Maybe more if you like to read all the information about the displays.

 

Sorry, don't know how long to the glacier, but it's about 12 miles away.

[geoherb]

I don't think you have enough time to do everything you want to do. I suggest either skipping the ship's excursion and concentrating on the other activities, or skipping the car rental and do the things that are walking distance from the pier (or else skip them and take the bus to see Mendenhall).

[Keith1010]

You should return the car before the tour.

 

I would not rent a car either.

 

Keith

[cjankowski]

Thank you for your replies.

 

We MUST go on the pan gold excerustion, as that is the only thing our 12 yr old wants to do - LOL. But for the other items we do not need to see everything, but want to have the options if time is premitted. We will just see what we can and that is it. I just did not know how big the town was or how far apart items may be.

 

For the rental car - we felt it will make it easier for us, as my husband has MS and needs to take a scooter and/or cane. He can't walk very far at all. So we felt it would make it easier than trying to get on / off the bus with his scooter. We can just load it in the trunk and head out on our way.

 

Again, thank you for your help.

[Skai]

Just a suggestion, but I presume that you are planning to do the Gold Creek Salmon bake? Why not arrange with the company and see if you can just drive there yourself if you have a car?

 

It's literally right near the Fish Hatchery -- 1061 Salmon Creek Ln Juneau, AK 99801

 

You could hit up the Tram and the Museum downtown, then head out to the glacier. On the way back to downtown in the afternoon, stop by the hatchery before heading to the salmon bake.

 

Call 'em up and see if this is an option. Having a car will be so much nicer than being 'herded with the crowd' so-to-speak.

[Skai]

Upon further research, it appears that the gold panning site is actually up at the Last Chance Mining Museum -- 1001 Basin Rd Juneau, AK 99801 (nearer to downtown)

 

Once again though, perhaps it's possible to do one's own self tour. It might be worth it to do the research to see if one can do it on their own.

 

Good luck and have fun on your trip.

[slider728]

To be honest, I would guess that you do not have enough time.

 

The Tram is a short walk (depending on where your ship docks). It is on the cruise ship side of downtown. This is one of those where I would absolutely recommend skipping unless it is a nice day. If you can't see the platform from the parking lot, you aren't going to see a whole lot from on top of the mountain. Assuming you are not doing any hiking, by the time you buy your ticket, wait for the tram, go up, wander around a bit, come down, I would expect 45 min to 1 hour.

 

Assuming you hop right into your rental car, it is about 4 miles from the SE side of downtown to DIPAC (fish hatchery). Expect about a 10 minute drive. I did not recall seeing the date of when you are going, but if the fish are running, I think this is a pretty cool sight and is one that I highly recommend. I have not done the tour personally (I spend my time fishing there, not touring), but it is cheap and I hear it is cool. Without the tour, this is a relatively short stop. Expect to spend 15 to 30 min here.

 

From DIPAC to the glacier is probably about 10 miles. I would expect about a 15 minute drive. Again, assuming no serious hiking, if you want to get some photo ops in, visit the Visitor's Center, and hike to the falls, I would allot 60 to 90 min. Especially if the fish are running, I'd recommend going on the Steep Creek trail and grab a bench by the meadow, I'd say you have an OK chance of seeing a bear. I've had my best luck going in the afternoon, but when I was talking with the Ranger there last summer, she was saying that some guy was sitting there every day (injured foot evidently and he liked being there) and watched the bears. He found that smaller bears tend to come out when there are tour buses there, presumably because the big bear avoid people and thus the little ones learned that people around usually means no big bears to harass them (no idea how true this is, but that is what the Ranger told me. As I said, my formula is fish in the creek and afternoon). 60 min is probably enough to do all the major things at the glacier. 2 hours is not unrealistic, especially if you stop to watch for bears.

 

I cannot speak intelligently on the museums. I haven't been to them since I was a kid living in Juneau (probably 25 years). They are not huge, but I am guessing it would be easy to spend 1 to 2 hours there (just a guess, others can probably give you a much better idea).

 

So personally, with a 4PM tour, I think you have too much on your plate. I highly recommend the glacier and DIPAC (if you are going in July and August). The glacier is your best chance I know of to get a good view of a bear without a separate excursion (I would not count on seeing a bear, but I definitely recommend checking while you are there. You could always ask a Ranger if there are any current bear sightings as they communicate with each other and try to post a Ranger near where the bear is)

 

The tram is beautiful on a nice day, but it is expensive for what you get out of it. I call the tram an excursion of opportunity. If you have the time, the money, and the conditions are right, go for it.

 

The museums are nice, but I am a bit biased. I live in the Chicagoland area now and the museums around here have wonderful collections of NW Indian artifacts and animals from the area. If you do not have such things where you live, it very well might be worth the stop if that is your interest.

 

I think your day before your ship excursion is going to be a bit rushed, so I would plan accordingly. You still have to get your car, return it, and I imagine you might want to grab some food or a snack somewhere in there (I can direct you an idea of some grocery stores or pizza places if you want to do a grab and go lunch).

 

If you were family, I would recommend picking two stops from either the museum, DIPAC, or the glacier. I would recommend the tram only if time, money, and weather allows unless there is a huge interest from a member of your party.

 

Hope you enjoy your vacation!

[cjankowski]

Could you recommend a few eating places? That would be awsome.

 

We do plan to only do the tram if a good day and also the museums if time was allowed.

 

Thank you for explaining the time / distance for me. That really does help me out.

 

We will be in town on June 9th. I have learned that we can only do the panning excursion on a tour. You can go to the museum & buy pans for the creek if you want to try panning on your own, But you can not do the tour & bake on a tour itself.

 

Thanks again to everyone for your wonderful help.

[slider728]

Could you recommend a few eating places? That would be awsome.

 

We do plan to only do the tram if a good day and also the museums if time was allowed.

 

Thank you for explaining the time / distance for me. That really does help me out.

 

We will be in town on June 9th. I have learned that we can only do the panning excursion on a tour. You can go to the museum & buy pans for the creek if you want to try panning on your own, But you can not do the tour & bake on a tour itself.

 

Thanks again to everyone for your wonderful help.

 

Well, if you are going to be in town June 9th, I think that changes my opinion slightly.

 

It has been awhile since I've been in town that early in the year, but if memory serves me correct, that early in June, the salmon runs at DIPAC will be light at best. I do not even think the fish ladder will be open that early in the year. I imagine the tour will be running, but again I am not positive on that as I have not taken the tour myself. Without the salmon being thick enough to walk across, DIPAC is not quite as spectacular of a stop. It is probably still worth seeing, but you can probably view everything in much less time. I might suggest even planning the

 

That being said, between the two main roads in Juneau, Egan Drive/Hwy 7 which runs the long way (kind of East to West) and the Mendenhall Loop Road which is a loop as the name suggests, but is the North/South roadway between the airport and the glacier (follow the loop around, it'll link up with Hwy 7/Egan Drive out in Auke Bay).

 

If you are looking to just grab some quick snacks, Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer are both department store/grocery store combos right off of Egan Drive between Downtown and "The Valley" (the area the glacier is in) or where you would turn right on the Mendenhall Loop road to head to the glacier. A bit farther down, there is a strip mall just after turning right on Mendenhall Loop road (the next left after making the turn, I believe it is Mendenhall Mall Road, but could be wrong). That strip mall contains a grocery store (Super Bear) and a pizza place called Bullwinkle's which serves OK pizza (not as good as it once was, but is still OK). With as crammed as your day might be, it might be worth while to grab the number for Bullwinkle's and call in for a pizza pickup while on your way to the glacier (there is an ice cream shop called the Udder Culture there as well and a small Chinese restaurant. I'm not positive on the name, but I think it is called Little Hong Kong or the Hong Kong Cafe. I think they have good food personally).

 

One of my favorite restaurants in town is actually about the closest one to the cruise docks, the Twisted Fish. It is in the parking lot across from the Tram. A definite step up from a Denny's type restaurant, it is a good restaurant with a decent seafood menu. There are other things on the menu, but when I'm in Alaska, I eat fresh fish!

 

While not as convenient, located near the end of the "tourist" shops off of the main Road past the cruise docks is The Hangar On The Wharf. Nothing here is cheap (but nothing in Alaska is, a case of mass produced beer is over $20), they do serve excellent food and I think has a good balance of seafood to non-seafood dishes.

 

Past Fred Meyers but before Mendenhall Loop Road, there is a McDonald's and a Subway. Across from McDonald's, there is a mall with a restaurant called The Broiler (I think the name changed in the last few years to Rodfather's, I forget which the sign outside says). It is a respectable burger joint that has fairly good deep fried halibut.

 

There are some other places that are decent, but are a bit out of the way and probably aren't worth mentioning unless you are looking for something in particular. There is little in the way if chain restaurants in Juneau. Unless something has come in since last summer, McDonalds, Subway, Domino's, and Papa Murphy's is it.

 

If you are looking for something in particular, let me know, but those are the places what I would point out based on your travel routes and time.

[cjankowski]

Wonderful list of places to eat. Thank you.

 

Okay - was looking tonight and if possible maybe we will take an earlier pan gold excursion. That would give us more time after.

 

I see that the Mendenhall visitor center is open until 7:30. What time would the trails close? Not that we are big hikers or anything. Just a few photos and such.

 

Would we be better off going there later in the day? Just thinking that maybe that would be best for time.

[slider728]

Wonderful list of places to eat. Thank you.

 

Okay - was looking tonight and if possible maybe we will take an earlier pan gold excursion. That would give us more time after.

 

I see that the Mendenhall visitor center is open until 7:30. What time would the trails close? Not that we are big hikers or anything. Just a few photos and such.

 

Would we be better off going there later in the day? Just thinking that maybe that would be best for time.

 

I don't think the trails really close up at the glacier. It probably isn't wise to hike them after dark, but they don't lock up the trail entrances or anything. I usually stop by there every night while I'm in town and never had anyone say anything to me.

 

Personally, I like the afternoon to evening timeframe. That is usually when I have my bear sightings. As early as you will be there, there will be no fish in Steep Creek yet. Without fish, it'll be complete luck seeing a bear, but it can happen. I took this video in the meadow off of the Steep Creek Trail at the glacier about 5 PM on 6/23 last year:

 

 

However, there really isn't a bad time to go to the glacier IMHO.

 

I'm not sure what the trail conditions are like right now. That question I'd have to refer to someone who has been there recently.

 

The falls by the glacier is about 15 minutes walk each way. If you are interested, I can post a video if you want to see if you think it is worth the walk. I think it is :)

[cjankowski]

Please do, I would love to view it :)

[slider728]

Please do, I would love to view it :)

 

Here is a video of the falls and the glacier that I took June of last year. Hope you enjoy!

 

[centralcalicruzer]

Here is a video of the falls and the glacier that I took June of last year. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

Awesome videos! We have an excursion planned that ends at 1:45, it sounds like we would have plenty of time to head out to the glacier after that and still be able to catch one of the later buses back, does that sound about right? I'm told the buses run until 6:00, of course I wouldn't risk trying to get the last one, although we are in port until midnight. We would probably just do the hike to Nugget Falls and back, then pop into the visitor center if we had extra time. So if we got to the glacier between 2:30 and 3:00, we'd have a couple of hours there to hike to the falls, take photos etc. without worrying too much about missing the last bus.

[slider728]

... So if we got to the glacier between 2:30 and 3:00, we'd have a couple of hours there to hike to the falls, take photos etc. without worrying too much about missing the last bus.

 

I've never taken the blue bus personally (I have family in Juneau, so I have a car and such there to use). However, I think you are right that the last bus leaves the glacier about 6 PM. If you can catch the 2 or 2:30 bus from downtown, you should make the glacier by 3 I'd think. Two hours should be sufficient (unless you do happen across a bear and then it is easy to spend another hour watching it if it isn't moving too much).

 

Like I said, I think you'd have plenty of time if you can get out to the glacier by 3 PM or so. Worst case scenario, if you don't have any issues walking a mile or two, you could walk out to the Mendenhall Loop Road and catch the city bus there and make it back to the ship that way.

[andynalex66]

As previous posts have said the original itinerary is a bit ambitious.

Due to your husband's MS i think the car idea is your best bet as you can drop him closer to the visitor center and then go and park if you hit up Mendenhall.

It is really beautiful and I would pick that over the tram, hatchery and such.

Yes the salmon won't be running a bit too early still.

 

Also return the car before the next tour as you never know if something runs long and you will have time at the end. Enjoy your trip!