Mendenhall Glacier recommendation from Juneau visitor's bureau

[Mjasp]

On 4/7/2024 at 10:46 PM, Aquahound said:

 

You got it made then.  Just drive there and park.  Parking is free and all the trails and views are free.  Enjoy! 🙂

You can't just get off the ship and get a taxi at the pier to Mendenhall Glacier and just pay the entrance fee yourself and are there taxi's waiting at Mendenhall that can just take you back to the pier, so you can just stay as long as you like?

[Aquahound]

28 minutes ago, Mjasp said:

You can't just get off the ship and get a taxi at the pier to Mendenhall Glacier and just pay the entrance fee yourself and are there taxi's waiting at Mendenhall that can just take you back to the pier, so you can just stay as long as you like?

 

Grabbing a taxi at the pier is usually pretty easy but not always from the glacier.  However, it's still small town rules.  Most taxi drivers will give you their phone # and allow you to call them when you are ready to leave the glacier

[Brandis]

We are renting a car for the day. How full does the parking lot get on cruise days? Is it better to go first thing in the morning or rather later in the day?

[wolfie11]

8 hours ago, Brandis said:

We are renting a car for the day. How full does the parking lot get on cruise days? Is it better to go first thing in the morning or rather later in the day?

The locals avoid the glacier when the cruise ships are in town and they are the ones who drive their cars there, so it’s usually pretty easy.  

[Gentle Traveler]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:25 AM, dopey1200 said:

Can you see the glacier from Nugget Falls? We're only going to have 90 minutes at the Mendenhall, but we're hoping to be able to walk to the falls. But I was under the impression that you can see the glacier from the falls. 

This was better answered by others who have been there.  We live near Mt. Rainier and are familiar with seeing glaciers so put it second on our trip there. We thought we would still have time to at least get to the Photo point.

[Glaciers]

15 hours ago, Brandis said:

We are renting a car for the day. How full does the parking lot get on cruise days? Is it better to go first thing in the morning or rather later in the day?

It is better to go first thing in the morning although if there is another ship in port before yours, you've lost the advantage.