Juneau Shore Excursion: Mendenhall Glacier Canoe, Paddle and Hike
Description
The Glacier Canoe Paddle and Hike is our most sought-after adventure. Your journey begins at the Mendenhall Lake, where a canoe guide will provide paddle instruction. Equipped with gear, board your spacious canoe and set course for the Mendenhall Glacier. Witness Arctic tern nesting grounds and the cascading Nugget Falls as you glide past, with stunning views of the glacier in the distance. As the glacier draws near, keep your eyes peeled for freshly calved icebergs. Exit the canoes and hike the rocky terrain, gaining intimate views of the glacier and learn about its rapid recession. Explore this ancient ice age wilderness and marvel at its ice features, including crevasses, ice fall at the toe of the glacier, and other deep blue mysteries. Constantly changing, the glacier offers a unique experience each day. This tour does not venture onto the glacier, but delivers front-row views. After immersing yourself at the glacier, board the canoes and paddle back across Mendenhall Lake.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Guests will be transported from pick up location to gear warehouse. At the warehouse is the gear fitting, orientation, and chance to use restrooms.
Pull on your boots, and step into the cool waters of the peaceful Mendenhall Lake as you stare at the mighty Mendenhall Glacier in front of you. During this tour, you will be guided on a canoe paddle across a lake fed by the glacier melt. Once you round the rock peninsula, the face of the glacier confronts. Blocks of ice stand tall, waiting for the right moment to calve into the waters. Exit the canoes and hike the rocky terrain, gaining intimate views of the glacier and learn about its rapid recession.
De-gear and return transport back to the main office, followed by transport back to meeting location.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The “C” Sign, located near the cruise ship docks directly between Mt. Roberts Tramway and the green Taku Smokeries building, is our centralized downtown meeting location for all clients in the downtown area, including the majority of cruise ship passengers. Clients staying at major hotels in the Mendenhall Valley may be picked up directly from their hotel. Clients with their own transportation need to contact our office to arrange a meeting location.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have a high level of physical fitness
- Age minimum of 12 years or older only
- This tour requires a minimum of 4 to operate. If minimum requirement is not met, reservation is subject to change or cancellation
- Maximum weight 250 pounds
- All clients will be outfitted in 8 person or 12 person canoes, with 1 to 2 guides depending on the group size.
- All clients must be in physically fit condition and capable of paddling 5-6 miles and hiking about 2 miles roundtrip. All clients must know how to swim.
- With group departures we try to maximize our trip capacity and subsequently may need to alter the time to accommodate additional customers. If your trip's departure time changes we will notify you as soon as possible.
- Glacier Access and feature exploration: The Mendenhall Glacier is receding daily. Because the glacier is in a state of constant change, not all features may be present or accessible. We will explore the edges of the glacier safely from the bedrock. This tour does not include trekking on the glacier.
- A specific amount of time exploring the edge of the glacier cannot be guaranteed. The amount of time at the glacier is dependent on the group's pace and weather conditions.
- Clients must disclose information regarding pertinent medical conditions/history, allergies and any type of restriction or limitation that might introduce a higher degree of challenge on this trip.
- RELEASE OF LIABILITY/ASSUMPTION OF RISK FORM: Every participant on the trip must sign a Release of Liability/Assumption of Risk form at the start of the trip. Alterations and/or deletions to the waiver are not permitted.
- Due to the inherent risks involved, we do not permit pregnant guests to participant.
- You must include the following in the comments section when booking: raingear & shoe sizes for each passenger, (for adult men and women, S-XXL and youth, S-L) and any pertinent medical information. Smallest shoe size that can be accommodated is Youth 2 and largest is Adult 14.
- Maximum weight limit is 250 lbs per person
Reviews(76)
We had such a great time on this trip!! Heather was amazing and took great care of us! From the time she picked us up and we got dropped off the service was outstanding. To Stand so close to the Glacier was a once and life time experience. Even after losing a cell phone could not affect the experience. A must do if you have the chance!
All of the employees were very friendly and helpful. The whole day was a great experience. Rain gear, boots and snacks were provided. The guides gave great information on everything that we were seeing and what was there before.
Thank you for the great review! We’re so happy to hear you had a wonderful experience and that our team helped make the day enjoyable. We’re glad the provided gear and snacks were appreciated and that the information shared along the way added to your adventure. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback!
Mason and Issy were amazing. They were professional, funny and worked well together. My wife and I taking a canoe, paddling and standing in front of the glacier was such a great experience. One we will never forget and recommend to anyone. You will enjoy it.
Thank you for this positive review! Paddling to the glacier surely is an incredible experience. We hope to see you in Juneau again someday!
This excursion was the most amazing experience! I can't say enough about our guides Kayley & Mike! From the moment they picked us up at the port and took us to get our gear and then on to the canoe it was obvious what a professional, knowledgeable, and friendly team they were! The canoe ride was so peaceful and then as we got closer to the glacier - the temperature dropped and we were in awe of it's beauty. The time we spent enjoying a snack and just enjoying the beauty of the glacier was only exceeded by the hike we did to get even closer! Then the canoe trip back and getting so close to the falls was just spectacular! I would rate this company, the guides, and the whole experience a 10 out of 10 and then even more. Thank you Kayley and Mike for an amazing time - memories for a lifetime for sure!
Thank you so much for this review, we're so happy to hear your trip with Kayley and Mike went well. We're glad you made us a part of your Alaska trip, and hope to see you again soon!
We had such a fantastic outing with our guides to the Mendenhall Glacier! The guides were fun and cared about our experience with them.
This was an AMAZING trip! I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to write this review that I forgot our guides' names, but they were fantastic (9/20/2024 at 8:30am if it helps get them the kudos they deserve). The canoeing was enough work to feel like an adventure, but not intimidating at all, and we felt like we were in great hands as we learned how to work together to get about 3 miles down the lake from the launching point. We had fabulous close views of both Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier from the water. Once we landed, we had time to take photos, eat snacks, and enjoy some hot beverages toted out for us before a short hike to learn the history of glaciation in the area. We got so lucky with weather, and the lake was like glass for our paddle back. Absolutely no regrets about this tour- if you're considering it, do it!
The Glacier was stunning, the scenery was amazing, and our guide Josh was unreal. He was informative, high energy, encouraging, and made our excursion memorable - would book with ABAK again for sure!
Thank you for your incredible review! We're so glad to hear that you had such an amazing experience on your glacier excursion. Josh is truly a fantastic guide, and we're delighted that he made your trip so memorable. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back to Alaska in the future!
Our guide Ian was engaging, knowledgeable, and really friendly! He knew so much about Juneau, and Alaska, in general and was great at teaching us the best way to canoe! There were four of us canoeing and Ian took us close out to Nugget Falls and then over to a “beach” right by the Mendenhall Glacier. We hiked around for the absolute best view and had our snacks (provided by them, which were excellent, btw) and rested for a minute. The rocks on the beach were amazing and I could have spent hours just looking at the rocks! This tour is worth every penny and has been a highlight of our cruise so far!
Thank you for your wonderful review of your tour with Ian! We're thrilled to hear that he provided you with such an engaging and informative experience. We appreciate your recommendation and hope to see you again soon!
This was a great adventure for us. The canoe trip across the lake was 3 miles each way. It was work but totally worth it. We were so close to Nugget Falls we could feel the mist and we were able to get close enough to Mendenhall Glacier to get great pictures.Dan and Ian were great guides and the group we were with was fun. Highly recommend!
Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the canoe trip across the lake and the opportunity to get up close to Nugget Falls and Mendenhall Glacier. We appreciate your recommendation and hope to see you again soon!
Our party of 4 thoroughly enjoyed the Mendenhall Glacier canoe, paddle and hike trip with our guides Dan and Hallie. The paddle portion was totally doable. We saw Nugget Falls up close and personal -- any closer and we would have been caught in the falls! The hike near Mendenhall was informative and provided plenty of time for photos. Our group is so pleased that we chose this trip rather than just going to the visitor's center since we got to see so much more of the receding glacier.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your wonderful experience with us! It's fantastic that you were able to get so close to Nugget Falls and appreciate the beauty of the receding glacier. We hope to see you and your group back in the future!
