The short hike from the visitor center to the glacier and the waterfall was beautiful. While you cannot get all the way to the glacier, it is protected at any rate, you are right next to a short but very powerful waterfall. I hiked back and entered the visitors center where there was a lot of information and photos of the glacier over the years. I consider Mendenhall Glacier and the visitor center must see activities in Juneau.

(Why do people go on a cruise with thousands of people, get on buses with hundreds of people to go to the same place and then give a place a bad review because there’s too many people?) This place is wonderful! While individual parking is limited, there are bathrooms just off the parking lot and also in the visitor center. There’s an elevator to the visitor center. The visitors center contains a lot of information including a movie. There’s also a gift shop. It’s an easy mile hike each way to Nugget Falls. My tip is to go off season. (There’s no entry charge. In the morning, I was the only one on the trails.) I advise calling ahead to confirm visitor center hours. The website doesn’t always have the most current information.

Absolutely gorgeous area. Saw a year fledgling bald eagle, no white head yet as well as about 10 other mature eagles on the drive in as well as at the location. There was a porcupine in the tree. He was a cutie. Must do for anyone there for a day or so. We took a taxi with Andy James with Juneau Taxi from the ship. He was an awesome tour guide. Cost not bad and we had a ride from the ship and back according to our schedule. Yes, you might go up into Glacier Bay and see glaciers there BUT nothing like this. You are much closer to them. Most wildlife we saw while there in October.

It's been a number of years since I've been inside the Visitors Center. I usually just hike around but had my niece and nephew with us and they had not been inside. Was great to look through the high power binocular to see the sheep out on the mountain. Couldn't see them with the naked eye. Loved the short movie that was playing. I wanna see it again so I can make note of the gal that was weaving as I forgot as soon as I walked out of the theater. Hahaha! I highly recommend a visit inside if you haven't in awhile like me. A lot to see and learn

We took Lyft from the pier to park. (20 min ride) and they could take us up close to the park. We heard /saw the city bus drops off about 200 yards from entrance. Tour buses will bring close too, but are more expensive. Not great service there —so plan on return ride or cell number to try call when ready. I didn’t see fees, no one asked when we arrived and we talked to park ranger. On way out we saw a $5 fee per person at parking lot. Not sure So please check and see. I have national pass so didn’t look into it more. We were told 2 hours would be enough in rainy weather. But if weather is nice give it 4 hours (or more). Then you can spend time at the visitor center or add’l hiking. We hiked out to glacier viewing area and also to Nugget Falls. Spent some time at visitor center to see how much ice has receded in last 200 years. 20 min video was good too. All that in 2 hours but it was rushed. Had to get back to ship.

Get out there early. We took LYFT out there, could not find any Uber rides when we went. Got out early, hike is easy to the falls. Such a great visit. Was able to get a Lyft back from glacier to dock. Save yourself about $25 per person by not taking a cab.

The visitor Center is about 30 mins from the dock. My wife and I took the "Blue Bus" from the tram station. They have a 15 min movie. The exhibits are good. The Rangers are helpful. We hiked out to Nugget Falls. The path is paved. The falls are very impressive close up.

The Hubby and I were taking an Alaskan Cruise and our first stop was Juneau. We had pre-booked a Helicopter Tour 7 months in advanced to fly over and land on the Glacier! We were looking forward to it but, due to inclimate weather conditions, several Helicopter Tour companies had to cancel their flights. This was the last week of June :( The next best thing was locating a shuttle to take us to Mendenhall Glacier and Visitor Center. There are several Vendors located on the Pier as you disembark your Cruise Ship. We booked a Trolley Shuttle for $80 per person to take us to the Glacier through Juneau Tours. Upon arrival at the Glacier, there is a walking path which takes about 10-15 minutes to get "close" to the Glacier. Not our planned Helicopter trip landing on the Glacier but, we still got to see the Glacier and it's surrounding waterfalls. After taking lots of amazing photos, stop off at the Visitor for a complimentary 12 minute movie about the Glacier. There is a small Gift Shop and clean bathrooms. NOTE: Make sure you wait at the correct pick up stop to be returned to the Pier. We waited at the drop off zone and missed our trolley. We quickly resolved the situation, called Juneau Tours who said they had been looking for us and we could catch the next trolley back.

We went to see Mendenhall glacier on our trip to Alaska. It was lovely to see the glacier and the lake along with the waterfalls. We walked to the photo point to get some lovely pics. I also walked up to the informative visitor centre. There are lots of hikes which we didn’t get a chance to do.

Viewing this glacier is a must when visiting Alaska. The starting and end point is the Information Center (where the only .toiletes are located!) There are several paths that you can follow around the surrounding area. We had enough time to take 2 routes. There is no cafe for refreshments. The Information Center gave the history of the glacier and the Lingit first nation people of the area.