Rafting Mendenhall Glacier

Juneau is the state capitol of Alaska and I learnt this as part of my trip. This is my second trip to Alaska but visiting Juneau for the first time via cruise. Juneau is not accessible by land and is surrounded by water and giant mountains. Airplanes, cruise ships, boats are the only options to access this city. Juneau is one of the most popular destination of an Inside Passage cruise when traveling within Southeast Alaska.

You will see the city crowded with tourists mainly during summer time. It is also a great sight to watch many cruises docked in the city of Juneau when you step into the city. Just like Skagway city, Juneau is also very popular because of the gold history in this place.

Juneau is very popular for many outdoor activities and offers several tour options for visitors. The most common attractions include gold history, whale watching, zip line, kayaking, glacier, ice caves and city tours. So what would be the top most attraction ?. This depends on many factors:- duration of stay, weather conditions, tour cost and your group’s interest. Most cruise ships stop in Juneau for atleast 8 to 10 hours and you might want to pick one or two attractions based on your available time.

My best picks in Juneau

Mendenhall Glacier – This is one of the top attractions in Juneau and there are different ways that you can get close to this glacier. You can see this glacier by helicopter, dog-sledding tours, kayak and rafting tours. Helicopter and dog sledding would give you a closer look than any other modes. It is the most expensive one as well ranging between 300$ – 600$. If you are doing the dog sled, you are likely to spend close to $550. We skipped the helicopter attraction as we had the helicopter tour of Mt.McKinley during our first land visit to Alaska. If you have never been to a glacier in Alaska, I would highly recommend doing either Mendenhall or Mt.McKinley glaciers. If you do plan a helicopter ride, please book this in advance and there is a very remote chance that you would get a ticket if purchased on the day of your travel. Also this is a weather permitting attraction and totally depends on mother nature.

Glacier Rafting/Kayak – For those who want to see the Mendenhall Glacier from the water, glacier rafting or kayaking would be another option to mass of ice sheet and experience other scenic views. There are bus tours available as well and you would probably get to see the same view from a raft or kayak. But rafting or Kayak is more fun and adventurous than a bus tour in my opinion.

The Glacier Rafting tour is a 3.5 hour total duration. You will basically glide across the iceberg studded lake with the glacier ranging 1.5 miles wide and is the most famous part of the massive Juneau Ice field.

Unlike the traditional white water rafting, it is is not required for you to do any rowing. There is a guide for every 9 people per boat and the guide takes care of all the rowing. It is totally safe and the tour group provides all the gadgets needed for the tour. The rafting is done across a six mile route that starts with calming water followed by Class II and III whitewater rapids.

You can relax and enjoy the scenic views while the guide narrates all about the glacier. In our group none of us knew swimming and I was skeptical to take this ride until the very last minute i stepped into the boat. Our guide was awesome and talked about the native fauna and flora of the area.  He explained that for the most part they navigate around fallen logs and things to keep the river as natural as possible.

As we entered into our second part of the rafting that involved fast rapids, it was totally fun mixed with faster heart-beat and slight fear that popped here and there :-). You will feel a bumpy ride with water rolling and light splash of water especially for those seated in front rows.

This was our first whitewater rafting and one of our long pending activity checklist as well. I have personally gained some confidence in exploring more rafting rides in future after the Mendenhall Glacier Raft tour.

Mount Roberts Tramway – This is one of the cheapest option to see the glacier. The tramway takes you to the visitor center where you can either hike down or see the glacier from the visitor center. This is located few blocks away from the cruise docking station. There is a free shuttle from your cruise point to the Tramway place.