Jump to content

Mendenhall Glacier - Time needed for Nugget Falls Trail


hubofhockey
 Share

Recommended Posts

We will be in Juneau for a long day of 7:00 am to 9:30 pm and don't want to rush.

 

We ordered a taxi service (Evergreen) that will pick us up at 8:30 am. That leaves us time for breakfast on the ship.

 

Assuming it takes us 30 minutes to get to Mendenhall Glacier, is 9 am to 11:30 am enough time to hike the Nugget Falls Trail and see the Glacier and maybe stop in the Visitor Center? We would then take an 11:45 am taxi back to the ship.

 

We have a 1:30 pm 5 Glacier Seaplane Excursion and thought we could get lunch on the ship before heading out. Tentatively, we plan to eat dinner in port at Twisted Fish (6 pm) and walk around the port area before then.

 

My preference is not to start earlier than 8:30 am to head out to Mendenhall.

 

Thanks everyone for your help on the logistics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you have plenty of time. You can do another trail as well !

Open the SHORT WALKS AND HIKES guide in this link and you;ll see that the Nuggett Falls trail is listed as 2 miles RT and takes 1 hr . I think that's a pretty realistic time frame to include the hike and photos.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/about-forest/offices/?cid=stelprdb5400800

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
I was on a ship excursion and did it within the hour allotted time. Had to hustle but did it. That counts waiting in line for the bathroom.

 

You said you saw Mendenhall within the hour, did you hike to Nugget Falls as well as the Photo point trail?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You get good views of Mendenhal Glacier from Nugget Falls and there is also a higher photo point on the trail just before Nugget Falls. You can skip the shorter photo point trail if you are going to Nugget Falls.

 

Rather than going out to the photo point, you might go across the parking lot to the boardwalk by Steep Creek. At the right times, there are salmon in the creek. You may see a bear there too. I saw 3 bear cubs there last August.

 

The Trail of Time is very pleasant and worth doing if you have time.

 

Sent from my Pixel using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be in Juneau for a long day of 7:00 am to 9:30 pm and don't want to rush.

 

We ordered a taxi service (Evergreen) that will pick us up at 8:30 am. That leaves us time for breakfast on the ship.

 

Assuming it takes us 30 minutes to get to Mendenhall Glacier, is 9 am to 11:30 am enough time to hike the Nugget Falls Trail and see the Glacier and maybe stop in the Visitor Center? We would then take an 11:45 am taxi back to the ship.

 

We have a 1:30 pm 5 Glacier Seaplane Excursion and thought we could get lunch on the ship before heading out. Tentatively, we plan to eat dinner in port at Twisted Fish (6 pm) and walk around the port area before then.

 

My preference is not to start earlier than 8:30 am to head out to Mendenhall.

 

Thanks everyone for your help on the logistics.

 

We did the Nugget Falls trail at a leisurely pace, explored around the visitor center a little (including an almost 15 minute wait for the bathroom), and watched the video at the visitor center, in just under 2 hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went all the way to Nugget Falls and took a few pics, not sure where the Photo point trail is.

 

As you head to Nugget Falls, there is a Y split where you went right - take the left trail to Photo Point

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s been a couple weeks but the Nugget Falls trail seemed very short to me. It is ~10 minutes each way, and that was with kids. The photo trail is more like 5 minutes. The visitor center has about 15 minutes of exhibits if you read every placard and look through the telescopes. We didn’t have a bathroom wait inside the visitor center.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s been a couple weeks but the Nugget Falls trail seemed very short to me. It is ~10 minutes each way, and that was with kids. The photo trail is more like 5 minutes. The visitor center has about 15 minutes of exhibits if you read every placard and look through the telescopes. We didn’t have a bathroom wait inside the visitor center.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

10 minutes all the way to Nugget Falls? You must have been running!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for this...:)

 

you have plenty of time. You can do another trail as well !

Open the SHORT WALKS AND HIKES guide in this link and you;ll see that the Nuggett Falls trail is listed as 2 miles RT and takes 1 hr . I think that's a pretty realistic time frame to include the hike and photos.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/about-forest/offices/?cid=stelprdb5400800

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure when you're going, but make sure you check out the spawning salmon in the stream on the left (small parking lot area). There is another trail there you could check out as well.

 

thanks for the tip. I am looking at the map. The small parking lot is the one at the end of Glacier Spur Rd?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for the tip. I am looking at the map. The small parking lot is the one at the end of Glacier Spur Rd?

 

Based on the description, Vrybusy was suggesting going over to Steep Creek Trail - the solid magenta on the Forest Service trail map. That's the boardwalk by the creek that I mentioned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the description, Vrybusy was suggesting going over to Steep Creek Trail - the solid magenta on the Forest Service trail map. That's the boardwalk by the creek that I mentioned.

Gotcha! Thank you!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...