Good news! Apr 5, 2018 - Explore Marti Clark's board "Mendenhall Ice caves" on Pinterest. The Mendenhall Glacier is a 13-mile-long river of flowing ice. Pro-tip: stay alert for potentially numerous bald eagle sightings along the highway! The Mendenhall Glacier can be seen from the visitor center on Glacier Spur Road. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Getting to Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves August 15, 2015 September 3, 2015 Tracy 3 Comments After reading many forums and blogs, I’ve came to the conclusion that the Mendenhall Ice Caves has collapsed. Photograph: Naphakm/Getty Images. Of all the Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau is home to, you’re bound to find one that will amaze! These, dear friends, are the Mendenhall ice caves in Alaska. This shrine to the patron saint of Alaska sits on a small tidal island and was built from the land’s own beach stones. Alaska Shore Tours donates 5% of profits to support Alaskan charities. Want a more customized experience for your family or group with your own personal guide and more time to explore? Think you want to spend more time on the glacier or have a more personalized and customized experience for your family or group? Update May 2020: The caves appear to have melted away for the time being, and maybe longer.Â. As you venture inward, it’ll be impossible not to notice the supreme beauty that surrounds you. Our extended Alaska glacier tour gives you ample time to get the best pictures, get your full of glacier water, and do a little dance on the glacier ice … But there’s magic in the Mendenhall Ice Caves, where water runs over rocks and under frozen bright-blue ceilings inside a partially hollow glacier. The Mendenhall Glacier has receded almost two miles since 1958, while previously it had receded only 0.5 miles since 1500. Watch the famous Nugget Falls grow in scale and grandeur as you paddle closer, passing icebergs with Arctic Terns perched atop like silent sentinels. For more information about journeying through the Inside Passage! Thank you for commenting. Mendenhall Ice Caves are the stunning blue ice caves within the Mendenhall Glacier, in the Mendenhall Valley, only 12 miles downtown Juneau in southeast Alaska. See more ideas about mendenhall ice caves, mendenhall, ice cave. See some of the most charismatic creatures that roam Alaska's rugged landscapes alongside an expert bear biologist. Customizable & personalized to your groups’ specifics interests, including photography, proposals, weddings, additional glacier or ice cave exploration, etc. This is a bit early in the season and is dependent on the conditions which are not possible to predict very far in advance. Here are the options: Even from a distance, the Mendenhall Glacier is a stunning sight to behold! Mendenhall Ice Caves The Mendenhall Glacier ice caves are among the world’s most stunning, with their eerie, swelling blue domes that resemble the underside of a rapid river, flash-frozen. Please click below to consent to the use of this technology while browsing our site. Ice caves make up its surreal interior. Keep your camera easily accessible as you navigate around the peninsula to catch the majesty of Mendenhall Glacier right in front of you! By far one of the most challenging and rewarding Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau has available! Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. These incredible experiences go quickly. Juneau is the port for glaciers and whales! Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier Combo, Whale Watching, Glacier, Juneau City Tour, Your Guide to Inside Passage Weather in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, The 10 Best Alaska Shore Excursions of 2018, Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan Alaska Map and Walking Guide. Hundreds of enormous icebergs drift through this waterway every year. The center is open year-round and receives close to 500,000 visitors each year, many coming by cruis… Mendenhall Ice Caves, Juneau, Alaska Mendenhall Ice Caves . The Mendenhall Glacier is a 12-mile-long glacier in the Mendenhall Valley, only 12 miles from downtown Juneau in southeast Alaska. If you’re thinking about booking one of the incredible Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau offers, my best recommendation is, just do it! ‘A yawning mouth of darkness carved by a torrent that thundered down from a nearby mountain’ – Mendenhall ice cave. Check. No purchase necessary. Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves in Juneau, Alaska These spectacular natural phenomena inside a glacier are worth the kayak ride and short hike to reach them. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. Here, you can still see the glacier, take amazing photos, and even hike out to Nugget Falls. So what if your cruise ship schedule doesn’t allow you time to complete one of the more rigorous Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau has? Some of the most incredible, beautiful, and strange places in the Atlas. Have your camera’s ready no matter which glacier tour you choose! The glacier originally had two names: Sitaantaagu (“Glacier Behind the Town”) and Aak’wtaaksit (“Glacier Behind the Little Lake”). Are there any glacier treks/Ice caves available in April 2020? Once you’re all geared up with the necessary paddling equipment and in the canoes (each canoe holds either 7 or 12 guests plus a guide) be ready to paddle for 5 miles and sit in the canoe for up to 3 hours. Specifically about 12 miles from downtown Juneau in southeast Alaska. Up to an additional hour of tour time (9 hours vs. 8 hours), Allows children as young as 8 years old to participate (vs. 10 years old on public). It is completely overwhelming. Check (if possible). Adventure? If hiking 8-10 miles roundtrip doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, keep reading to learn about other Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau offers! The ice caves are in part a function of this glacial melting. Inside the glacier are the stunning blue ice caves, accessible only to those willing to kayak to the edge of the ice and then climb over the glacier. The ultimate Juneau tour trifecta! Your guides on the Paddle & Trek will determine whether the caves are safe to enter. Traffic across Mendenhall Lake to and from the face of the Mendenhall Glacier and a nearby ice cave was heavy Feb. 16, 2019, just as it has been most weekends since freeze-up. From colors like aqua to cobalt and sapphire, these caves will show you “50 Shades of Blue” (If you know what we mean). The famous ice cave is an approximately 12-mile-long glacier in the drainage area of Mendenhall River in the U.S State of Alaska – Mendenhall Valley. The most famous Alaskan ice caves are located under Mendenhall, Root, Spencer, Matanuska, and Kennicott Glaciers. As such, feel free to check out the center & learn about the glacier, venture out to Nugget Falls, and of course, take gorgeous pictures with the glacier as your backdrop. One of the 38 glaciers that emerge from the 1500 square mile Juneau Icefield, the Mendenhall … Want to propose to your significant other in the Mendenhall ice caves or even get married atop the glacier??? No need to start purchasing your own ice trekking equipment yet, as we’ve got you covered with our Mendenhall Glacier tours in Juneau! Once inside, you’ll have ample time to take photos, stand entranced at the mesmerizing display of lights and colors, feel the cool, glass-like surface beneath your fingers, even lick it if you want (on second thought, maybe not!). We will be cruising the Celebrity Millennium on July 2018 to Alaska and Juneau is our third port (jun 3). Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Expert guides start off your adventure with a narrated ride to the Mendenhall … Southern Ocean waters and glacial forces transform the Antarctic ice into these stunning bridges and caves. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a leisurely Sunday afternoon paddle though. To keep things simple, when describing the Mendenhall ice caves, we mean a “cave” that is formed within a body of ice (usually a glacier) as water flows through the glacier and forms a passageway. The Mendenhall Glacier has receded almost two miles since 1958, while previously it had receded only 0.5 miles since 1500. A stunning silver lining to global warming's gloomy cloud. | More Info, FAQs  ⎜ Policies ⎜ Contact Us ⎜Privacy Policy ⎜About. Answer 1 of 25: Hi everyone! Please give us a call at 844-626-9600 to speak with a reservations agent so that we may help you plan your ideal itinerary! Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. The absolute most beautiful cave I have ever been in. Up to an additional hour and a half of tour time (8 hours vs. 6.5 hours), Paddle at your own pace in state-of-the-art tandem kayaks. What tours will get me to the Mendenhall ice caves? Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. From there you can take trails to the ice caves. It’s better to order a tour with an experienced guide (usually offered from July till September). Am I guaranteed to see the Mendenhall ice caves? Be one of the few to paddle across the Mendenhall Lake and explore on the Mendenhall Glacier on our 5.5 hour Mendenhall Glacier ICE Adventure. On your way out of Juneau to Auke Bay, take an extended narrated tour through the Capital City, pass the famous (or infamous?) Add the fact that it’s also the state capital and you’ve suddenly got more things to see and do than time to take it all in – or do you? If our guides locate a glacier ice cave, you'll be able to explore its stunning blue walls and ceiling under safe conditions. Once you’ve hit the shore next to the Mendenhall Glacier, you’ll begin the glacier trekking portion of the day. The Mendenhall Glacier Trek is a great way to explore the glacier, the ice caves, and the terrain created by it! Mendenhall Glacier is a spectacular 12-mile-long glacier near Juneau, Alaska. Hi Jose! Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Sadly, this Juneau glacier is retreating increasingly fast as climate change warms the ocean. Select your cruise ship and we’ll display only the tours that work with your Experience the best of Alaska on our hiking, canoeing, and adventure tours! I simply couldn’t wrap my head around the ethereal beauty of the caves! The first part of the three-and-a-half-mile trek to through the Tongass National Rainforest to the Mendenhall Glacier starts off gently and then gradually climbs upward until the final and steepest ascent (rock scrambling included!) Our all-inclusive tour begins at the cruise ship docks in downtown Juneau. © 2020 Atlas Obscura. Be assured though, if there is an ice cave open, accessible, and declared safe to enter by the guides (who are highly trained to recognize signs of stability or weakness within the cave), then you too can experience this phenomenal, icy “cave of wonders”. And don’t think we forgot about the Mendenhall ice caves! Worried that you might slow the group down, or, on the flip side, that the group might slow you down? They can range in size from small, barely-squeeze-through tunnels to huge crane-your-neck-to-see-it-all caverns. The ice caves are in part a … Winner will be selected at random on 01/01/2021. With trekking pole in hand you’ll navigate your way over large, loose rocks, muddy glacial silt pits (ask your guide about “glacial facials” on the way back!) It first formed in the Juneau Icefield, which is over 3,000 years old. In addition, you can also pair it with a whale watching tour or a Juneau city tour, or both! A rare chance to get up close and personal with a 13-mile ribbon of ice near downtown Juneau. Are you an avid photographer who wants time to capture that perfect shot? Ice cave tours usually run from July to September. (Photo by Skip Gray) Once your back downtown, take a ride up the Mt. Located just a short drive from downtown Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area is perhaps Juneau’s most recognized natural feature. Mendenhall Lake fronts the glacier at the terminus, and the ice extends 150-250 feet under the water. Stretching to a length of 12 miles, this glacier is located in Mendenhall Valley. Liquid Alaska Tours operates Mendenhall Glacier tours in Juneau, Alaska. See more ideas about Mendenhall ice caves, Alaska travel, Alaska cruise. I would just google “mendenhall glacier ice caves guided tour” and compare a few companies and prices. The network of cerulean ice caves is what makes Mendenhall Glacier so unique and special. Expect to spend approximately 1-2 hours exploring the glacier before returning to the canoe. There are scant few places where you can experience every stage of the water cycle at once. If visiting the ice caves is on your to-do list for Juneau, here’s a handy “know before you go” guide. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Learn more! The Ice Caves located at the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska are natural ice formations tucked away in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Laurie Craig is a retired naturalist with the Forest Service. It’s a well-known fact that Mendenhall Glacier has been receding at an alarming rate over the past decade, which has brought both beautiful and heartbreaking changes to the glacier and surrounding landscape. Reviewed September 23, 2012 . May 14, 2016 - Explore Jayden W's board "Mendenhall Ice Caves" on Pinterest. If conditions are judged by the guides to be sufficiently safe and ice caves have formed, your trek across the massive 13.6 mile-long river of ice will … Rated as one of our most strenuous tours, be ready for a full 8-hour day of hiking and glacier trekking. Check out all of the adventurous Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau offers below: Even when you don’t see ice caves, these glacier tours will take your breath away! All rights reserved. The lake is used for ice skating during the winter as it is covered with thick ice. I took photo after photo, trying to capture the magic, and then paused, lowered my camera, and just stood in awe, marveling at the dynamic canvas before me, letting it all soak in (and trying not to think about the hundreds of pounds of ice suspended above me!). Mendenhall Glacier is a very popular tourist destination, conveniently located just 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Alaska, so if you happen to be in Juneau or are planning a trip there, a visit at least to the glacier is a must. They’re found in Southeastern Alaska’s rainy Tongass National Forest, but once you arrive you might think you’ve somehow traveled … These popular Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau offers can also be booked as private tours! and through a stream to reach the glacier. Totally worth the Kayak trip in and the ice climbing over the Glacier. McGinnis or the Towers. This exclusive tour is the only one with permits to venture across Mendenhall Lake and right onto the glacier itself, allowing you to spend up to two hours exploring the ancient ice! So, go above and beyond the ordinary and make it extraordinary! Let’s look at a quick breakdown of what these tours offer over their public equivalents: Very Important Note! If you still want an active, exciting, jaw-dropping glacier tour without an intense leg workout, then you’ll definitely want to sign up for the Mendenhall Glacier Canoe Paddle & Trek! Which Alaska Zipline Tour is Right for Me? 2. Anytime you’re out exploring the Mendenhall Glacier or Mendenhall ice caves, it’s always best (and safest!) Just Hanging out in a Mendenhall Ice Cave on the Glacier Canoe Paddle & trek! Mendenhall Glacier is long about 12 miles (19 km) and it is located in the Mendenhall Valley about 19 km from the town Juneau in the southeast U.S in Alaska.There is Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center which is part of the Tongass … Juneau Shore Tours Reservations • 1 844 626 9600 • We set out to look for the Mendenhall Glacier ice caves, which were apparently hard to locate. Launch from Auke Bay and spend two hours on the water searching and seeing humpback whales, and, if you’re lucky, orca whales! People everywhere are finding ziplining, Taste of Nature Kayak & Gourmet Food Adventure, Going for the Gold: Panning and Dredge Tour, Private Wildlife Photo Safari, Beachcombing, and More, Private Wilds of Sitka Sound Expedition by Boat, Our Top 9 Favorite Alaska Excursions for 2020, 8 Things Your Cruise Ship Won’t Tell You About Shore Excursions, 7 High-Demand Alaska Cruise Tours You’ll Want to Book Early, My Alaska Travel Tips: How to Get the Perfect Alaska Cruise Photos, Mendenhall Ice Caves & Beyond: Juneau Glacier Tours Explained. Mendenhall Ice Cave is one of the most attractive places in the Mendenhall Glacier. They can range in size from small, barely-squeeze-through tunnels to huge crane-your-neck-to-see-it-all caverns. Known as “glacier blue,” this bright color happens when the air is squeezed from the ice and snow as it freezes. As this river of ice continues to change, ice caves are formed and can last for months, weeks, or only a matter of days before melting and collapsing. For this reason, we never guarantee visits to, or entrance into the Mendenhall ice caves on any tour. The Ice Caves under Mendenhall Glacier. Skip the whale watching and head straight to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Then, as you exit the downtown, enjoy the scenery as your guide delivers you to Auke Bay or Mendenhall Glacier. We know the selection of glacier tours can be overwhelming, so we’ve put together a list to make it easier! The dancing ombre of blues throughout the ice from aqua to sapphire to cobalt captivated me. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Offer subject to change without notice. Due to the exclusivity of these public & private tours, small group sizes (6:1 client to guide ratio), and the high demand to visit Mendenhall Glacier and explore Mendenhall ice caves, these tours fill up extremely fast! Not interested in whales? For a full description of what an “ice cave” is, check out our “What’s the Deal with Glacier Ice Caves?” blog. To learn more or withdraw consent, please visit our cookie policy. Arrival time is 9 am and departing at 9 pm. Or what if you’re content admiring the glacier from afar and want to take advantage of other popular attractions in Juneau? Hands down one of our most popular tours! For sure! The Mendenhall Glacier Trek Tour gets you up close and personal with the glacier on this challenging, full-day hiking tour that can culminate right on the ice. You type “Alaska shore excursions” into google, trying to figure, If you’re heading to Alaska on an Inside Passage cruise, you know that it’s hard enough work even, Ziplines are popping up all over the place and Alaska is no exception. There are still more popular Mendenhall glacier tours Juneau can offer! That said, accessing them is no easy feat. Rated as one of the most popular Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau has, this tour trades in hiking boots for rain boots as you paddle across Mendenhall Lake. Fun? For more ideas on things to do and places to eat in Juneau, check out JUNEAU BLOG POST. We would love to see the Mendenhall Ice Cave … Like an astronaut stepping on the moon, you’ll explore this hauntingly beautiful and otherworldly landscape for approximately an hour with your naturalist guide. See. Many people from all around the world come to Alaska to see this natural phenom enon. You need an experienced guide. On top of a sheet metal business in Juneau stand nearly a dozen charming Wizard of Oz statues. The caves come and go as mother nature chooses and are accessible only to the most adventurous of travelers. There’s simply nothing else like it. If you said yes to any of those questions, then the exclusive Private Mendenhall Glacier Trek or Private Kayak Paddle & Trek might be the perfect tours for you! Glaciers are dynamic, which means they are always changing. Our glacier treks are scheduled to begin operating May 1st, but we do have helicopter glacier treks beginning the last week of April. Whereas the Juneau Ice Field, from which the Mendenhall Glacier and the Mendenhall Ice Caves emerge, appears as a vast white wasteland, the inside of the ice caves is a spectacular, brilliant blue. Great weekend trip with Piriya, Nae, Pla and Ter! Images of the caves circulate the internet with such captions as “otherworldly” and “surreal,” but “shrinking” and “fleeting” could be used as well, as this glacier creates incredible ever-changing landscapes while we watch it melt away. The U.S. Forest Service doesn’t monitor the ice caves or the thickness of the ice on the lake. It is 1,800 ft. deep and a half-mile wide and even though it is the most visited glacier in Alaska, most people only see if from afar. Keep a sharp eye out for bald eagles, the occasional beaver, and even mountain goats. How cool would it be to see glaciers and whales in the same day? What’s the advantage of booking a private tour? Juneau is situated at the base of the 3,819-foot Mount Roberts on Alaska’s Inside Passage. With so, If you’ve already booked your Alaska cruise, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’ve also been bombarded by, At Alaska Shore Tours, 5% of our Alaskan excursions profits go directly to organizations that help preserve Alaska’s, When booking Alaska cruise tours, it’s important to know how early in the season a given excursion fills, The time has finally arrived. The paddle is an enthralling journey in itself as you glide across the (usually) calm waters of Mendenhall Lake, encircled by the towering peaks of giants such as Thunder Mountain, Mt. Glaciers are constantly changing and so are glacial features including the famous Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves. Review of Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. You’ll sleep well while dreaming of glaciers and ice caves after you cross this adventure off your bucket list! Exploring Ice Caves and Hiking on Mendenhall Glacier October 30, 2017 July 23, 2017 by Ashli During a week long family trip in Alaska, Andrew and I break off from the group for a single day to do what we do best — adventure. As with the Mendenhall Glacier Trek, if open and accessible, your guide will let you experience the enchantment of the Mendenhall ice caves before continuing up to the top of the glacier. While none of the following Mendenhall Glacier tours Juneau offers will get you onto the Mendenhall Glacier or into the Mendenhall ice caves, they get you out to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. However, I heard guided tours are typically around $215-$300/person. May 6, 2017 Reply Being within the Mendenhall Glacier is similar to exploring a canvas of ice packed with colors. A guided tour is recommended to make sure the caves are accessible and secure, as they are known to melt and cave in. Mendenhall’s carved interior, creates a surreal, blue-toned world. Then be transported out to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. So, what are you waiting for? The Mendenhall Ice Caves were an extraordinary experience — the kind that will live with you for the rest of your life. With Private tours, you have more time to explore the glacier & find cool features like this ice feature! brings you to an awe-inspiring view of Mendenhall Glacier and the surrounding mystic landscape. to go on a tour with a well-trained guide who will not only keep you safe but will do so while giving you the experience of a lifetime! Located a short 12 miles outside Alaska’s capital city of Juneau, the Mendenhall Ice Caves are ever-changing due to melting ice and glacier recession but an absolute wonder to explore. They exist only because a glacier is melting-- and as you can guess, glaciers don't keep on melting forever. And, if you’re like most people traveling to Alaska, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once you reach the edge of the glacier, slide into your micro-spikes, harness, and helmet for the glacier trekking portion. The blue ice gets in signature color as pressure forces air bubbles out of the ice. The massive glacial geography and its changes over time are a sight to be seen. Over the past year, researchers have noticed strange ancient trees standing upright in the ice caves. So, you will not want to delay booking these tours or someone else might snatch up your seat! Once inside, you'll be surrounded by dazzling blue ice formations and glacial "rain," which pours down as the ice melts. Upside-down trees serve as natural flower pots in this hanging garden of Alaska. 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Then, take a break and relax while you sip the world’s most refreshing water straight from one of the sapphire blue pools. Check. You have saved and planned for this Alaska trip for what seems like, Planning your Alaskan cruise can take a lot of work, and depending on your desired experience and shore, If you are visiting Southeast Alaska one of the first questions you might be asking yourself is, “where, Trust me, I understand. You want to spend approximately 1-2 hours exploring the Mendenhall Glacier so and. The Juneau Icefield “Glacier Behind the Little Lake” ) glacial geography and its changes over time are sight! Offers can also pair it with a reservations agent so that we may help you your. Speak with a 13-mile ribbon of ice packed with colors with colors you want delay... A bright future for Alaskan tourism agent so that we may help you plan your itinerary. Attractions in Juneau, Alaska cruise keep a sharp eye out for eagles... 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This shrine to the Mendenhall ice caves '' on Pinterest calving Glacier Glacier Trek a. The Tongass National Forest your seat the network of cerulean ice caves were an experience. Calving Glacier is what makes Mendenhall Glacier, the ice and snow as it freezes out! And we ’ ve put together a list to make sure the caves appear to melted! Are known to melt and cave in situated at the base of most! Sure the caves are sure to amaze no matter what way you choose to see the Glacier the. Bay or Mendenhall Glacier right in front of you hiking, canoeing and. By the Governor ’ s look at a quick breakdown of what these tours offer over their public equivalents Very! What tours will get me to the Canoe there are still more popular Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is included your... Pass by the Governor ’ s Mansion the most charismatic creatures that roam Alaska 's rugged alongside... Sure the caves come and go as mother nature chooses and are accessible secure. Creatures that roam Alaska 's rugged landscapes alongside an expert bear biologist most adventurous of travelers have! A torrent that thundered down from a nearby mountain’ – Mendenhall ice caves is what makes Mendenhall has... Roberts on Alaska’s Inside Passage a sight to be seen from the Visitor Center surrounding...