Mendenhall Ice Caves Hike Guide

The Mendenhall Ice Caves are one of the most unique hikes in the world. The out and back hike is a easy to moderate hike, which travels through the dense rainforest, rocky faces surrounding the lake and down the glacier itself. The destination for this hike is a series of ice caves and tunnels which were created as the Mendenhall Glacier melted. Please be advised that the while the caves are stunningly beautiful, they are a very volatile place. After all, they are literally melting every day.

Mendenhall Ice Caves Quick Facts

Mendenhall Ice Caves Trail Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)

Distance: 6 Miles RT 

Elevation Start: 259 ft

Highest Point of Hike: 809 ft

Total Elevation gain: 1,700 ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours RT

Difficulty: Easy- Moderate What does this mean?

Class: Class 2 – What does this mean?

Season: Year Round – Expect snow November– March

Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Mendenhall Ice Caves

Trailhead: West Mendenhall Lake

Getting Here: From downtown Juneau: Take Edgan drive for 8 miles to Mendenhall Rd which will be on your right. Follow this for 1.5 miles and then take a left on Back Loop Rd (there will be a sign for a campground). Follow Back Loop Rd for .4 miles and then turn right on Montana Creek Rd. In about 1.1 miles you will enter the campground/park. Continue straight towards the back of the park (this area will either be in construction or newly renovated). The trailhead is located towards the back of the parking lot. You can enter West Glacier Trailhead into your favorite navigational device.

Parking: There is a fairly large sized parking lot which is free to use. There are no restroom facilities at the trailhead, but if you backtrack a bit towards the campground (area you drove past on the way in), you can find some non-plumbing bathrooms back there. When I visited in June of 2017, the parking area was under construction so there is a possibility a fee station or bathrooms will be added in the future.

Fees: If you choose to hike to Mendenhall Ice Caves, there is no fee. However, many tour groups out of Juneau that operate guided kayak or boat tours to the caves as well.

Summary

Dogs: The Mendenhall Ice Caves are a dog friendly hike for about 90% of the time. However, there are a couple of sections, towards the end of the hike, that are very steep and will be tricky/potentially dangerous with dog. When you are a couple of hundred yards from the glacier, you will be descending on ice covered with a thin layer of dirt. Most likely, there will be rocks flying and dirt sliding, so just be careful if there are other people around or if your dog tends to run ahead of you. Please for the love of god, pick up after your dog. The Ice Caves are an area where people tend to be on the ground a lot taking pictures or videos and not worrying about poop landmines.

Camping: There is a campground located near the trailhead for the Mendenhall Ice Caves. You can find more information about the Last Chance Campground here.

Make it a Loop: The trail to the Mendenhall Ice Caves is an out and back. However, if you want to extend your hike, you can stay on the West Glacier trail when it splits with the unofficial Ice Caves trail. The West Glacier trail continues for about another .5 miles.

Trail X Factors: Caves

The obvious X Factor to the Mendenhall Ice Caves are the caves themselves. If you are reading this closer to the time I posted this, your experience will probably be very similar to mine. However, if you are hiking this months or years later, your trip could be very different. The caves are constantly moving, shifting and melting just like the rest of the Mendenhall Glacier. Some estimate these unique caves could be gone in 5-10 years (2022-2027). While exploring the caves, be on the lookout for falling debris and any signs of danger (cracking, loud noises inside the ice etc.)

Mick’s Tips: Following the Trail & Cruise Schedule

Tip 1: Finding & Following the Trail

Around the 2.3 mile mark or so, after your have climbed 2 sets of stairs with the wire handrail, you will notice a trail that splits right as the main trail curves around to your left. You may also notice pink/orange ribbons. This is where the trail to the Mendenhall Ice Caves Splits. Follow this for another mile or so to reach the caves, it is fairly easy to follow. Once you are able to see the glacier right in front of you, the trail is extremely steep and eaten out. Here it is VERY easy to dislodge rocks, start dirt slides and fall. If there are other people below or above you, be conscious of that. When you are about a hundred feet from the bottom, the “trail” goes away and it’s essentially a “choose your own adventure.” Hike carefully here as what looks like solid ground, is actually 2-3 inches of mud or dirt over ice. Both Jackie and myself ate it in this section. Once you are down, you will notice cairns that ascends to the massive dirt and rock mound to your right (closer to the lake). There is nothing but a better view of the glacier/glacier access up here – no additional caves.

Tip 2: Cruise Schedule

For those of you that are reading this and are on a cruise, this may not be as applicable as for those who are staying in town. However, if you do a quick internet search, you are able to find the cruise boat schedule for the port of Juneau. This will give you a great idea as to when other people arrive and how to avoid them if you want the caves to yourselves. This was a major tool in almost all of our planning throughout the trip.

Optional Tip 3: Bears

If you have hiked with bears before, you can skip the following section.

Black bears vs brown bears:

Black bears are the more curious of the two types of bears. You have probably seen one of these before. If you see one, make a lot of noise (talk to it, clap your hands, etc.) and make yourself as big as possible, it will usually spook and run away. If that does not work, they do sometimes use bluff charges IE a way to scare you away. Do not run in this case because it will result in the bear thinking it is prey or a game. Both will not end great for you. If the black bear does fully charge you, you will need to protect yourself/flee if possible, as they will not stop. This is very rare to occur and will only happen if the bear is feeling threatened.

Brown Bears: Unlike their smaller cousins, the brown bear is a much larger animal. Brown bears are common in southeastern Alaska and if you see one, do not pee your pants. Even though they look menacing, brown bears are not out to attack you. Just like black bears, they are generally harmless. If you see one, make your presence known. Bears do not like to be spooked. Brown bears may also bluff or fully charge, just like black bears. If a brown bear charges you, do not move. Stand your ground. Most likely it will be a bluff, but if not you will find that out pretty quickly. If you are fully charged by the bear, get into a fetal position and play dead. Try to roll onto your stomach to protect your vital organs. If the bear does start to sniff/maul you, play dead and try not to make noises. Most accounts of those who survive bear attacks are because the bear thought the human was dead and left them alone. Super light reading here, I know.  

Best Views: Without a doubt, the Mendenhall Ice Caves are one of the most beautiful and unique hike destinations in the world. Bring lots of space on your memory cards, extra batteries, filters, your tripod and anything else you would need for a full blown photo shoot. Unless you live in the area, this might be the last time you visit the beautiful caves and you are going to want to capture them accordingly. If you start your hike early (hike start time of 6-7AM), you will most likely have them for yourself, which I highly recommend. The other thing I noticed is that flash can play a cool role in all of your pictures. Enjoy this location, it is breathtaking and impossible to replicate its beauty.

Mendenhall Ice Caves Hike Route

Watch died about a mile from the TH and I forgot to turn it off while exploring the caves.

Gear Needed

• Waterproof Hiking Boots/Shoes
• Rain Jacket
• Mickey’s Mountain Kit
• Water / Snack
• Optional: Microspikes
• Optional: Bear Spray
• Optional: Hiking Poles
• Optional: Camera
• Optional: Filters
• Optional: Tripod
• Optional: Additional Flash Equipment

Our Trip to Mendenhall Ice Caves: June 2017

The Mendenhall Ice Caves were one of the main reasons we had booked our trip to Alaska. I had friends and family who visited Alaska, but none of them really won me over on why to go there. The ice caves on the other hand, wow.

We had planned the Mendenhall Ice Caves on one of our last day’s in Juneau so that we would have something to look forward to at the end of our vacation. During our time in Juneau, we found that most travelers who visited Alaska’s capital were on cruise ships and were there for only a short amount of time. We tried to capitalize on this fact and planned our hike to Mendenhall Ice Caves accordingly. We hit the trail around 6:30AM so that we would have plenty of time to explore the caves (hopefully by ourselves) before the cruise kayak tours arrived.

The trail for the first mile or so was very flat and easy to follow. It worked through the spanning rainforest that surrounds Mendenhall Lake. The deep green trees, moss and other plants coated the ground. It was an overcast day, but when you are in Southeast Alaska, that is like saying it’s a day where the sky was blue. We crossed several sources of water along the way but decided to not stop for many pictures, Jackie and I were very excited to get to the caves.

After about a mile and a half, the trail started to pick up elevation as it climbed the hills near the Mendenhall Glacier. Most of the time there was a combination of natural and man-made steps in addition to wired handrails which made the ascent relatively easy. As we gained elevation and distance, I was starting to look out for the unofficial trail towards the Mendenhall Ice Caves. From what I had read, it was somewhat easy to find. As we rounded one of the last switchbacks up the side of the hill, Jackie noticed a pink and green ribbon tied to one of the trees. This was the start of the unofficial trail.

At first the Mendenhall Ice Caves trail went down and adjacent to the cliffs above, but slowly worked its way farther and farther away from the side of the hill. The trail was very well marked and extremely easy to follow all the way to the glacier itself. As we approached the Mendenhall Glacier, we noticed that the trial down to the Mendenhall Ice Caves was very steep and looked like crappy footing with lots of loose gravel and dirt. We did our best to descend the large hill until we were about 10 yards away from the ground. At this point, the bad trail conditions that we had, got worse. There was a thin layer of dirt which protected the trail from the ice underneath and when you stepped on this dirt, WHOOSH, your feet slipped almost immediately. I half fell, half slid down to the solid ground and guided Jackie as well.

We immediately noticed this large ice tunnel to our left, but I was not convinced that these were the famed Mendenhall Ice Caves. Have I mentioned on this site that I am an idiot? We followed the cairns up a nearby hill that led us closer to the base of the glacier. I was shocked. Where were these caves? Was that tunnel really it? I descended down towards Mendenhall Lake, convinced there had to be another entrance. After about 10 minutes of searching, we decided to head back to the tunnel and at least enjoy that.

When we arrived back to the tunnel, we were still the only people in the area which was at least a positive. This massive ice tunnel was a stunning color of blue and honestly, if that was the only thing we found that day, I would have been happy. As we walked through the tunnel and emerged from the other side, I noticed a series of other caves to our right. We had found them, the Mendenhall Ice Caves!

I am no poet and honestly describing the caves would be disrespecting their beauty. You can see footage of them here in addition to the pictures in this post. Needless to say, they were stunning. The Mendenhall Ice Caves are, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places in the world and quite possibly the most unique hike destinations you will find. I thought that because of all of this, it was a perfect place to propose to my beautiful girlfriend and now wife Jackie. She had no idea it was coming and it now explained why I was extra eager to get a move-on with this hike and why I was so disappointed at first when we couldn’t find the caves. We enjoyed the caves for about an hour and had them completely to ourselves. It was the perfect day.

Eventually, we decided that we should probably move-on so we made the slow trek up the crappy loose rock and back to the Trailhead. By this time it was about 10AM and we ran into several groups of other hikers along the way. The hike back to the car was rather uneventful as we discussed who we who tell about the engagement first.

Overall, if you are visiting Juneau and have 2-3 hours to spare, I would recommend the Mendenhall Ice Caves over every other attraction. Do you have to walk to get to them? Yes. Is it going to cut down on your time to do other things? Yes. But for me, this is without a doubt one of the most unique places in the world. The hike ended up being about 3 miles each way and took us about 5 hours including the long time we spent in the caves. Please feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions about this hike, I would be happy to assist.