Featured activities
Southeast Alaska hiking
Visit the Panhandle's gold mines, bears and alpine meadows
By Leon Unruh / Alaska.com
Here are some trails around the cities and villages of Southeast.
Juneau
Juneau has more than a hundred miles of groomed trails, ranging in difficulty from suitable for wheelchairs and strollers to strenuous.
Some of the popular trails start downtown, such as the one to the state park atop of Mount Juneau. Point Bridget State Park, north of town, attracts hikers who want to be closer to the saltwater.
Hikers should be prepared for rain and bears, so take waterproof gear and make enough noise to let the bears know you’re in the neighborhood. The Forest Service sells a trail guide, "Juneau Trails," for $4 at the local office, 8465 Old Dairy Road, and at bookstores.
Other good sources of information include "Hiking in Alaska" by Dean Littlepage, "Frommer's Alaska" by Charles Wolforth and the Forest Service's Region 10 (Tongass) Web site.
• Perseverance Trail: This popular route heads off into the valleys that produced Juneau's gold, and it's the launch pad for other trails. Perseverance Trail begins at the end of Basin Road and goes about 3 miles. From it, hikers can branch off to Granite Creek or take one of two routes to Mount Juneau. The 12-mile loop of the Mount Juneau ridge trail is strenuous and can be risky if the weather closes in. Mount Juneau is 3,576 feet high.
• Point Bridget Trail: 3.5 miles each way from Glacier Highway 39 miles north of Juneau. It's a relatively easy path in Point Bridget State Park. At the end of the trail is the Blue Mussel Cabin, a short hop from the beach, where visitors sometimes see sea lions and whales. Branching off from the trail is the Cedar Lake Trail, which runs about 4 miles from Cowee Meadows Cabin to the Glacier Highway by Bridget Cove. To reserve a cabin, click here.
• Mount Roberts Trail: You could take the tramway partway up this trail or you could walk all the way. The Mount Roberts Trail starts at the end of Sixth Street, where a staircase heads uphill. The tram drops off passengers along the trail at the 1,700-foot level. Mount Roberts is 3,819 feet high.
• Mendenhall Wetlands Trail: This trail is close to the airport north of town. It’s wheelchair-accessible. Hikers get a good look at resident birds and nesting waterfowl.
• Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center trails: Several trails start in one place: the East and West Glacier trails, Nugget Creek Trail, Moraine Ecology Trail and the wheelchair-accessible Photo Point Trail.
• Kaxdegoowu Heen Dei Trail: This wheelchair-accessible trail runs along the Mendenhall River greenbelt off the Glacier Highway.
• Herbert Glacier Trail. From Mile 27 of the Glacier Highway north of Juneau, the trail goes 4 miles on a maintained trail plus another mile of scrambling over the moraine to reach the source of the Herbert River.
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