Juneau City Trolley And Mendenhall Glacier Excursion

Juneau City Trolley And Mendenhall Glacier Excursion Photo #1 of 2 Photo copyright ShoreTrips.com.

Overview

The history begins as soon as you board our 'old' trolley.

The story of the beginning of Juneau is fascinating. It was gold that spurred the birth of the town that was originally named Harrisburg, later renamed Juneau. The town was founded in 1880 by gold seekers Joe Juneau and Richard Harris. However, it was the Tlingit Chief Kowee that first pointed Harris and Juneau in the direction of gold!
For over 60 years, the area around Juneau had 3 of the world's largest gold mines. The three, Alaska Juneau mine, Alaska Gastineau mine and the Treadwell mine, produced $158 million worth of gold at a time when gold was priced between $20.00 and $35.00 an ounce.

Later Juneau catered mostly to fishermen and to territorial government officials. Commercial establishments lined Front Street, adjacent to wharves on the Gastineau Channel. As permanent structures replaced those hastily erected buildings as a result of the boom town period, merchants prospered while mining operations expanded up to the early 1900s. Today, many buildings from 1883-1939 stand in Juneau’s Downtown Historic District. Due partly to historic district design review standards the newly constructed buildings complement the earlier buildings in size.

The Juneau downtown buildings are an excellent representation of early twentieth century commercial architecture in small Pacific coast communities. Late Victorian, Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements, and Modern Movement architectural styles are represented by buildings in the Juneau Downtown Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Your narrated trolley tour will take you through the historic downtown of Juneau. Fishing remains a major part of the industry here and you will stop at a fish hatchery as well. Enjoy crossing the channel to Douglas Island where you can snap a photo of your ship overwhelming the waterfront just across the channel.

From here, you will be taken to the shuttle stop, where a shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier comes every 30 minutes. You can visit the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center. The center is very informative and is a perfect background for a selfie, as is the glacier.

- Tour order may be changed. Tour will include a 1 hour and 45 minute trolley tour of Juneau. If you choose to skip visiting the salmon hatchery, then the tour will be approximately 45 minutes total. Following this tour, you will be taken to a location where there is a 1/2 hourly Mendenhall Glacier Shuttle. You can spend as much time at the Glacier as you would like, though most people opt to spend 60 - 90 minutes. This tour is approximately 4 hours if you spend one hour at the Mendenhall Glacier.
- This tour includes a permit to the Mendenhall Glacier.
- Depending on your ship's time in port, you may not have time to visit the salmon hatchery.

- Tour order may be reversed depending on the day.
- This is a large group tour.

Days offered: 7 days a week

Departures:

• 08:45 AM, duration: 4 hours Tour duration is approximate.
• 09:45 AM, duration: 4 hours Tour duration is approximate.
• 10:45 AM, duration: 4 hours Tour duration is approximate.
• 11:45 AM, duration: 4 hours Tour duration is approximate.
• 02:45 PM, duration: 4 hours Available Sunday - Friday. Tour duration is approximate.