Nugget Falls

Mendenhall Glacier / Tongass National Forest, Alaska, USA

About Nugget Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Nugget Falls (also known as Nugget Creek Falls or Mendenhall Glacier Waterfall [or “the waterfall by Mendenhall” as I’d like to refer to it]) was by far the waterfall highlight of our Alaskan Cruise through the so-called Inside Passage.

What made this waterfall so special to us waterfallers was that it was the perfect excuse to see the beautiful blue ice terminus of Mendenhall Glacier while also offering us a chance to see giant black bears fishing for sockeye salmon.

Juneau_093_08312011 - Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier
Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the brown bears, but there were plenty of people who said they did see it (call it bad timing and bad luck on our part).

Still, just the chance to experience all of this from a waterfall visit was what put us in a real good mood at this place.

Aside from that, Nugget Falls itself was no slouch.

While we’ve been to other glaciers where thinner mountain cascades (some of which had names) would spill towards the glacier, this particular one had legitimate size and volume.

Juneau_054_08312011 - Nugget Falls with people and icebergs at its wide base
Nugget Falls with people and icebergs at its wide base

Its shape reminded me a lot of the inverted fan shape like say Norway’s Friaren except we got to stand directly in front of Nugget Falls while turning our heads to the left to get a close look at the impressive Mendenhall Glacier.

From what we could tell Nugget Falls was probably close to 100ft or so tall.

In the literature, the falls is said to be 377ft suggesting that there were higher tiers, but we couldn’t see them.

The falls also fanned out and was said to be about 100ft across its base.

Hiking to Nugget Falls

Juneau_148_08312011 - The busy trail leaving the visitor center vicinity for the Nugget Falls with Mendenhall Glacier as the conspicuous backdrop
The busy trail leaving the visitor center vicinity for the Nugget Falls with Mendenhall Glacier as the conspicuous backdrop

The walk to the Nugget Falls was a very easy and flat 1.5 miles round trip as part of the East Glacier Loop.

It’s said that this hike could be done in a leisurely 45 minutes though we probably took even longer than that as we tried to savor the views with each opportunity that we got.

Apparently we happened to show up when they were doing some trail construction to make it an even easier walk than what it already was.

Anyways, there were a couple of different routes that we could have taken to Nugget Falls, and they both join at opposite ends so both trails can be done in a loop.

Hiking to Nugget Falls – The Lower Trail

Juneau_071_08312011 - On the muddy lower trail to Nugget Falls with a huge bear paw print providing ample evidence that they are around
On the muddy lower trail to Nugget Falls with a huge bear paw print providing ample evidence that they are around

The route we took followed a wide dirt trail with a few minor stream crossings as the trail was almost at water level with Mendenhall Lake.

We chose the lower route since we didn’t feel like following a crowd, and we knew this would be the way to go since most visitors didn’t have the right footwear to traverse those benign stream crossings and muddy sections.

In one particular spot, I saw a bear paw print, which suggested to me that bears did indeed frequent this part of the area and not just at Steep Creek area where they’d go fishing for sockeye salmon.

Towards the end of the walk, there was a rock slide that looked pretty recent.

Juneau_146_08312011 - Looking back at a big rock slide that affected the very end of the trail near the bottom of the Nugget Falls
Looking back at a big rock slide that affected the very end of the trail near the bottom of the Nugget Falls

Immediately after this rocky traverse, we were at the large sandbar at the base of the Nugget Falls as well as on the shore of Mendenhall Lake.

I guess for hikers to the waterfall, this was about as close to the glacier as we were going to get.

Hiking to Nugget Falls – The Upper Trail

As hinted at earlier, there was also an upper part of this trail, which can be combined with the lower beach trail (i.e. the one we took) as a loop.

They even put some infrastructure here where we could’ve used our phone to download an app that provided some interesting interpretive narrative of some of the numbered stops along the way.

Juneau_045_08312011 - The very busy paved part of the trail (the 'upper trail') on the way to Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier
The very busy paved part of the trail (the ‘upper trail’) on the way to Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier

That was definitely something I hadn’t seen before, but it seemed like an ingenious way to not have to print out interpretive brochures or books.

We’ve heard stories that at times the lower trail would get flooded either by heavy rains, high tide, or even a wave caused by the calving glacier.

So I suppose it would be possible that the lower section of the trail may not be accessible under such conditions leaving only the upper trail available to access Nugget Falls.

Potential Bear Sightings at the Steep Creek Boardwalk

As for the bear sightings, the best bet we had was to simply walk on the Steep Creek boardwalk between the parking lot and the visitor center (note that there was a fee to enter the visitor center but not Nugget Falls).

Juneau_151_08312011 - Looking up at some cascade tumbling towards the calm waters around Steep Creek, where the bears loved to fatten up on salmon
Looking up at some cascade tumbling towards the calm waters around Steep Creek, where the bears loved to fatten up on salmon

The boardwalk rose above Steep Creek, which seemed to be an ideal spawning ground for the salmon that the local black bears seemed to love to fatten up on.

We definitely saw evidence of their presence from fish carcasses to bear paw prints.

It was said that the sockeye (red) salmon would show up to Steep Creek from mid-July through mid-September.

It was also said the coho (silver) salmon would show up to Steep Creek from mid-September through October.

Alternate Glacier Viewpoints

Juneau_023_08312011 - One of the viewpoints of the Mendenhall Glacier near the visitor center
One of the viewpoints of the Mendenhall Glacier near the visitor center

And as for other glacier views, we were able to get decent views from an observation deck close to the visitor center as well as in spots all along the Nugget Falls Trail.

We were even able to get closer looks at some of the drifting icebergs deposited by the calving glacier in some of these spots.

Authorities

Nugget Falls resides in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau, Alaska. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.

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Tagged with: mendenhall glacier, tongass, national forest, juneau, alaska, waterfall, sockeye salmon, brown bear, alaska cruise, alaskan cruise, inner passage, steep creek



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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