Juneau Points of Interest

Juneau is one of only two capi­tols in the Unit­ed States that isn’t accessed by roads — only boats and planes can reach the city. But there is a stretch of paved road that runs north from town, past Auke Bay and towards Berner’s Bay. You’ll pass the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­east Alas­ka and the fer­ry ter­mi­nal before get­ting ​“out” of town. It’s a great trip, near­ly 50 miles out and back.

An under­wa­ter video cam­era has been set up in Steep Creek to film salmon, trout, and char enter­ing the creek from Menden­hall Lake.

With great walk­ways and a close prox­im­i­ty to Juneau’s only Thai restau­rant, the harbor’s an ide­al loca­tion for a meal and a walk. Take a stroll and check out the com­mer­cial fish­ing boats, sport fish­ing boats, whale-watch­ing boats, and — some­times — Paul Allen’s yacht. (It’s the one with two heli­copters.) The neigh­bor­ing har­bor, Fisherman’s Bend, allows access to a num­ber of sport­fish­ing char­ters. Want to see some whales or catch a salmon? Ask around.  ...more

With large hous­es on either side of this tucked-away beach, you won’t feel like you’re deep in the wilder­ness. But vis­it­ing offers the chance to see how Juneau’s wealth­i­est res­i­dents live. You’ll also find good views and a beach that’s usu­al­ly emp­ty — in oth­er words, a good pic­nic spot. You’ll see the many eagles harass­ing sand­pipers while ravens are busy harass­ing the eagles. Watch out for the ravens, who will steal every bit of your food.…  ...more

“Out the Road” ends at Echo Cove. You’ll see only a boat ramp and some out­hous­es, but walk about a mile down the beach and you’ll come upon the beau­ti­ful view of Berner’s Bay, Lion’s Head Moun­tain, and pos­si­bly a whale or 20. You like­ly won’t be alone, though; this is a pop­u­lar spot for ATVs, so be pre­pared for their noise. It’s also a pop­u­lar spot for kayak­ing, as Echo Cove offers great access to Berner’s Bay. But the cove is nar­row, shallow,…  ...more

A mile past the Shrine of St. Therese is the Jensen-Olsen Arbore­tum, which is a great place for a pic­nic. Take in the views of qui­et prim­rose against a back­drop of majes­tic sea and moun­tains. Then, walk down to the water­line, crawl­ing with a mil­lion tiny shelled snails, which is either fas­ci­nat­ing or creepy depend­ing on your per­spec­tive. His­to­ry of the Arbore­tum Writ­ten in her will, Car­o­line Jensen-Olson left her house, and all its…  ...more