Guide · Value and safety

Is a Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour worth it, and safe?

Whether a Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour is worth it comes down to what you get on the ice and what you give up if the weather turns. Here is the value case, the safety rules and the questions to ask.

Check availabilityfrom $429 · no cancellation fee

Editorial team, juneau-helicopter-tours.comUpdated October 17, 2026read in 6 minutes24 sources

The tour this guide is about Juneau helicopter glacier landing tour 4.9 (49 reviews) 2.5 hoursAbout 25 minutes on Herbert GlacierPickup from your ship or hotel from$429per person Check availabilityFree cancellation until 3 days before start

What to know first

01What you get: A flight and 20 to 25 minutes on the ice with TEMSCO, about 1 hour with NorthStar.¹ ²
02The tour sold here: About 25 minutes on Herbert Glacier, from $429, rated 4.90.
03Federal rules: A passenger briefing before every take-off and a performance plan for every helicopter tour.³ ⁴
04The main hazard: Flat light under overcast skies, which hides the shape of the snow.⁵
05If it is cancelled: TEMSCO refunds in full when weather stops a flight.⁶

What the money buys

A glacier flight is a big line in any holiday budget, and it is fair to ask what you get for it. On TEMSCO's walking tour of the Mendenhall you get about 30 minutes in the helicopter and 20 to 25 minutes on the glacier with guides.¹ NorthStar's walkabout gives about 1 hour on the ice after a similar flight.² The tour sold on this site gives about 25 minutes on Herbert Glacier, with 15 minutes of flying each way.

In money terms that is a lot for an hour or so of flying and walking. In experience terms it is something you cannot get any other way in a single morning. The Juneau Icefield lies 2,000 feet above downtown, and unless you set out on foot you have to fly to reach it.⁷ ⁸ The difference between seeing the Mendenhall from the visitor center and standing on the ice is the difference between a postcard and a place.

Past guests rate the landing tour sold here 4.90 across 49 reviews, which is a good score with enough reviews behind it to mean something. What can spoil the day is a flight cut short by weather, or expectations set by a glossy photo rather than the listing. Know exactly what you are buying, from the minutes on the ice to the cancellation deadline, and you are far more likely to be happy with it.

Safety, step by step

What happens before you lift off

Booking

Weights collected

Each guest's name and dressed weight are needed for the tour sold here.
Planning

Performance plan

The operator plans weight limits for each helicopter tour.⁴
At the base

Passenger briefing

Seatbelts, smoking ban and exits, before every take-off.³
Go or no-go

The weather call

Flat light and low cloud are the conditions pilots watch.⁵
On the ice

Stay with the guide

Keep to the area shown and away from crevasse edges.

When it is worth it, and when it is not

It is worth it when the glacier itself is the point of your trip, when the weather window looks reasonable, and when the cost will not spoil the rest of your holiday. It is worth it if you have never stood on a glacier and want to, and if you can keep the morning flexible enough to wait out a short delay.

On a day of low cloud the case gets weaker, because the chance of a cancellation or a shortened stop rises. The case is weaker too if you are nervous in small aircraft: the cabin is small and you sit close to the glass. And it is weaker still if what you really want is the view: a floatplane loop over five glaciers takes 40 minutes and starts from $383, without the landing.

If the budget is the problem, there is a ground route to the Mendenhall: a canoe crossing and a guided hike to the glacier's edge, 5 hours in all, from $377. And the view from the visitor center, where a short trail ends at a platform facing the glacier, costs far less and still shows you the Mendenhall's face.⁹

The wet season

Days with at least 2.5 mm of rain, downtown Juneau

days

NOAA averages for the Juneau Downtown station, 1991 to 2020.¹⁰

The rules in brief

What federal rules require on air tours

Rule	What it means for you	Where it applies
Passenger briefing	Seatbelts, smoking ban, exits	Every air tour
Performance plan	Weight limits planned in advance	Every helicopter tour
Life preservers	Worn from take-off while over water	Over water beyond the shore
Floats	Fixed or inflatable floats	Single-engine helicopters over water

From the federal rules for commercial air tours; each rule has exceptions written into it.³ ⁴ ¹¹ ¹²

Three ways to see the ice

Land, sled or just look

Classic

Glacier landing

About 25 minutes on Herbert

Price: from $429
Length: 2.5 hrs
Rating: 4.90

View options

Bigger day

Dog camp flight

An hour with the dogs

Price: from $709
Length: 3 hrs
Rating: 4.65

View options

Juneau: 5-Glacier Flightseeing Discovery by Seaplane

Lower price

Floatplane loop

No landing, five glaciers

Price: from $383
Length: 40 min
Rating: 4.95

View options

Decision helper

Should you book a glacier flight?

Be honest about what you want from the day

I want to stand on a glacier I mostly want the view I am nervous about flying My port day is very short The forecast is gray all week

Yes, book a landing

About 25 minutes on Herbert Glacier, from $429.

Take the floatplane

40 minutes over five glaciers, from $383.

Try the canoe route

A canoe crossing and a hike to the Mendenhall's ice.

Keep it simple

Coastal asks for a 45-minute buffer either side of your ship's times.¹³

Book with free cancellation

The landing tour can be cancelled for free up to 3 days ahead.

Flat light can completely obscure features of the terrain, creating an inability to distinguish distances and closure rates.

Federal Aviation AdministrationSource 14

How safe are helicopter tours in Alaska?

If you are asking how safe are helicopter tours in Alaska, the honest answer is that they fly under specific federal rules for commercial air tours, in demanding terrain and changeable weather. The rules do not make flying risk-free, but they set a floor that every tour has to meet, and some operators add their own standards on top. Knowing the basics helps you ask sensible questions before you book.

Before take-off, the pilot in command must make sure every passenger has been briefed on fastening and unfastening the seatbelt, the smoking ban and how to open the exits and get out of the aircraft.³ An operator using a helicopter must also complete a performance plan before each tour, covering weight limits among other things.⁴ Give honest weights when you book: the listing asks for each guest's dressed weight.

Over water the rules tighten. On a tour beyond the shoreline each occupant must wear a life preserver from before take-off until the flight is no longer over water, with exceptions.¹¹ A single-engine helicopter flying a tour over water beyond the shoreline needs fixed floats or an inflatable flotation system, again with exceptions written into the rule.¹²

Checklist

Safety questions worth asking

Ask before you book

Is the operator a member of a safety program?
How experienced are the tour pilots?
What is the refund if weather cancels?

On the day

Listen to the whole briefing
Mention any mobility needs before boarding
Dress for cold and wind on the ice

Video

A helicopter glacier tour on a Juneau cruise stop

The video starts loading once you tap play.

The real hazard: flat light and whiteout

The FAA's pilot manual describes flat light as an optical illusion that usually comes with overcast skies and takes away the visual clues pilots rely on.⁵ It can completely hide the shape of the terrain, so that distances and closure rates become impossible to judge.¹⁴ Over a snowfield under gray cloud, it is a condition every glacier pilot has to take seriously.

A helicopter can even make its own whiteout: when it takes off or lands on snow, the rotor downwash can lift the snow around it.¹⁵ The FAA's advice to pilots is blunt. In flat light it may be possible to depart a site but not to return to it, and flying is not recommended in any whiteout.¹⁶ ¹⁷

A cancellation on a gray morning is not bad luck so much as the system working. Coastal Helicopters says that in rare cases weather can hold passengers on the glacier for a while.¹⁸ TEMSCO trains its pilots to recover from adverse weather, whiteout included.¹⁹ Treat a pilot's decision not to fly as the safety system working, and plan your day so that it costs you nothing but time.

What the operators add on top

Beyond the federal floor, some operators sign up to the Tour Operators Program of Safety. TEMSCO says that under it, its tour pilots need 1,000 hours as helicopter pilot in command and 100 hours flying the local terrain.²⁰ Coastal Helicopters lists the program's standards it follows, among them a minimum en-route altitude of 500 feet above the ground.²¹

These are the operators' own statements, and you can check them on their websites before you book. A good operator is happy to answer questions about pilot experience, the briefing, the gear on the ice and what happens if weather closes in after you land. If the answers are vague, take that as information.

On the ice itself, the risks are ordinary ones: slipping, cold, glare and uneven ground. Wear sturdy shoes, keep to the area your guide shows you, and stay away from the edges of crevasses and pools. Travel Juneau notes that the most intense blue in glacier ice shows in the crevasses; admire it from where the guide tells you to stand.²²

Timing your flight for the best odds

Weather is the biggest single factor in whether your flight goes, and Juneau is a wet place. Downtown records 9 days with at least 2.5 mm of rain in June, 13 in July, 15 in August and 20 in September on average.¹⁰ The Forest Service expected most icefield tour use between May and September.²³

Rain alone does not ground a helicopter; Coastal Helicopters says many of its tours fly in the rain.²⁴ Low cloud and poor light on the snow are what stop flights, and they can change within the hour. TEMSCO usually decides within an hour of departure rather than cancelling early.⁶ Book the earliest slot that fits your day, so that a delay still leaves room.

Cancellation terms matter as much as the forecast. You can drop the landing tour sold here at no cost until 3 days before the flight. Read the terms of the exact listing you book for what happens when the operator cancels. And keep a ground plan: a morning at the Mendenhall visitor center is a fine second choice.

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