Tongass National Forest · Alaska
West Glacier Trail
3.2 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 33513 · trail class 3 · typical grade 5-8% · tread 60-96 inches wide · hiking, bike · seasonal: hiking 05/15-09/15
Trailhead West Glacier Trailhead Drive there
West Glacier Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up
season 1/1 to
West Glacier Trailhead is a paved parking lot for 49 cars and 6 large buses. The trailhead is the hub for various non-commercial and commercially guided activities including raft trips down the Mendenhall River, kayak and canoe trips on Mendenhall Lake, a destination for bicycle tours, and various hiking trips from the area. Currently there are no restroom facilities. In the winter, the trailhead is a staging area for snowmachine access to the frozen surface of Mendenhall Lake, and skiing access to the lake.
This trailhead on fs.usda.gov
Every trail in Tongass National Forest
Other trails from the West Glacier Trailhead
About this trail's facts
The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.
