Juneau, the capital of Alaska, bursts during the summer with hundreds of thousands of cruise-ship passengers. Twelve decades ago, the young city was swamped with prospectors. Juneau is the place to let your imagination run wild. Explore the lush Tongass National Forest. Visit the rustic shops in town. Or get out and kayak, dogsled, raft, whale watch, flight see or fish.

There’s no end to the adventure because we’re in port long enough to truly take advantage of the long daylight hours. The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel on the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska. Juneau is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska. The municipality unified in 1970 when the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding borough to form the current home rule municipality.

The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island, Delaware, or Connecticut and almost as large as Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2000 census, the City and Borough had a population of 30,711. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 population estimate for the City and Borough was 30, 987. Juneau’s only power utility is Alaska Electric Light & Power.

Juneau was named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau’s co-prospector, Richard Harris”several books credit the Tlingit Chief Kowee with showing these prospectors where the gold was). The Tlingit name of the town is Dzantiki Heeni “river where the flounders gather” and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called Aak’w “little lake” in Tlingit.

The Taku River, just south of Juneau, was named after the cold t’aakh wind, which occasionally blows down from the mountains. Downtown Juneau sits at sea level, with tides averaging 16 feet, below steep mountains about 3,500 to 4,000 feet high. Atop these mountains is the Juneau Ice Cap, a large ice mass from which about 30 glaciers flow; one of these, the Mendenhall Glacier, is visible from the local road system; this glacier has been generally retreating for about 200 years; its front face is declining both in width and height.

The current Alaska State Capitol is a normal looking office building in downtown Juneau, originally built as the Federal and Territorial Building in 1931. Originally housing the federal government, federal courthouse and a post office, it became the home of the Alaska Legislature and the offices for the governor of Alaska and lieutenant governor of Alaska. There have been discussions on building a new capitol building, without significant development.

Juneau offers unparalleled glacier viewing from Tracy Arm Fjord, Mendenhall Glacier, the Juneau Ice field and Glacier Bay National Park. Outdoor enthusiasts will love Juneau’s extraordinary kayaking, dog sledding, rafting, biking, hiking and glacier hiking. Winter enthusiasts will enjoy snowboarding and downhill, cross-country and heli-skiing.

Abundant salmon and halibut fishing are also available minutes from our downtown. Wilderness cabins and fishing lodges cater to anglers seeking the remote Alaska fishing experience. Juneau sight seeing excursions feature spectacular scenery. Incredible wildlife inhabits areas in and around Juneau. Our downtown area is served by tramway up Mt. Roberts, where wilderness is instantly accessible. Nearby Admiralty Island National Monument, features one of the largest concentrations of brown bear in the world. Icy Strait offers unprecedented whale watching.