Mount Juneau
Mountain in Southeast Alaska
title: "Mount Juneau" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-juneau,-alaska", "one-thousanders-of-the-united-states"] description: "Mountain in Southeast Alaska" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Juneau" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain in Southeast Alaska ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Mount Juneau |
| other_name | Yadaa.at Kalé |
| photo | Juneau Alaska.jpg |
| photo_caption | Downtown Juneau and Mount Juneau |
| elevation_ft | 3576 |
| elevation_ref | |
| prominence_ft | 295 |
| prominence_ref | |
| range | Boundary Ranges |
| location | Juneau City and Borough, Alaska, U.S. |
| map | USA Alaska |
| map_caption | Location in Alaska |
| label_position | left |
| mapframe | yes |
| mapframe-zoom | 8 |
| mapframe-caption | Interactive map of Mount Juneau |
| coordinates | |
| coordinates_ref | |
| topo | USGS Juneau B-2 |
| first_ascent | Unknown |
| easiest_route | Scramble |
| :: |
| name = Mount Juneau | other_name = Yadaa.at Kalé | photo = Juneau Alaska.jpg | photo_caption = Downtown Juneau and Mount Juneau | elevation_ft = 3576 | elevation_ref = | prominence_ft = 295 | prominence_ref = | range = Boundary Ranges | location = Juneau City and Borough, Alaska, U.S. | map = USA Alaska | map_caption = Location in Alaska | label_position = left | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map of Mount Juneau | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | topo = USGS Juneau B-2 | first_ascent = Unknown | easiest_route = Scramble
Mount Juneau (Tlingit: Yadaa.at Kalé) is a 3576 ft massif in Southeast Alaska just 1+1/2 mi east of downtown Juneau, Alaska, in the Boundary Ranges.
History
Mount Juneau is steeped in mining history. Originally named Gold Mountain in 1881 by miners, it was also named Bald Mountain in roughly 1896. The name "Juneau Mountain" was first used in the mining records by Pierre "French Pete" Erussard when he located mining claims on the mountain in 1888.
In 1976, it was proposed by Chuck Keen of Alaska Trams (later to become Mount Juneau Enterprises) that a jigback aerial tramway be built to the top of the mountain. The venture never reached fruition although Goldbelt Inc. did end up building Mount Roberts Tramway to the neighboring Mount Roberts.
Weather
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Mount_Juneau_with_fresh_winter_snow.jpg" caption="Mount Juneau, with fresh winter snow, on November 11, 2015"] ::
Mount Juneau receives an estimated 300% more rain than downtown Juneau (which receives 91 in per year on average).
During winter, Mount Juneau is one of the preeminent avalanche threats to a major population center.
Access
The trail to Mount Juneau's summit can be accessed via the Perseverance Trail about 1 mi in from the trailhead. The trail features an assortment of alpine views as well although it traverses many steep slopes and caution is prudent in wet or snowy weather.
1962 avalanche
In March 1962 an avalanche slid down the south side of Mount Juneau. It started with a lot of snowfall coming from the north-east. Some of the snow at about 220 meters came loose causing the avalanche.
Damage
The avalanche caused damage to 34 houses. 7 were severely damaged, 9 were moderately damaged, and 18 had minor damage
To this day there is still a visible path that the avalanche took down the mountain.
Future prevention
After the avalanche the local government brought in a Swiss avalanche expert to assess the damage and propose possible prevention methods for when another avalanche occurred. They assessed that the avalanche could have been worse as it stopped right before hitting the neighborhood. They also said that building mounds that could divert the avalanche away is the best option. Future avalanche experts rebuked the idea since while this avalanche was powerful, more powerful ones are likely to occur in the same area. They stated that the best course of action is to move the neighborhood. Locals on the other hand were not fully convinced on moving, so the local government decided to mitigate further damages by banning the construction of add-ons in avalanche zones and by buying lots that could go to building homes in avalanche zones.
References
References
- {{cite peakbagger
- {{cite gnis
- "Mount Juneau and Granite Creek Trail". trails.com.
- Robert Kanan. "All About Juneau's Rain". [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Jason Steele. "City looks at property tax rate reduction". juneauempire.com.
- "Juneau". alaskajourney.com.
- Margreth, S.. (30 December 2011). "Avalanche mitigation study: Behrends Avenue avalanche path and White Subdivision avalanche path, Juneau, Alaska".
- KTOO, Ian Dickson. (2021-06-22). "How a Juneau subdivision came to be at 'unacceptable' risk for a destructive avalanche".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::