Juneau Creek Falls: A big, beautiful, and eminently hikeable waterfall

You can hear Juneau Creek Falls well before you see it — first a muted roar tucked in among the trees, then a faint tremble in the ground underfoot. At high flow rates, it’ll even kick mist back into your face from relatively distant vantage points along the lip of the gorge.

Juneau Creek Falls is easily accessed from either of two trailheads: Bean Creek and Resurrection Pass. This hike works out to roughly the same distance (7.5 miles round-trip) whether you do it as an out-and-back trip from either trailhead, or as a short thru-hike.

This is hike 87 in Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska.

Juneau Creek Falls From Resurrection Pass Trailhead

This hike is pretty straightforward when done from the Resurrection Pass trailhead; just follow the main trail for about 3.9 miles in, at which point you should be able to hear Juneau Creek Falls, and look for a clear side trail leading into the forest on your right.

If you hit the bridge over Juneau Creek, you’ve gone about .1 mile too far; go back and try again.

The downside of that straightforward approach is that the Resurrection Pass trailhead is also relatively busy — by Alaska standards, anyway — with lots of hikers and bikers passing through. I tend to prefer quiet, but some will consider the relative busy-ness of this trailhead to be a plus.

Hiking Juneau Creek Falls from Bean Creek Trailhead

Although the approach to Juneau Creek Falls from the Bean Creek trailhead isn’t quite as straightforward as from the Resurrection Pass trailhead, I prefer it because there are generally fewer people — and bikes — on this side of the trail.

The tradeoff is that you might encounter ATVs for the first 1.6 miles or so of this heavily forested/brushy trail, and the maze of trails can be a little confusing; I recommend using an offline-capable app like Gaia GPS, or even a pre-downloaded satellite map in Google Maps, to make sure you’re on the right track.

With that said, here are the major turns to be aware of: After the first 1.2 miles from the Bean Creek trailhead, continue straight when the trail forks. At 1.4 miles from the trailhead, take a marked and often-muddy ATV trail on the left.

When you hit the intersection with the Resurrection Pass trail, don’t be suckered into turning right for Juneau Lake. Juneau Creek Falls is actually to the left. Hike across the bridge over Juneau Creek, then continue roughly .1-mile further and look for a clear side trail leading left into the forest.

A Big Hazard Overlooking Juneau Creek Falls

Whichever route you use to access Juneau Creek Falls, please watch out for dangerously undercut walls atop the gorge that leads to the falls. Some of the most tantalizing lookouts over the falls are perched on a crumbling lip that really doesn’t have anything supporting it. If that lip crumbles while you’re on it, it’s a long way down.