Alaska's Inaccessible Capital — Mendenhall Glacier, king crab on the docks, and the most dramatic state capital in the country
Juneau is one of the most extraordinary cities in the United States: the only state capital unreachable by road, accessible only by plane or ferry, nestled between the Tongass National Forest (the world's largest temperate rainforest) and the Gastineau Channel. The Mendenhall Glacier, an advancing ice field just 20 minutes from downtown, calves directly into a lake visitors can kayak. King crab, Dungeness crab, halibut, and wild Alaskan salmon define the food culture — the Red Dog Saloon and the Hangar on the Wharf serve them in an atmosphere unchanged since the Gold Rush.
Juneau's founding story is one of America's last great gold rushes. In 1880, prospectors Joe Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold-bearing quartz veins in Silver Bow Basin, triggering a stampede that within a decade produced a city. The Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine operated continuously until 1944 and at its peak was the largest gold mine in the world by volume of ore processed. Juneau became the capital of the Alaska Territory in 1906 — and remained the state capital after Alaskan statehood in 1959, despite several voter initiatives to move it to the more accessible Anchorage or Wasilla. The…