The Mendenhall Valley is home to the great Mendenhall Glacier, one of the world’s rare drive-up glaciers. During the historic mining days, the valley was mostly a farming community which fed many of the downtown miners. There were dairies, mink farms, vegetable gardens, a chicken farm, and cows and horses strewn throughout the Mendenhall Wetlands located on the banks of the Gastineau Channel. At this time there was only one road connecting downtown Juneau to the valley, named Glacier Highway.  It is on this road you will find Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure.

In 1984, heavy rains and large amounts of snowmelt runoff caused a landslide to tumble down the side of Thunder Mountain with tremendous force, uprooting everything in its path, demolishing a strong stream, and dragging the debris across the Glacier Highway.  Ten years after the landslide, Steve and Cindy Bowhay purchased six-and-a-half acres of land, most of which was severely damaged by the massive landslide.  The couple started to reorganize the storm damaged property in order to expand their nursery business, The Yard Doctor.  One major aspect of the land development included reclaiming the jumbled stream which had the potential to cause another devastating landslide. Through the reclamation process, Steve developed an idea to use the stream’s water for a hydro-electricity plant that could power their new greenhouses.  Numerous settling ponds were designed throughout the stream to direct water flow and slow the rate of water erosion to the hillside, while adding a series of unique waterfalls cascading through the Glacier Gardens property. 

After developing the ponds and witnessing the lush and splendid beauty of the rainforest on a daily basis, the couple decided to develop a tour through the area which included visitor access to one of the U.S.’s national treasures, the Tongass National Rainforest.  After permitting the U.S. Forest Service and the City of Juneau, Steve and Cindy acquired an additional 44.5 acres of rainforest in which they would create a guided tour for visitors from around the world to enjoy.  The newly acquired acreage offered a rock face cliff at the 580ft level of Thunder Mountain where a panoramic view of Juneau awaits visitors.  Visitors are guided along the pathways to this level of the mountain where a yellow cedar boardwalk was built for access to this viewpoint.

The hydro-electric plant gave way to more natural plants which are either landscaped or naturally flourishing in these surroundings.  The ponds are landscaped with Rhododendrons and Azaleas for their spring flowers; Japanese Maples are added for brilliant color contrast with the lush evergreen forest; the native Devil's Club and Elderberry shrubs spill over the edges reflecting their lush foliage.  Visitors respond in awe to the tremendous size and grandeur of Southeast Alaska’s rainforest, a feeling that mere descriptions cannot convey.

Upside Down Flower Towers
During the rehabilitation process, Mr. Bowhay was developing the lower landscaped gardens using a large piece of rented equipment to arrange the masses of soil, roots, plants, trees, and rock dragged down the mountain during the landslide.  During the last few hours of equipment rental, the equipment was damaged while moving a large boulder.  This boulder has become known as “Steve’s Rock” and is the centerpiece of one of the many waterfalls flowing through Glacier Gardens.  Full of frustration about the large repair bill he was sure to see, he used the equipment to pick up a large tree stump and slammed the inverted stump into the ground trunk first.  The tree stuck into the soft mud upside down and as the roots hung like the vines of a petunia basket, it only took moments before Steve had a vision of how to recycle the trees cleared from the development of the property: The Upside Down “Flower Towers.” Each “Flower Tower” is made by inverting a spruce or hemlock tree with the root ball pointing towards the sky.  The stock of the trunk is buried 5-7 ft, fish netting lines the top of the root ball, and mosses are laid down over the netting to provide nutrients. Each year, Mr. Bowhay personally pants each “Flower Tower” with roughly 75 – 100 flowering plants for our guest’s enjoyment.

Steve and Cindy have owned and operated a nursery and landscaping business in Juneau since 1984.  See the Landscape Nursery tab above for additional information about our products and services.