The glacier may be the headliner attraction for countless bus-loads of visitors, but the entire recreation area offers a nice variety of scenery, whether expansive or intimate. 

Lush grasses line the banks as the stream enters Mendenhall Lake after flowing past the bear-viewing boardwalk and under the viewing bridge.

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Water-level fog in late summer masks the lake's opposite shore, below vibrant colors of foliage and moss. 131A0188

A surprising amount of water flows in the little stream.  Stones and some fallen branches form miniature waterfalls.

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A returning salmon pauses mid-stream before continuing its climb to its chosen spawning spot. 131A8606 131A8527

Big outcrops of very solid rock near the visitor center were worked by the glacier, glacial streams, and loose rocks that the implacably moving glacier ground against the rock below. 

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The glacier ice was once thick enough to work and round off the bedrock on surrounding mountainsides.  As the glaciers in the entire area have melted and their vast weight has dissipated, isostatic rebound has lifted ground levels by as much as half and inch per year. 131A0812

Sand forms a small beach in front of the viewing area. 131A0795

Nugget Falls is much larger than a distant view might suggest: the small figures of spectators silhouetted against the water offer a sense of scale.

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And a more-distant view, from the visitor center:

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Square wavelets lap at the sand beach.

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In late summer, early evening light lends the lake drama and mystery. An iceberg glows light blue in the middle. 131A6423_DxO