Airport Dike Trail reopens, better and safer after temporary closure

Workers spent two weeks performing riverbank stabilization for flood protection along airport’s Emergency Vehicle Access Road

Aaron Dean, senior operator of Juneau International Airport airfield operations, on Thursday, July 31, 2025, unlocks the gate that closed the Airport Dike Trail for two weeks while riverbank stabilization work was performed by contractors. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Independent)

Two weeks after one of Juneau’s most popular hiking trails was closed for riverbank stabilization, the Airport Dike Trail reopened Thursday afternoon with completed riprap armoring, and a newly graded and compacted surface. The trail is officially the airport perimeter’s Emergency Vehicle Access Road, or EVAR.

At about 3:45 p.m., Aaron Dean, senior operator of airfield operations at Juneau International Airport, unlocked the gate at the trailhead pedestrian bridge. Waiting for the moment were Craig Brown, his grandson Taven and their dog Jack.

Brown said he is more familiar with the EVAR from inside the airport fence and from driving the road in the bright green vehicle called the Airport Rescue Fire Fighting (“ARFF”) truck. He retired in May of 2025 from Capital City Fire/Rescue where he was based at Station 3, which houses an ambulance, fire truck and ARFF trucks.

A view of riverbank stabilization in progress on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, from the west side of Mendenhall River. A dump truck deposits a load of large riprap that will be placed at the site by Island Contractors Inc. excavator operators while the critical area is exposed during low tide. Near the mouth of the river tidal fluctuations can range several feet in a few hours with strong water velocity and volume. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Independent)

During the two-week closure of the EVAR, contractors placed large rocks at a key point along the Mendenhall River where the past two years’ glacial lake outburst floods had eroded and undercut the riverbank adjacent to the road used for both hiking and emergencies. Due to the extreme tidal fluctuations affecting the river, work was performed only during low-tide periods.

Once the stabilization project was completed, the temporary closure allowed the airport staff to grade and compact the trail using airport equipment. It is now smoother and wider from the parking lot at the end of Radcliffe Road to a covered bench built by Corey McKrill in 1998 for his Eagle Scout project. 

• Contact Laurie Craig at lauriec@juneauindependent.com.

Fireweed blooms beside the reopened Emergency Vehicle Access Road, also known as the Airport Dike Trail, on Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Independent)

Craig Brown, his grandson, Taven, and their dog Jack were the first hikers to tread the newly reopened and resurfaced Airport Dike Trail on Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Independent)

The newly graded and compacted trail, officially the airport’s Emergency Vehicle Access Road or EVAR, was widened and smoothed by airport staff before reopening. The trail offers views and access to Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge. (Courtesy Juneau International Airport)