Mendenhall Glacier on our own, bus or car rental?

Hi,

Our group of 15 will in on Emerald Princess. Our ship will stop in Juneau from noon - 10pm. Would greatly appreciate for information about the bus ride to Mendenhall Glacier:

1) Bus tour or city bus?

2) Where to find the bus?

3) how much round trip?

4) Timetable?

5) or should we rent a car?

I believe there are two busses that pick up and go to Mendenhall. I could be mistaken, but I think they pick up hourly. Not sure on current cost. The bus picked up right outside the tram entrance.

The city bus is cheap but it drops you about a mile from Mendenhall.

There are 2 shuttle companies .... $35RT per person. Both companies are posted in the FS web site:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/about-forest/offices/?cid=fseprd495443

Taxi companies are also listed in the web site. Last yr it was about $35 each way. Also listed in the FS web site.

A few rental cars would probably be the cheapest option. Gives you flexibility with your schedule and allows you to visit other places[ drive to the coast and visit the Shrine of St Therese, Eagle Beach, Roads End. Look for a trip report in 2015 from irvinejohn as they did a large family trip and rented a car in Juneau.

There's a map in the Juneau VIsitor Guide pg 26, that provides distances of popular locations.

https://www.traveljuneau.com/discover-juneau/request-a-travel-guide/

If your trip is this summer, it might be too late to reserve a car, so get on it now..

City bus nearest stop for visitor center at Mendenhall is about 1-1/2 miles away. There is a paved path off to the side of the road so walking is safe from traffic. If everyone is in good shape and the weather is nice it can be a pleasant walk. My parents and aunt & uncle did it when they visited there and they were in their 70's & 80's at the time.

Capital Transit Routes 3/4 (Mendenhall Valley route) - The downtown transit center is not too far from docks.

We were in Juneau last week and had rented a car online at Juneau Car Rental a few months before the cruise. Our family of 6 saved money by renting a car. They have older cars but the one we had was very clean and not very old. They open at 8:00. We arrived earlier than the tour buses at Mendenhall Glacier and afterwards drove to a couple of other places before returning the car. We didn't go as many places as we had planned because it was raining that day.

If you go to the area by the mountain Tram there is the blue bus and the white bus, they they leave and pickup ever 30 minutes from the Tram or the Glacier, stay as long as you like, but know when the last bus runs. Make sure you let them know there's 15 in your party and negotiate a better price!

Thanks everyone for your replies!

We opted for rental car.