Ketchikan Attractions
Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center
Saxman Native Village Totem Pole Park
Tongass Historical Museum
Totem Bight State Historical Park
Totem Heritage Center
Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center
Saxman Native Village Totem Pole Park
Tongass Historical Museum
Totem Bight State Historical Park
Totem Heritage Center
Read more: "Ketchikan Attractions Frommers.com" - http://www.frommers.com/destinations/ketchikan/1728_indattr.html#ixzz0GovJrE4D&A
Ketchikan Walking Tour
ReplyDeletePick up a map at the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau’s visitor information center and follow the numbered signs posted along the route to learn about the history and culture of our community. Several popular attractions are located along the route, which starts downtown, including local museums, Creek Street, native cultural attractions, as well as plenty of shopping and restaurants. The route can be walked in as little as 60 minutes, but plan extra time to appreciate the sights and for entering attractions along the way.
Although Ketchikan has the dubious reputation of being one of the wettest spots in the U.S., we lucked out on both of our Alaska cruises. Like most southeast Alaskan ports, Ketchikan is compact and great for walking. Get a walking map from the visitors' bureau near the cruise dock. If you're looking for low-key independent activity with little ones, take the funicular from town to the Westmark Cape Fox Lodge for a good view of Ketchikan and Tongass Narrows. You may want to treat yourself to lunch at this lovely hotel.
ReplyDeleteA farther walk from town is the Deer Mt. Hatchery and Eagle Center. (Four-year-old Alexandra was able to walk that far.) There you can tour the salmon and steelhead trout rearing facility, which is located in a park-like stetting. The center is also home to a number of bald eagles for up-close viewing and picture-taking. From there, take the footbridge over Ketchikan Creek to Totem Heritage Center to see a fine collection of 19th-century totem poles that were retrieved from abandoned Native villages.
Our favorite spot in Ketchikan is the Deer Mt. hiking trail, which is not too far from the hatchery. This mostly uphill hike is for those in decent physical shape and features some areas with wooden steps for climbing. While this hike does not offer many scenic overviews, kids will be enthralled by the rain forest vegetation that grows alongside the trail due to the area's wet climate. I never expected this lush atmosphere in a northerly climate, nor would I have expected to see such oversized vegetation -- there were plants whose leaves alone were a few feet in size. You may want to take a cab from the port to the trailhead at Deermont and Fair Streets, in order to save your energy for the hike. After the hike, it's an easy 15-minute walk back downhill to the town center.
Alaskan Lumberjack Show: Kids can cheer on their favorite competitor as modern frontiersmen saw and chop wood and engage in other typical Northwest activities.
ReplyDeleteSaxman Native Village Tour: This tour, which my daughter loved, included a tribal dance in a long house along with a tour of the totem park.
Totem Heritage Center is next to the city park. Here you will find 33 original totem poles and parts of totem poles from deserted Tlingit or Haida Indian villages. This site is also on the walking tour and a craft center offers a workshop for craftsmen and classes are also taught in tool making, basketry, and carving. There is a free 15-minute guided tour during summer hours.
ReplyDeleteDeer Mountain Hatchery is located next to the Totem Heritage Center and is on the walking tour. The hatchery releases thousands of coho and king salmon (two-year-olds) each year. Observation platforms and educational displays offer breathtaking views and facts about the life cycle of the salmon. Next to Deer Mountain Hatchery is the Eagle Center. Here you can see the eagles close up in their natural environment.
Deer Mountain Trail is one of many hiking trails beginning at the back of City Park. It is not a very hard trail but is very steep and five miles long. Children will love the rain forest vegetation growing alongside the trail due to the area's wet climate. The hike should take between four to five hours and offers a gorgeous view of the city and many of the islands. Ward Lake Trail is a one mile nature trail and mostly on level ground making it the easiest of all the trails. Perseverance Trail is three miles long mostly boardwalk winding through the muskeg (peat bogs) and forest ending at a small lake seated at the base of a mountain.
Shoreline fishing offers the fisherman an opportunity to catch Rock Cod, Halibut, or Salmon. Fresh water fishing at Ward Lake, Perserverance, Connell, or Talbot lakes offer Rainbow, Dolly Varden, Brook, and Cutthroat trout, Pink and Silver Salmon, and Steelhead. The area also has a rain shelter, hiking trails, fishing streams, and picnic area.
Ketchikan walking tour is a world famous walking tour of historic Ketchikan and it is free. You will see over 33 points of interest within easy walking distance of the downtown area. The tour is two miles and takes about two hours. You can get a free map at the Visitors Bureau.
ReplyDeleteCreek Street is a wooden street or boardwalk located in the old "red light district" You will also see Ketchikan’s famous Dolly's House while touring Creek Street. Many museums, historic homes, and shops sit above the Ketchikan Creek. You can also take the tram to a mountainside restaurant with a spectacular view of the city. Creek Street is a part of the walking tour also.
Front Street is one big tourist trap... set up mainly for the cruise boat industry. Most of the shops that face the water are just full of junk (who really wants a real moose turd?!).
ReplyDeleteIn the Front St. shops look for the small jars of local jelly (salmonberry, juniper and fireweed) - tho overpriced they are delicious.
Look for coupon books. You might be able to score some free stuff.
Otherwise, just enjoy the tackiness!
Go down the side streets. There are some wonderful galleries along there. Tho higher priced, it's better stuff.
Eagle Spirit Gallery was very nice, as was the Scanlon Gallery and the Exploration Gallery. Here you'll get the real thing... not something made in Hong Kong!
Several galleries specialize in native-design art. Consider some of the strikingly executed carvings or baskets, or if you're on a more modest budget, a print.
ReplyDeleteCrazy Wolf Studio, [10]. This shop has a fine collection of masks by Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian carvers. edit
Carver at the Creek, harbor end of Creek Street, [11]. Fine carvings at premium prices. edit
Eagle Spirit Gallery. Less focussed on Southeast Alaska - sells artifacts from throughout the state edit
Marvin Oliver, [12]. Sells native design prints and sculptures featuring bold colors and unusual materials.
Be sure to pack a poncho or umbrella if going ashore in this former salmon-canning center at the southern tip of the panhandle. Its annual average rainfall is 152 inches - that's nearly 13 feet - and if you stroll up Park Avenue as it parallels Ketchikan Creek, you might notice that one of the most popular (and unintended) accents for exterior decor is a soothing shade of green moss.
ReplyDeletePeer down into the creek from either of two bridges that cross it and you might see schools of salmon, thick beneath the water's surface, as they rest in the eddies on their way upstream.