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Ketchikan

Close to Alaska’s southern tip, where the Panhandle plunges deep into British Columbia, lies rainy Ketchikan, the state’s fourth-largest city, squeezed onto a narrow strip of coast on Revillagigedo Island abutting the Tongass Narrows. Ketchikan is known for its commercial salmon fishing and indigenous Haida and Tlingit heritage – there is no better place in the US to see totem poles in all their craning, colorful glory. Every year between May and September, Ketchikan kowtows to around one million cruise-ship passengers, a deluge that turns the town into something of a tourist circus. Some cruisers stay in town, ferrying between souvenir shops and Ketchikan’s emblematic totems. Others jump on boats or seaplanes bound for the Gothic majesty of Misty Fiords National Monument, a nearby wilderness area.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Saxman Native Village & Totem Park
Ketchikan
On South Tongass Hwy, 2.5 miles south of Ketchikan, is this incorporated Tlingit village of 475 residents. It's best known for Saxman Totem Park, which…
Totem Heritage Center
Ketchikan
For a crash course in Southeast Alaska's impressive totem art look no further than the Totem Heritage Center, where old poles brought from deserted…
Totem Bight State Park
Ketchikan
Ten miles north of downtown Ketchikan is this seaside park that contains 14 restored totem poles, a colorful community house and a viewing deck…
Dolly's House
Ketchikan
Dolly's house, in Creek St, looks like a dollhouse from the outside, but it once operated as a bastion of the world's oldest profession (read:…
Southeast Alaska Discovery Center
Ketchikan
Three large totems greet you in the lobby of this center run by the National Park Service (NPS), while a school of silver salmon suspended from the…
Creek Street
Ketchikan
Departing from Stedman St is Creek St (a boardwalk built over Ketchikan Creek on pilings), a history book of misshapen wood-paneled houses painted in…
Hopkins Alley
Ketchikan
Up in Newtown, just north of the road tunnel, is an old wooden boardwalk furnished with buildings constructed in the early 20th century on the profits of…
Waterfront Promenade
Ketchikan
Ketchikan’s newest boardwalk is the Waterfront Promenade, which begins near Berth 4, passes Harbor View Park (a city park that is composed entirely of…

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