In Ketchikan Gateway Borough, experiences range from historic streetscapes and cultural sites to forest trails and seasonal wildlife viewing. When planning your trip, it’s worth making an initial decision: Would you like to focus mainly on history and exhibits, or are hiking and nature watching your priority? The different places offer distinct highlights that you can organize around your own interests.
Getting Around
Ketchikan International Airport is on Gravina Island. From Ketchikan, you can reach the airport by ferry, connecting it to the city. The ferry is therefore an important point of reference for traveling between Ketchikan and the airport. Check the schedule for your travel date.
The public transportation system serves much of Ketchikan Gateway Borough, including Ketchikan and Saxman. It includes regular routes and supplementary paratransit services. Ketchikan also has a seasonal Downtown Shuttle between the cruise ship docks and key destinations downtown. For planning purposes, it’s helpful to know the difference: regular routes serve a larger area, while the shuttle is seasonal and focused on downtown. Take the respective operating times into account when planning your travel.
City Streetscapes and Creek Street
Downtown Ketchikan is a relatively small area that’s easy to explore on foot. Its buildings and streetscapes reflect the city’s development in the early 20th century; there’s also public art, interpretive displays, cultural sites, museums, galleries, and community spaces. Views of the water and connections to the working harbor are also part of the cityscape.
The Salmon Walk Trail runs through downtown and along Creek Street. On this self-guided walk, visitors can discover local attractions and watch wildlife in the creek. Historic Creek Street is characterized by a wooden boardwalk and buildings built on pilings. Its past is linked to fishing, maritime trade, and its former role as Ketchikan’s red-light district. During seasonal salmon runs, large numbers of fish may travel upstream at Creek Street, attracting wildlife to the area.
Culture and Regional Insights
Saxman Totem Park features hand-carved Tlingit totem poles in a forested coastal setting. The Tongass Historical Museum offers a different focus: its exhibits provide insights into the people, businesses, and events that shaped the community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center focuses on interactive exhibits about the Tongass rainforest, regional wildlife, and land use in Southeast Alaska. A small theater shows short films about Ketchikan and the surrounding region, including Tongass National Forest. The two facilities therefore cover different topics: the museum looks at the community’s history, while the Discovery Center explores the region’s nature and land use.
Hiking Trails and Wildlife Viewing
At Settlers Cove State Recreation Site, the Lunch Falls Loop Trail offers an approximately one-mile loop hike through the forest, with access toward the beach. The Lunch Creek Trail connects to a 3.5-mile extension on U.S. Forest Service land that leads to the Emery Tobin Lakes. When planning, it helps to keep the different trail details in mind: the Lunch Falls Loop is described by its loop format and approximate length, while the distance for the Lunch Creek Trail refers to the extension to the lakes.
At Herring Cove, seasonal salmon runs offer opportunities to watch birds, marine life, and occasionally black bears. The Rainbird Trail has been closed indefinitely following a landslide on August 25, 2024. Check its current status before visiting.
Activities and Finding a Place to Stay
Ketchikan Gateway Borough Parks and Recreation offers swimming, soccer, arts and crafts, roller skating, basketball, and racquetball. Combined with walking trails, exhibits, and wildlife viewing, these activities provide a wide range of options for different travel interests, without requiring a set itinerary.
If you’re looking for a hotel in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, first decide what you’d like to focus on during your stay: local history and exhibits, a self-guided walk, or hiking trails and seasonal wildlife viewing. You can then coordinate your daily plans with the ferry connection and regular or seasonal transportation services. This leaves room to shape your trip around your own interests and the specific routes available locally.
Discover more destinations: Ketchikan, Gateway, Sitka, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Fairbanks North Star Borough, North Slope Borough, Aleutian Islands, Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Return to the main travel overview: Alaska.
