Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary

Ketchikan


A 40-acre wildlife reserve at Herring Cove, 8 miles south of Ketchikan, where you can go on a naturalist-led walk (with the chance of spotting bears), visit a raptor center and old sawmill, and see a working Alaska Native totem-carving house. It's particularly popular with cruise-ship passengers, who are whisked here straight off the ships.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ketchikan attractions

1. Saxman Native Village & Totem Park

2.82 MILES

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…

2. Totem Heritage Center

4.37 MILES

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…

3. Thomas Basin

4.55 MILES

Thomas Basin is home to Ketchikan’s fishing fleet and is the city’s most picturesque harbor. When the boats come in, you can photograph them unloading…

4. Dolly's House

4.62 MILES

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:…

5. Creek Street

4.64 MILES

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…

6. Southeast Alaska Discovery Center

4.73 MILES

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…

7. Tongass Historical Museum

4.75 MILES

Houses a collection of local historical and Alaska Native artifacts, many dealing with Ketchikan’s fishing industry. More interesting is the impressive…

8. Hopkins Alley

5.11 MILES

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…