Juneau
Going to Juneau and not seeing the Mendenhall is like visiting Rome and skipping the Colosseum. The most famous of Juneau’s ice floes, and the city’s most…
Must-see attractions in Southeast Alaska
Southeast Alaska
Welcome to the largest national forest in the US, a tract of land almost the size of Ireland and significantly larger than adjacent Wrangell-St Elias…
Southeast Alaska
Just 30 miles north of Yakutat is Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America. The 8-mile-wide frozen behemoth is easily Alaska’s most…
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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…
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Southeast Alaska
This impressive museum is what the colorful history and characters of Wrangell deserve. As you stroll through the many rooms, an audio narration…
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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…
Treadwell Mine Historical Trail
Juneau
It's hard to envisage today, but the Treadwell mine on Douglas Island was once the largest gold mine in the world, set up like a minitown with its own…
Juneau
As far as cable cars go, this tramway is rather expensive for a five-minute ride. But from a marketing point of view its location couldn’t be better. It…
Southeast Alaska
Twenty miles north of Hyder and back inside Canada lies the fifth-largest glacier in Canada (and the largest in the world accessible by road). The old…
Juneau
Get ready for some spiritual enlightenment. The Shrine of St Thérèse is a natural stone chapel on a beautifully wooded island connected to the shore by a…
Juneau
A spectacular sight at Mendenhall Glacier is this waterfall, a mini-Niagara (in season) caused by Nugget Creek diving off a hanging valley into Mendenhall…
Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center
Juneau
This mini-museum holds ranger talks, shows an 11-minute film and displays exhibits relating to the glacier and its formation. There are huge panoramic…
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…
Southeast Alaska
Of the three totem parks on POW, the Klawock Totem Park is by far the most impressive and obviously a great source of community pride. Situated on a hill…
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Totem Historic District – Kasaan
Southeast Alaska
This is one of the great Haida cultural centers in Alaska. It's in Kasaan, one of only two Haida villages in the state, and, since 2002, has been listed…
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Southeast Alaska
About 9 miles from Bartlett Cove is the small settlement of Gustavus, an interesting backcountry community. The town's 400 citizens include a mix of…
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Southeast Alaska
The Shakes are a long line of Tlingit leaders (the current leader is Chief Shakes X). They are represented on this tiny, grassy islet slap bang in the…
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Southeast Alaska
Thought Alaska's history started with the Klondike gold rush? Not so. Historians and anthropologists should home in on this state historic park on…
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Juneau
Amble out to the end of Basin Rd, a beautiful 1-mile walk from the north end of Gastineau Ave, to the former Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining Company complex. It…
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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:…
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Southeast Alaska
Angoon (pop 450) is the only community on Admiralty Island and serves as the departure point for many kayak and canoe trips into the heart of the monument…
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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…
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Juneau
Juneau’s only state park overlooks Berners Bay and Lynn Canal; salmon fishing is excellent off the Berners Bay beaches and in Cowee Creek. Hiking trails…
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Southeast Alaska
The North Boat Harbor is the best one for wandering the docks, talking to crews and possibly scoring some fresh fish. Begin at the Harbormaster Office; a…
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Juneau
Demolished and rebuilt in a snazzy new $140-million complex in 2016, the result is impressive. Sometimes called SLAM (State Library, Archives and Museum),…
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St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church
Juneau
Of 1893 vintage and etched against the backdrop of Mt Juneau, this diminutive onion-domed church is the oldest Russian Orthodox church in Alaska. Through…
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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…
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Juneau
At the south end of Douglas is this park sometimes known as 'Sandy Beach' – possibly a more apt name. This is the Juneau area's best stretch of sand,…
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Southeast Alaska
This museum holds an interesting collection of artifacts and relics, mostly related to local fishing history. Exhibits include the largest king salmon…
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Southeast Alaska
The longest cave in Alaska is a 94-mile drive from Hollis and 11 miles west of Whale Pass. There's a free, two-hour, ranger-led cave tour in summer at 9am…
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Southeast Alaska
If it's historic in Petersburg, you'll find it in Sing Lee Alley, an ensemble of geriatric wooden buildings dating from the 1910s. Much of the street is…
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Bojet Wikan Fishermen's Memorial Park
Southeast Alaska
At the southern end of Sing Lee Alley is Bojet Wikan Fishermen’s Memorial Park. This deck-of-a-park is built on pilings over Hammer Slough and features an…
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Juneau
The Sealaska Heritage Institute, founded in 1980 to promote Alaska Native culture, opened this hugely impressive facility in 2015 in the downtown Walter…
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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…
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Juneau
One of the US' more prosaic state capitols, this boxy building went up between 1929 and 1931 and looks more like an overgrown high school than a historic…
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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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Ketchikan
Potlatch Park is right next door to Totem Bight State Park. It's less manicured, but still home to a dozen totems, one of which is 42ft high. There are…
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Southeast Alaska
This is one of best places to see black bears on POW Island as salmon attempt to negotiate a couple of fish ladders during the summer spawning season …
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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),…
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Southeast Alaska
The cedar wood house in the middle of Chief Shakes Island is a replica of a typical Tlingit chief's house recreated by the Civilian Conservation Corps in…
