Ketchikan Cruise Ship Visitor Information

Misty Ketchikan, the rainiest town in southeast Alaska, is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." The town offers the perfect blend of activities: spend the morning kayaking in Misty Fiords or hiking up Deer Mountain, then spend the afternoon poking in and out of fantastic galleries and shops.

You're bound to visit Creek Street, a row of wooden buildings perched over the water on pilings. Today's brightly painted boutiques once catered to gentlemen seeking the company of "sporting women." The museum at Dolly's House gives you a glimpse into the bawdy ways of frontier life, though Ketchikan's red-light district wasn't shut down until 1953.

Legends of a different sort are recorded on totem poles. Boasting the world's largest collection of Northwest totems, Ketchikan has plenty of places to see these fascinating works of art.

Best Souvenir in Ketchikan: A hand-carved totem pole

Where The Cruise Ships Dock:
Ships dock in the center of town. On crowded days, some ships may be required to anchor -- and tender passengers into Ketchikan. Small ships sometimes dock a mile south of town.
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Getting Around:
Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island. The airport, on Gravina Island, is a five-minute ferry ride away.

Right at the dock there's a low-slung green building where numerous excursion operators have set up booths offering kayaking, floatplane rides, bicycling tours, or simply transportation to just-out-of-town attractions.

A Don't Miss Shore Excursion: The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show celebrates Ketchikan's logging heyday. Watching pros compete at log rolling, axe throwing and pole climbing makes even a rainy day entertaining. The bleachers, thankfully, are covered. The sometimes corny show lasts 1-1/4 hours, leaving plenty of time for shopping -- the port's shore activity of choice.

Ketchikan museum hopping: The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center (50 Main Street) has an interactive rain-forest gallery and a terrific gift shop for informational buys, from maps to guidebooks. Also check out the Totem Heritage Center (601 Deermount Street) and the Tongass Historical Museum (629 Dock Street).

Outside of Ketchikan, two must-sees are Totem Bight State Park (10 miles north), and Saxman Native Village (2 miles south), where you can watch Native carvers at work.

Shopping in downtown Ketchikan: The most interesting area -- both for historic value and good shopping -- is Creek Street. Not a street at all, this boardwalk winds along Ketchikan Creek and was once the locale for all the area's brothels. Now it's home to artsy galleries like Soho Coho (5 Creek Street), which sells a variety of higher-end crafts, from gorgeous velvet scarves to watercolors to soaps; adjacent is the Alaska Eagle Art Gallery where Pendleton blankets with Indian themes are a standout, as are silver pendants and bronze sculptures. Upstairs is Parnassus, an interesting book store with a great selection of Alaska-oriented tomes. Try Sam McGee's A Taste of Alaska (18 Creek Street) for regionally made foodstuffs, from honey to barbecue sauce to soaps, lotions and ulu knives.

Another interesting "shopping" area is a line of galleries along Stedman Street such as Blue Heron (123 Stedman Street), which has Alaskan crafts, including locally carved totem poles, and Golden Eagle Gifts (123 Stedman Street) for state-made coffees and teas.

Right in the heart of downtown, the Eagle Spirit Gallery (310 Mission Street) and Scanlon Gallery (318 Mission Street) have interesting native Indian arts, from ivory carvings to cedar bark baskets and masks.

To do in Ketchikan:
See black bears catch and eat their fill of salmon at Neets Bay in Tongass National Forest. Sign up on board your ship for this floatplane and bear watching thrill (late July through September).

Serious hikers should traverse Deer Mountain, a 3 mile-long trail that begins in Ketchikan (Fair and Deermount Streets).

Go sea kayaking, deep-sea fishing, and tour the Misty Fjords by air (at the pier there's a tourism center where local operators have booths -- you can sign up there).

Catch a great view of Ketchikan and beyond from the WestCoast Cape Fox Lodge; you can access this hilltop resort from a funicular that operates on Creek Street ($2 roundtrip).

Quick Lunch Tips:
Casual, in-town joints: New York Cafe (207 Stedman, all day).The pub at Annabelle's Keg and Chowder House (326 Front Street, all day).

Ketchikan Dining: Annabelle's Keg and Chowder House (in the Gilmore Hotel, 326 Front Street, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), which celebrates the 1920s, has two sections -- a somewhat formal linen tablecloth dining room and, across, a boisterous, atmospheric pub.

Keeping in Touch:
Seaport Cyber (on the pier, upstairs at #216 Salmon Landing) offers Internet access. You can buy a card that works in three ports -- Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau.