What to Do in Ketchikan?

[Moriah]

Since nobody has mentioned it, my favorite thing to do out of Ketchikan is the Misty Fjords boat trip.  I've been to Ketchikan on 15 Alaska cruises, and while Totem Bight is nice, and I recommend it on a return trip, if it's your first and maybe only time in Ketchikan I do not think you would regret using your time at that port to take the excursion to the Misty Fjords.  It is breathtakingly beautiful.  I haven't done the float plane version, only the boat, several times, and I would do it again.  The lumberjack show? Watch it on YouTube.  You'll have had enough of it after that. And if not, watch it again. Then you can use your time in Alaska really seeing Alaska...

Edited July 6, 2019 by Moriah

[CutieKakes]

We were there on our cruise in late May this year, and we walked around the town (nothing to write home about in our opinion), and then took an Uber ($8) from town to the Deer Mountain trail head and hiked up the mountain....really beautiful views/lookouts, lovely rain forest hike etc  It is rated as 'moderate to difficult' and I would say it was an accurate description.

https://www.experienceketchikan.com/ketchikan-hiking.html

[mcgahrec]

1 hour ago, CutieKakes said:

We were there on our cruise in late May this year, and we walked around the town (nothing to write home about in our opinion), and then took an Uber ($8) from town to the Deer Mountain trail head and hiked up the mountain....really beautiful views/lookouts, lovely rain forest hike etc  It is rated as 'moderate to difficult' and I would say it was an accurate description.

https://www.experienceketchikan.com/ketchikan-hiking.html

This is right up our street ! thank you for posting 

[mcgahrec]

2 hours ago, CutieKakes said:

, and then took an Uber ($8) from town to the Deer Mountain trail head and hiked up the mountain....really 

 

If you dont have a mobile phone is there a taxi rank or something where we could arrange the lift up to the beginning of the trail head ? we wont have a US mobile phone, just wifi if we can get it free anywhere and then could uber. 

[syesmar]

6 hours ago, suralottie said:

. . .Plan on picking up information on the self walking tour from the Ketchikan historical society and time permitting taking the 2.6 mile long Rainbird trail walk. . . .

If you have enough time prior to your trip, the local tourism office at visit-ketchikan.com will send you the guide and walking tour map.  I also called and spoke with a ranger at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center prior to my trip and they were a great resource for trails.  Have a great trip!

[mcgahrec]

Thanks syesmar - i am in the process of downloading the trail on the alltrails app to use offline. We are heading overseas Wenesday. But we can call into the centre when we get to Ketchikan  

[mcgahrec]

And the bugs ... ive seen these mentioned a lot online. Are we talking mosquitoes, ticks ? 

[crystalspin]

Mosquitoes, mostly. I think the cold winters mediate the ticks. Speaking as someone who grew up in the Adirondacks and never saw a tick until I was 18 or older.

 

ETA: The mosquitoes were fierce in June 2009 in Denali. that was the only place we have encountered the Alaska State Bird in three cruises (2009/16/18) and the one land tour.

Edited July 7, 2019 by crystalspin

[mcgahrec]

1 minute ago, crystalspin said:

Mosquitoes, mostly. I think the cold winters mediate the ticks. Speaking as someone who grew up in the Adirondacks and never saw a tick until I was 18 or older.

Mosquitoes love me 😩 We have packed Deet anyway as we had heard that ticks and mossies are bad in the Canadian Rockies too where we will be for two weeks prior to the cruise. 

[CutieKakes]

15 hours ago, mcgahrec said:

If you dont have a mobile phone is there a taxi rank or something where we could arrange the lift up to the beginning of the trail head ? we wont have a US mobile phone, just wifi if we can get it free anywhere and then could uber. 

 

There were cabs right when we got off the ship in Ketchikan...is this the norm?  I'm not sure, maybe someone else can chime in on that aspect.

 

You can walk to the trail head but it is all uphill (some areas quite steep), so while we did walk down to town after we hiked the trail, we didn't want to lose time walking to the trail head, so that's why we took an Uber.

[mcgahrec]

14 hours ago, CutieKakes said:

 

There were cabs right when we got off the ship in Ketchikan...is this the norm?  I'm not sure, maybe someone else can chime in on that aspect.

 

You can walk to the trail head but it is all uphill (some areas quite steep), so while we did walk down to town after we hiked the trail, we didn't want to lose time walking to the trail head, so that's why we took an Uber.

yeah i reckon its a good idea to save time to get the taxi. i read elsewhere people getting a taxi called for them from the visitor centre when they picked up a free tracker device 

[RiciRicardo]

There are lots of things to do, right in Ketchikan. I agree with everything said in this discussion. It is very walkable and lots to do. Creek Street is a great start!

[DaveOKC]

7 hours ago, mcgahrec said:

yeah i reckon its a good idea to save time to get the taxi. i read elsewhere people getting a taxi called for them from the visitor centre when they picked up a free tracker device 

What is the free tracker device??

[mcgahrec]

40 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

What is the free tracker device??

We call them SPOT devices here. Its a personal gps tracker. If you have a fall or get lost there are different buttons you can press to send for help. There is an option to push a button that tracks you the whole time so if you fell off a cliff and didnt return at the time you said you would they can look up the gps info sent from the device and find you.

i just read that the visitor centre signed them out to people for use on hikes.

we use them all the time for work in the outback here - not sure how necessary it is  for this hike but its an option anyway of additional safety measures

[syesmar]

I also saw taxis in parking lot by the ship when ours dropped us off (we had taken the local bus to Totem Bight and then taxi to Ward Creek and another back to town).  Just be sure to know in advance if there is a set charge or meter use, so there's no surprises:)

 

I also saw in the Visitor Center where guests could use the phone.  We asked for a hiking tracker, but were discouraged from using it by the rep there (limited number?), as we were not on a difficult or remote area at Ward Creek.

[IrwinE]

On 6/28/2019 at 4:34 PM, sandyss said:

We have been to Ketchikan several times - once on a Celebrity ship that had mechanical problems and stayed in Ketchikan for several days!!  So the last time we were there, we booked a crab feast.  They picked us up on the pier.  https://catchcrabs.com/portfolio-item/world-famous-crab-feast-at-george-inlet-lodge/

 

Another tour that we thoroughly enjoyed was the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour.  We booked it direct, rather than through the ship.  We saved a few dollars, but more importantly we just walked over to the boat and were able to get front row seats before the ship tour arrived.  http://www.alaskacrabtour.com/

 

We have also taken the local bus to Totem Bight State Park as mentioned previously.  Right next door to Totem Bight is Potlatch Park for more totems and a great gift shop.  In additional to totems, Potlatch also had an antique car museum.

+1 for the Bering Sea Fisherman’s Tour. A little spendy but one of the more memorable tours we’ve ever done. Watching all those eagles hitting the water next to the boat as they threw fish for them was a lot of fun and a great photo opportunity. A plus is that they were located just a short walk away from the ship.  

[Hawaiidan]

On 6/27/2019 at 5:49 PM, hawkeye65 said:

We're booked on an Oosterdam Alaska cruise. The Ketchikan stop is only 5 or 6 hrs long. We're debating whether to bk an excursion or just spend our time walking around. The excursion would be a lumberjack show. Sounds very touristy, but--hey!--we thoroughly enjoyed a Liberace show once. Tacky and touristy doesn't necessarily mean bad. Any opinions?

 

First thing to do is take a tour to Misty fjords NP   you can get tickets on the pier 

Second is visit the interagency museum ( NPS< BLM, USFS     it a fantastic visitor center filled with nature , culture  everything Alaska

Third  Walk the old town creek street and see the totem poles.