Saxman Village and Totem Bight clarification?

[swannie]

Researching Ketchikan excursions and I'm still a little foggy on the distinction between the two. I'm looking for an easy excursion for my mother who loves to walk but has some hip problems, so probably not a great deal of walking. Anyway, are the two in the same area?

I get the impression that Saxman is more touristy, perhaps a bit cheesy? while Totem Bight is more historical. Am I right?

How long does a visit to each last generally?

If this helps, my mother enjoys history and culture but probably wouldn't enjoy something that was too touristy.

Any other suggestions? Such as a lowkey wildlife or scenery oriented tour?

[martin54]

Totem Bight is better. There is a guide to every totem in the park, and a fabulous clan house. The totems are all fairly new, carved to replicate older totems.

 

If you want to see some really old ones, go to the Totem Heritage Center in town.

 

If you also make it to Juneau, the state museum is awesome.

 

Martin

[swannie]

Thank you Martin! Was Totem Bight a short visit or is there enough there to spend hours?

[Budget Queen]

Totem bight has way more walking however. Saxman has little, and with a guide- they only way there I recommend, you can get great commentary. You also have an opportunity to look into the carver's shed. There is also a native gift shop. :) Far more compact of an area. It is also tough to get a tour there compared to Saxman, day of arrival. They seem to only offer them on busy days and not frequent times. Ship booked tours are costly , but a more sure option.

[swannie]

Sorry BQ, you mean, you would only recommend Saxman with a guide? And the carver's shed and gift shop are at Saxman's? And it's tough to get a tour at Totem Bight? Thank you.

[Coral]

Last summer - it was tough to get a tour to Totem Bight off of the pier. I was on a B2B and spoke to Sourdough the first week and they told me they definitely were running tours to Totem Bight and that I did not need to reserve a spot for the following week. I showed up the following week and Sourdough said they were not running tours that day to Totem Bight, only Saxman (I had been to Saxman previously). This sort of left a bad taste in my mouth with Sourdough Tours. No one else at the pier was running tours to Totem Bight - I would have needed to book through the ship or taken a taxi (sort of pricey).

 

Though I did hear that last year there was construction on the way to get there and that may have been the reason - though Sourdough did not say that was why they were not going.

 

If you want Totem Bight - I would go with the ship's tour. I would not trust Sourdough on this.

[swannie]

Oh, I thought Totem Bight was something you could visit on your own?? Does it have to be guided? Or is it just better that way?

[Bell Ringer]

It appeared to me that there were only tours that came in on busses while I was there. It is a very pleasant walk,mostly flat, but a little more lenghty than I had expected from the description. Fortunately on the way back to the bus, it was shady because we were there on a very warm sunny day. I think It was more than a mile total walking. It wouldn't have been as pleasant in the rain.

[Budget Queen]

I have never taken a tour to Totem Bight, always driven. It is more self guided than Saxman in my opinion.

 

Yes, I only recommend Saxman with a guide, it is a big part of the totems to be explained the stories etc. The Carving shed is at Saxman, BUT most often independent visitors are NOT allowed in, but you can look in the windows. Yes there is a very nice gift shop.

[BKM]

My family of 5 did this excursion on the 5/28 sailing and were very disappointed. It is probably the only thing we did wrong the whole week! I would have done only the lumberjack show then shopped or eaten in town. We did so much at all of the other ports that we hardly had time for souvenirs. Maybe we should have done totem bight instead. problems: Once at the site, the tour was narrated by a young adult (the whole place seems to be run by youth and young adults) who did not speak clearly or enthusiastically for a very large group of people. This made for very difficult listening. The gift shop was outrageously priced. Again, the carving shed was narrated by a young adult, who did provide a 10 minute talk on the carving process, but the "master carver" was there and instead of demonstrating his craft he talked on his cell phone the entire time this poor boy was trying to conduct the tour!!!!! And he wasn't whispering, he was talking in a normal tone, and laughing. It was a very tight area and completely enclosed, so we could hear every word he said. When a tourist asked him for a picture as we were leaving he said that he was "busy, but yea go ahead and take your picture" as he frowned for the photo. Really amazing to see a grown man behave so badly.

[swannie]

Thanks, BKM, that's exactly the kind of experience I would like to avoid. Sounds like a nice walk through Totem Bight would be more our speed.

BQ, if not done with a tour group, does it require a car rental? Or can one get a cab there and back easily enough?

[ute_fan]

Two years ago we had a great experience with Sourdough. We did a combined Saxman Village/Totem Bight tour, which ended with them dropping us off at Creek Street and included admission to Dolly's House. Our tour guide was great. He was a native of Ketchikan, and had lots of great information about the area.

 

There is definitely more walking at Totem Bight, but we preferred it to Saxman Village. I think part of it was the beautiful setting -- it's right on the water. We lucked out and had a beautiful sunny day. Our guide said it was the first day they'd had without rain in about a month.

 

As far as getting to Totem Bight, it's definitely not walking distance from town and would require some transportation. I have no idea if there are cabs available -- hopefully someone else can answer that question for you. I'd recommend contacting Sourdough Tours and seeing if they have a logical explanation for the prior poster's problem of last year.

[swannie]

Thanks Ute Fan, always good to hear different sides...I keep hearing about Dolly's House and Creek Street but I don't know what they are exactly. Could you (or anyone) tell me about them in more detail? Thank you

[ute_fan]

Creek Street was the "red light" district in Ketchikan, and Dolly's house offers tours showing how the house would have looked as an operating brothel. The tour through Dolly's house, while kind of interesting, probably isn't the best for someone with mobility problems as there are stairs to climb.

 

The Sourdough Tour dropped us off at Creek Street, which was probably 1/2 a mile or so from the ship, and we shopped our way back after the tour was completed :D . As far as time at both totem sites, we probably spent an hour or so at each one. I really preferred Totem Bight, but I think it was due to the surrounding scenery more than anything else. If you follow the link to my webshots photos, you can get an idea of the two places if you're interested.

 

 

I don't know which line you're sailing on, but the next time we get to Alaska, I'm looking into the lighthouse/eagle/totem tour that goes out of Ketchikan. Does your ship offer anything like that?

[Budget Queen]

I suggest a car rental if Totem Bight is your priority, will be as much as a cab and you won't have to estimate your time for a pick up. I've rented from Alaska Car Rental, in the past they allowed me to drop off at the dock.

[Casey2]

Last year,we couldn't decide whether to visit Saxman or Totem Bite so we also did the combined Saxman/Totem Bite tour with Sourdough. I liked Totem Bite better then Saxman. We enjoyed Creek Street and Dolly's House and just walking around town. It was a very enjoyable day but next to seeing whales breech in Juneau, and spectacular scenery in the Yukon, it was a bit of a let down.