Ketchikan Alaska Shore Excursions

Ketchikan, usually the first port of call on your Alaska Cruise & Land Tours is set at the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s famed Inside Passage; a network of waterways that snake through some of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful wilderness in the world.As a century-old commercial fishery, Ketchikan is known as “The Salmon Capital of the World and has a fantastic selection of shore excursions.Ketchikan brings in cruise ship visitors as well as independent travelers who are drawn in by the magnificent Misty Fjords National Monument. 

With achingly blue lakes, and snow-capped mountaintops often shrouded in an ethereal mist, is the most beautiful jewel of the area. 

Ketchikan is also located in the midst of the Tongass National Forest, a 17 million-acre rainforest full of lush cedar, Sitka spruce, waterfalls, and wildlife.Another Ketchikan must see is historic Creek Street, a small boardwalk community perched on pilings along the banks of Ketchikan Creek. 

A former Red Light District where both men and salmon swam upstream to spawn. 

It is now a quaint place to tour Dolly’s House museum, view totem poles, shop at locally-owned stores and galleries, enjoy local art and culture. 

Native arts thrive in Ketchikan and there are several museum collections and totem parks that showcase both ancient and more contemporary works. 

The Tongass Rainforest provides red cedar logs for totem poles and the cedar bark and spruce roots used in traditional basket weaving used by local Native Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian artists..