Ketchikan Points of Interest

Ketchikan has many notable points of interest to visit on your Alaskan vacation. Explore historic Creek Street, a picturesque boardwalk lined with charming shops and galleries nestled above the creek. Admire the intricate totem poles at Saxman Native Village, where the state’s rich indigenous heritage comes to life. Or immerse yourself in the wonders of the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary. From the majestic Misty Fjords National Monument to the salmon hatchery, Ketchikan’s points of interest offer a diverse range of experiences.

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Points of Interest

Refuge Cove State Recre­ation Site is a sliv­er of land lin­ing part of an edge of a neigh­bor­hood and is a pop­u­lar beach pic­nick­ing des­ti­na­tion with the locals. The site comes com­plete with pit toi­lets, shel­tered and unshel­tered pic­nic tables with fire grates, and a quar­ter-mile trail accom­pa­nied by inter­pre­tive signs that address the local nat­ur­al history.

Spot­ting eagles is a high­light of any vis­it to Alas­ka. Ketchikan has 30 nest­ing sites weigh­ing in up to 2,000 pounds and mea­sure 6 feet deep. Eagle’s remain in Ketchikan because eagles know they won’t starve here. Eagles are car­ni­vores and live to eat fish, so you’ll see them plen­ty at the mouth of salmon streams. Eagles even hang around in win­ter; the water remains ice-free, and the fish keep coming.

Her­ring Cove, at the right time of year, is a won­der­ful place to view wildlife, and in par­tic­u­lar, black bears. Mid-June through ear­ly Sep­tem­ber, when the salmon are run­ning, is prob­a­bly the best time for a chance to see black bears here.

On one of the run-off creeks from Achilles Moun­tain or Twin Peaks Moun­tain above pours a 100-foot or more water­fall right beside Ton­gass High­way towards the end of the road

Want to expe­ri­ence a lit­tle piece of rus­tic, old-timey Ketchikan? Head to the Main Street Gallery at 7 p.m. every sec­ond Fri­day of the month for a night of square danc­ing. Pop­u­lar year-round (but espe­cial­ly in the sum­mer), this is a great way to social­ize like the pio­neers did 100 years ago. Nev­er square danced before? No wor­ries. The reg­u­lar dancers are a friend­ly, inclu­sive crew, ready to teach you how it’s done.

When she’s not carv­ing linoleum or wood, you may find Evon on one of her many teach­ing gigs around the state. She’s one of Alaska’s favorite artists-in-res­i­dence, which allows her to share her pas­sion for print­mak­ing with stu­dents from Kinder­garten on up.

This may be the most well-known bridge to have nev­er been built. The idea was to replace the fer­ry con­nect­ing Ketchikan with Grav­ina Island, where the Ketchikan Air­port is.

Ketchikan Arts & Human­i­ties Coun­cil (KAAHC) is the pow­er­house of Ketchikan’s arts com­mu­ni­ty; if there’s an arts event in Ketchikan, this orga­ni­za­tion is on it! Locat­ed at the Main Street Gallery, KAAHC pro­duces dozens of art events annu­al­ly, such as summer’s Blue­ber­ry Arts Fes­ti­val and February’s famous Wear­able Arts Show.

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