Haines Parks & Trails

Until the ear­ly 1970s, Fort Seward and down­town Haines were sep­a­rate cities, with not much in between. This route allows rid­ers to much of what the town has to offer in an after­noon, capped with drinks at a craft dis­tillery and brewery.

Chilkat State Park, sev­en miles south of Haines, is less vis­it­ed than Chilkoot Lake, prob­a­bly because it’s fur­ther from town and the road is grav­el. But don’t let that stop you. The park is qui­et, it’s one of the best local areas to look for moose, and the view of the Rain­bow Glac­i­er — a hang­ing glac­i­er with a huge water­fall drop­ping from its face — is world-class. 

This pop­u­lar trail offers an easy jaunt out to a peb­ble beach — the first half of the mile-long path is even paved. Trav­el­ers, locals, and guide com­pa­nies all enjoy the walk so you won’t find soli­tude here unless it’s a stormy day. But hik­ing the trail is a great way to check out the for­est and enjoy the water, where you may see surf scot­ers, seals, sea lions, and hump­back whales, espe­cial­ly in May and June. So bring some binoc­u­lars and a…  ...more

Each Octo­ber and Novem­ber, between 3,000 and 4,000 bald eagles descend upon this 48,000-acre pre­serve cen­tered on riv­er bot­tom­lands a few miles north of Haines to feast on late runs of salmon. Eagles can be found through­out the pre­serve, how­ev­er, with an esti­mat­ed 300 to 400 of the birds in the area through­out the year.

For decades just a wide spot in the road, this new, pock­et park cap­tures the most emblem­at­ic scene in Haines, the state­ly build­ings of his­toric Fort Seward against the relief of the tow­er­ing Chilkat Peaks. 

This sev­en-mile coastal trail can be a rugged scram­ble over beach rocks at times, but it rewards hik­ers with a sun-bathed ori­en­ta­tion and oppor­tu­ni­ties to see moose, bears and some­times whales, some­times at close range.

This is a rarely vis­it­ed group of islands south of Chilkat State Park. Unpre­dictable winds, huge tides, and strong cur­rents make them a chal­leng­ing des­ti­na­tion to vis­it. Com­bined with the lack of any pub­lic trans­porta­tion, these islands remain a near-pris­tine wilder­ness left for the seri­ous boater to explore.

This trail through an urban for­est offers a close view of a muskeg, a swampy wet­land crit­i­cal to the health of rain­for­est rivers and fish­eries. It’s flat and easy, with long sec­tions of board­walk, plus park benches. 

Accessed either from Mount Rip­in­s­ki or from the 7 Mile Haines High­way, this climb is a thigh-burn­ing beast that will reward the fit and the will­ing with great views, extend­ed time in the alpine, bright wild­flow­ers, great blue­ber­ry and salmonber­ry pick­ing, and the chance to see moun­tain goats and bears. The short­est route is from the 7 mile trail­head, which climbs near­ly 4,000 feet in 2.5 miles! It’s steep and chal­leng­ing all the way, from…  ...more

Just south of the Chilkat Island is Sul­li­van Island, and at its south­ern end, you’ll find Sul­li­van Island State Marine Park. It has the same acces­si­bil­i­ty issues as the Chilkat Islands; the eas­i­est way to see these islands is to look for them as you cruise via fer­ry or cruise ship down the Lynn Canal between Haines and Juneau. 

The park has a few camp­sites, but no out­hous­es. The dock at the park pro­vides pub­lic access to Mos­qui­to Lake, which offers great fish­ing, espe­cial­ly for cut­throat trout and Dol­ly Var­den char. The lake fills with migrat­ing ducks in the spring and fall, and trum­peter swans use the lake as a stopover on their migra­tions. Up to 80 swans have been seen at one time on the lake. In the win­ter, locals like to ice fish and cross-coun­try ski on the lake  ...more

Some would rather avoid it, but climb­ing to the top of Fort Seward puts cyclists in range of the town’s pret­ti­est beach­es – along Chilkat Inlet. You won’t regret the extra work required.

Built to take eagle pho­tog­ra­phers out of harm’s way along the Haines High­way, this 1.5- mile trail includes look­outs and inter­pre­tive pan­els about the adja­cent Bald Eagle Coun­cil Grounds, where thou­sands of eagles gath­er each year. Warm upwellings of riv­er water keep sec­tions ice-free, pro­vid­ing birds with an impor­tant meal.

A site of his­toric sawmills and a now-closed road, nature has reclaimed this for­mer indus­tri­al site, which has become one of the town’s most attrac­tive and tucked-away trails. It’s less than a mile from town, but is seclud­ed and can be thick with wildlife.

This trip requires some logis­tics, includ­ing rent­ing bikes and arrang­ing for a lift to Cana­di­an bor­der, but it’s worth it. The wall of moun­tains to the west pro­vides a stag­ger­ing vista and you can see wildlife to boot.

If you’re in shape and ready for a climb, this tow­er­ing yet gen­tle peak above town makes for a great hike. You’ll expe­ri­ence the dif­fer­ent ecosys­tems of a South­east Alaskan moun­tain — lush for­est, sub­alpine stunt­ed trees, alpine mead­ow, and rocky sum­mit. The weath­er can be vari­able at the top, so bring lay­ers, food, and plen­ty of water. Also bring a cam­era and binoc­u­lars, to look for the res­i­dent herd of moun­tain goats that pop­u­late these alpine…  ...more

This trail — a steady climb of almost 2,000 feet in 2.5 miles from the Mud Bay trail­head to the top of Mount Riley — affords amaz­ing panoram­ic views of rivers, oceans, moun­tains, and glac­i­ers. You’ll walk through old-growth coastal for­est, sub-alpine stunt­ed trees, and bog­gy alpine muskegs, all while sur­round­ed by glacial­ly-stri­at­ed rocks. Hike up and back from the Mount Riley side, or make a big­ger trip of it, climb­ing point-to-point from the…  ...more