Ketchikan Points of Interest

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Points of Interest

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

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.

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.

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.

The most spec­tac­u­lar and acces­si­ble water­falls around Alas­ka you can see from the road, from a hike, or from a day cruise.

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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