Downtown Ketchikan, Stop by Stop: Front Street to Creek Street and Thomas Basin

Downtown Ketchikan is small, but it is not obvious. The best of it sits along one creek and a few streets back from the water. Here is the route stop by stop, with what to look for and how long to stay. If you would rather be led, a Ketchikan walking tour covers the same ground with the stories.

The route at a glance

Berth 2, The Rock and Front Street

Most tours in town meet at The Rock, a bronze statue beside the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau at 131 Front Street. It makes a good starting point for you, too. Next to the Visitors Center stands a rain gauge, a fair warning for the day ahead. Look out over the Tongass Narrows as you walk. Floatplanes land and take off right in front of the town, some of them bound for Misty Fjords.

The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center

The Forest Service runs the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center at 50 Main Street, a short walk back from the water. It holds more than 20,000 square feet of exhibits on the Tongass National Forest and its people, and a 200-seat theatre. From 1 May to 30 September it opens daily, 8am to 4pm, for $5. Anyone 15 or under goes free.

From October to April it opens Fridays and Saturdays only, with no entry fee. A $15 season pass covers the holder and two guests. If it rains hard, come here first and walk the creek later.

Creek Street

Creek Street is a boardwalk on wooden pilings over Ketchikan Creek, lined with old houses. In 1903 a city ordinance moved the town's brothels to this side of the creek. It stayed the red-light district for about half a century. Today its houses hold shops and a museum.

That museum is Dolly's House, at 24 Creek Street. Dolly Arthur lived there until her death in 1975, long after the district closed. The whole story, with the salmon, is on Creek Street, Ketchikan.

The bridges and the fish ladder

Ketchikan Creek fills with spawning salmon each July and August. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game points you to the planks of Creek Street and the bridges over the creek. From there you look straight down on the fish fighting upstream.

Further up, a fish ladder beside the falls helps the salmon past the rapids. The Harris Street Bridge is one of the best photo stops. The Ketchikan photo safari stops there for 20 minutes to teach foregrounds and backgrounds. Before July the creek is quieter, but the walk is still worth doing.

Up the creek: the hatchery and the Totem Heritage Center

Keep following the creek uphill. It passes the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery, a working salmon hatchery that runs daily tours in summer. Ask at the door what a visit costs, because no fee is published.

The Totem Heritage Center stands at 601 Deermount Street. The City keeps original 19th-century poles of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian indoors here. From May to September it opens daily, 8am to 5pm. From October to April it opens 1pm to 5pm on weekdays. Admission is charged at the door.

• Pay nothing extra: the Tongass trolley loop and the small-van wildlife and culture loop both include your Totem Heritage Center admission.
• More poles by road: Saxman stands 24 poles south of town, and Totem Bight is ten miles north.
• With a guide: the photo safari gives you 20 minutes at the center, then 40 at Potlatch Totem Park.

Every totem site, with how to reach it, is on Ketchikan totem poles.

Back down to Thomas Basin

Head back toward the water and south of Creek Street to Thomas Basin. It is a harbour of working fishing boats, with some of the last wooden dock structures in town. On a clear day you get the wide view of the harbour under the mountains. From here Front Street leads you back to the berths.

When to walk it

Walk it in any weather, with a waterproof layer. July and August give you the salmon. May to September gives you both indoor sights open every day. In winter the Discovery Center opens only on Fridays and Saturdays, and the Totem Heritage Center only on weekday afternoons.

If your ship is at Ward Cove, the free shuttle drops you at Berth 4. Start the route from there, and save the time it takes to ride back. Monthly rain and temperatures are on Ketchikan weather.

If you only have an hour or two

Cut the route to its heart. Walk from Berth 2 to Creek Street and along the boardwalk. Stand on a bridge and look for salmon in the creek, then walk back along the waterfront. That takes about an hour with time to stop.

With two hours, add the Discovery Center or the Totem Heritage Center, but not both. Pick the Discovery Center for the forest and its wildlife, or the Heritage Center for the original poles. Either way, keep half an hour in hand before your all-aboard time. The berths and their walking routes back are on Ketchikan cruise port.

Where a tour takes over

Everything above is on foot. Past the edge of town you need wheels or a boat. Herring Cove, where road tours look for bears and eagles, is south. Totem Bight's clan house is north. The small-group rainforest walk with Totem Bight collects you at the ship for both a forest trail and the poles. For a port day planned around one of these, read how to visit Ketchikan.

Tours that pick up where the walk ends

2.5 Hour Tour in Ketchikan on the Tongass Trolley

A trolley loop of town with Creek Street, the salmon ladder, Herring Cove and the Totem Heritage Center, entry fees included.

From $85 per person

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2-Hour Wildlife and Culture small van Excursion in Ketchikan

Herring Cove, the salmon ladder in season and the Totem Heritage Center, entry in the fare, then a drive through Saxman.

From $80 per person

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2 Hour Alaska Rainforest Walk and Totem Park Small Group Tour

Collected at the ship for the clan house and poles at Totem Bight, then 45 minutes on a forest trail, 11 guests at most.

From $95 per person

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