How to Get to Ketchikan

Ketchikan is on an island with no road to the mainland, so you arrive by air, by ferry or by cruise ship. Once you are here, most of what you came for spreads along one road north and south of town. If you are arriving to join the best tours in Ketchikan Alaska, the downtown berths are where most of them start.

By air from Seattle

Alaska Airlines flies from Seattle in about 90 minutes, several times a day. You also have daily jet service to Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell. Ketchikan International Airport is on Gravina Island, across the Tongass Narrows from town, so your trip ends with a short ferry.

The airport ferry across the Tongass Narrows

The Borough's airport ferry takes about five minutes. It leaves the Ketchikan side on the quarter hours and the airport side on the hour and half hour. In summer 2026 a second boat runs on weekdays, so you wait no more than 15 minutes.

From the airport into town

The ferry lands you on the Ketchikan side at 4171 Tongass Avenue. From there you continue by taxi or on the borough bus, and downtown lies to the south along the same road. If your hotel is downtown, ask whether it meets the ferry.

By ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway

The state ferry sails from Bellingham, Washington, to Ketchikan in about 36 hours. It is the way to bring your own car. You arrive on the waterfront north of downtown, with the whole road network of the island open to you.

By cruise ship

Most visitors arrive by ship. The port has four berths downtown on Front Street, numbered south to north, and a newer dock at Ward Cove, about seven miles north. Where your ship ties up decides how you start your day: from Berths 1 to 4 you walk into town, and from Ward Cove you take a free shuttle. Every berth and meeting point is on the Ketchikan cruise port.

Getting around on the one road

The town runs 31 miles along the water and is never more than ten blocks wide. North Tongass Highway leads to Ward Cove, Totem Bight and Settlers Cove. South, the road passes Saxman on its way to Herring Cove. Nothing beyond downtown is a walk from the ship.

On a port day, that spread is the reason most visitors take a tour. The van or trolley collects you at the berth, links three or four stops along the road and brings you back before all-aboard.

The bus and the free downtown shuttle

The Borough runs The Bus on routes north and south of downtown. An adult fare is $2, and youth and riders 60 and over pay $1. Inside the downtown zone, roughly Bryant Street to the Coast Guard Base, you ride free. In the cruise season a free downtown shuttle also links the docks with downtown stops.

Reaching Misty Fjords

Misty Fjords National Monument begins about 22 miles east of town, and no road goes there. You reach it by boat or by floatplane, through Behm Canal. The Misty Fjords tours we list fly, and each is about two hours door to door, with the transfer from the docks included.

A flight fits a port day and includes an all-aboard guarantee. The options, with and without a water landing, are on Misty Fjords tours.

Getting to Ketchikan: questions