Ketchikan is the first Alaskan port call on most VV Inside Passage itineraries and it sets the tone for everything that follows: a colorful, steep-streeted fishing town built partly on stilts over a creek where salmon run so thick in season you can almost walk across their backs, surrounded by the dense old-growth forest of the Tongass National Forest, and possessing the largest collection of standing totem poles in the world. Ketchikan calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World and the title is not contested.
The Town
Ketchikan sits on a narrow strip of land between the mountainside and the Tongass Narrows — so narrow in places that buildings are built on pilings over the water. Creek Street, the historic red-light district (now a National Historic Landmark), runs along Ketchikan Creek on elevated wooden boardwalks above the water. The buildings are painted in the vivid colors that characterize Southeast Alaska ports and the whole effect is of a town that grew organically from necessity and turned out beautiful.
The Totem Poles
Ketchikan has four major totem pole parks and is the world’s preeminent destination for Tlingit and Haida totem pole art. The Totem Heritage Center (downtown) houses the largest collection of original 19th century totems in the world — not replicas, but the genuine century-old poles recovered from abandoned village sites. Totem Bight State Historical Park (10 minutes north by car) has a reconstructed clan house and 15 totems in a forest setting. Saxman Totem Park (2 miles south) is a living Native village where master carvers still work. This is the best totem pole experience accessible from any cruise ship port anywhere in the world.
The Misty Fjords
Misty Fjords National Monument is 40 miles from Ketchikan — a 2.3-million-acre wilderness of glacier-carved fjords, sheer granite walls rising 3,000 feet from the water, and forests so dense they have their own weather. The only practical way to see it in a single port day is by floatplane or a fast boat tour. VV Shore Things offers floatplane tours over Misty Fjords that rank among the most dramatic flightseeing experiences accessible from any VV port. The name is accurate: the fjords are almost always misted with low clouds that make the vertical granite walls look like a landscape from another planet.
Salmon, Halibut, and the Creek
Ketchikan Creek runs through the center of town and in season (July through September) the salmon run is genuinely extraordinary — pink salmon, coho, king salmon, and sockeye packing the creek so densely that the water appears to move. The bears know this. Brown bears and black bears fish the creek during peak run season and viewing them from the bridge or the Creek Street boardwalk is entirely possible. The fishing charter industry is significant — Ketchikan halibut and king salmon fishing is world-class and VV Shore Things offers charter options.
Insider Tips from Joel and Erin
- The Misty Fjords floatplane is the best Shore Thing in Ketchikan. It is expensive and it is worth every dollar. The scale of the fjord system and the dramatic granite landscape are extraordinary from the air.
- Allow time at the Totem Heritage Center downtown. The 19th century original poles are extraordinary works of art and the cultural context provided is genuinely illuminating.
- Creek Street is a 10-minute walk from the ship. Do not skip it. The combination of the historic buildings on pilings, the salmon in the creek below, and the chance of spotting a bear makes this one of the most distinctive short walks from any cruise ship dock in Alaska.
Ready to Sail to Ketchikan?
Joel and Erin are certified First Mates. The VV Alaska season from Seattle puts Ketchikan as the first port on most itineraries and it is an extraordinary introduction to Southeast Alaska.
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