Not so long ago, Ketchikan was a rugged and exotic intersection of cultures built on the profits of logging Southeast's rainforest, but in a decade it has transformed itself into a tourist center, softening its rough edges while selling its charm to visitors. Visitors with a little more time to spend, and the willingness to explore beyond the core tourist areas, can visit the museums, clan house replicas, and totem pole parks that make Ketchikan a center of Tlingit and Haida culture.

Ketchikan also makes a great jumping-off point for some spectacular outdoor experiences, including a trip to Misty Fjords National Monument. As the state's fourth-largest city, Ketchikan is the transportation hub for the southern portion of Southeast Alaska. (The nickname "Gateway City" refers to its geographical location and transportation function.) Seaplanes based on docks along the waterfront are the taxis of the region, and a big inter-agency visitor center can get you started on your explorations of the area. Ketchikan is one of the wettest spots on earth, with rain measured in the hundreds of inches; quality rain gear is a requisite for any activity, in the wilds or on the streets of town.

Totem Bight State Historical Park
The park presents poles and a clan house carved beginning in 1938 by Natives working with traditional tools to copy fragments of historic poles that had mostly rotted away. The project, funded by the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps, helped save a Tlingit and Haida culture that had been essentially outlawed until that time. The setting, purportedly the site of a traditional fishing camp, is a peaceful spot on the edge of Tongass Narrows, at the end of a short walk through the woods, so the experience is both aesthetic and educational. The park also stands out for its excellent interpretive signs, a printed guide, and an interpretive website. There's a small park bookstore.

Misty Fjords National Monument
Located in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Remote and wild, Misty Fiords National Monument supports many nearly untouched coastal ecosystems and covers about 3,570 square miles. Several major rivers and hundreds of streams are fed by misty rain and snow each year, as well as by meltwater from glaciers that begin near the Canadian border. Mineral springs and volcanic lava flows add to the unique geological features.

Behm Canal, a deep, long waterway of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, leads to the heart of the Monument. Picturesque areas such as Walker Cove and Rudyerd Bay are surrounded by rock walls jutting 3,000 feet (900 meters) above the ocean. Flightseers, boaters, and hikers may photograph, fish, hunt, or view the long, deep, narrow fjords and steep-walled canyons- enjoying the outstanding scenic beauty and rugged terrain of Misty Fiords. Created on December I, 1978 by presidential proclamation, the Monument encompasses 2,294,343 acres within the Tongass National Forest. In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and designated all but 151,832 acres as Wilderness. Monument status protects ecological, cultural, geological, historical, prehistorical, scientific, and wilderness values.

Recreational activities such as camping, hiking, photography, hunting, fishing, boating, continued use of public and private cabins, air access, and outboard motors are all happen within the Monument. Misty Fiords is a major producer of coho, sockeye, pink and chum salmon and king salmon. Numerous other saltwater, fresh water, anadromous fish species and shellfish are plentiful in this area.

The majestic landscape at Misty Fiords National Monument was created by thousands of years of glaciation and other earth processes. The unique features of Misty Fiords were created by volcanoes, moving snow and ice, and wave action.

Creek Street
A wooden street or board walk in the old "red light district" on which Ketchikan's famous Dolly's House is located. Creek Street today is a collection of museums, historic homes, and shops resting on pilings above Ketchikan Creek. From the board walk you can take a tram up the mountainside to a restaurant for lunch with a wonderful view of the city. The board walk starts at 203 Stedman Street, just upstream from the Thomas Basinboat harbor—another point of interest.