Southeast Alaska

Haines - One of the northernmost stops on the Alaska Marine Highway, Haines with a population of 2,000 is home to the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in November of every year where eagles descend in mass to feast on one of the salmon runs. The area around present-day Haines was called "Dtehshuh" or "end of the trail" by the Chilkat group of Tlingit. It received this name because they could portage their canoes from the trail they used to trade with the interior, which began at the outlet of the Chilkat River. Additionally the community and surrounding area is extremely popular for outdoor recreation.

City of Haines
Haines Chamber of Commerce
Haines Community Website
Haines Convention and Visitors Bureau

Juneau - The capital of Alaska with a population of 32,000 was first settled by the Auke tribe of the Tlingit. The land and the sea provided such an abundance of food and natural resources that these original settlers enjoyed a productive and creative lifestyle. Today, Juneau is considered by some to be the cruise ship capital of Alaska as nearly one million passengers arrive each summer on cruise ships. About 40 miles of paved road provide local transportation only, but Juneau is easily reached via sea or air.

City of Juneau
Juneau Adventure Travel Guide
Juneau Chamber of Commerce
Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau
Juneau Visitor Guide

Ketchikan - Known as the salmon capital of the word, Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear, although it may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk". Home to the Misty Fjords National Park, Ketchikan also has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles. With a population of over 8,000 people, Ketchikan serves as both an air and marine transportation hub for southern Southeast Alaska.

City of Ketchikan
Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce
Ketchikan Travel Guide
Ketchikan Visitors Bureau

Interests

Petersburg -Petersburg is an Alaska town that still makes its living from the sea and is not a port of call for large cruise ships. Petersburg is located on Frederick Sound near the summer feeding grounds of hundreds of humpback whales. With its Norwegian influences, Petersburg is known as the Little Norway of Alaska.

City of Petersburg
Petersburg Chamber of Commerce

Sitka - Derived from the Tlingit term meaning "people on the outside of Shee", Sitka is often referred to as "Sitka by the Sea". The area was originally settled by the native Tlingit but was founded in 1799 by Alexander Baranov, the governor of Russian America. Sitka was the site of the ceremony in which the Russian flag was lowered and the United States flag raised after Alaska was purchased by the United States in 1867 after the sea otter pelt trade died out. Given its island location, it makes transportation to and from Sitka inherently difficult, expensive and inconvenient. Today, this town of 8,000 has a thriving tourism and fishing economy.

City of Sitka
Sitka
Sitka Chamber of Commerce
Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau
Sitka Travel Guide
Sitka Visitor Information

Skagway - Skagway, the "Gateway to the Yukon" owes its birth to the Gold Rush of 1898. With its population of 880 it lies at the head of spectacular Taiya Inlet, the northernmost section of Lynn Canal. The economy of Skagway today is driven by the tourist industry, primarily in the form of cruise ship traffic.

City of Skagway
Skagway Chamber of Commerce
Skagway Convention and Visitors Bureau

Wrangell - One of the oldest non-native settlements in Alaska, Wrangell was originally settled as a military post in 1868. Having been under the jurisdiction of the Russians, the English, and the Americans, as well as having originally been Tlingit territory, Wrangell has a unique status of the only Alaskan city to have been governed under four "flags". The town has always been a major home to the people of the tlingit and a 70 year old Chief Shakes tribal house still stands on the original location of the Shakes house, a small island now inside of the Wrangell harbor. Currently logging, fishing, and tourism are the mainstays of the Wrangell area economy.

City of Wrangell
Wrangell Chamber of Commerce
Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau