Ketchikan: Potlatch Park, City and Wildlife Private Van Tour – Ketchikan, Alaska

EXPERIENCE

You will meet your private guide at the cruise ship dock to begin your private excursion. From here you can sit back and relax in a new 15-passenger Ford Transit van, complete with captain chairs.

You can enjoy the beautiful 10-mile coastal drive north to Potlatch Park. Once there you will discover a wonderful collection of historical exhibits and totem poles, which showcase the work of the native tribes. Your guide will narrate the stories and legends of the totems, and you’ll get to experience what an 1800’s native fishing village would have been like. Next, check out the carving shed, where master carvers created new poles, antique rifles, and vintage cars, at the nearby museums.

On the way back towards town you will observe canneries, ruminants of a floating logging camp, and boat harbors. Once at Herring Cove, your guide will lead you to wildlife viewing areas, where black bears, bald eagles, herons and salmon are often spotted.

As you head back to Ketchikan, keep an eye out for whales, seals and eagles. Your guide will point out Creek Street’s “Red Light District”, explaining the history of bootlegging and the story of “Dolly’s House”. At the end of your tour, you may choose to end at Creek Street to do some shopping (where transportation to your next destination will be on your own), or your driver/guide will take you directly back to the cruise dock from where you started. 

HIGHLIGHTS

Explore Potlatch Park, complete with a clan house, fish shed, schoolhouse and other buildings
Listen to the stories of the Totem Poles, along with live carvings at the carving shed
See antique cars, rifles, and artisan crafts at the museums
Enjoy the coastal drive to Potlatch, and then south to Herring Cove
Spot wildlife at the cove, such as black bears, bald eagles, heron, and salmon

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