Showing 1-11 of 11 results
-
Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve
In 1982 the state reserved 48,000 acres along the Chilkat, Klehini and Tsirku Rivers to protect the largest known gathering of bald eagles in the world. Each year from October to February, more than 4000 eagles congregate here to feed on spawning salmon. They come because an upwelling of warm water prevents the river from freezing, thus encouraging the late salmon run. It's a remarkable sight - hundreds of birds sitting in the bare trees lining the river, often six or more birds to a branch.
-
Alaska Indian Arts Center
More indigenous culture can be seen in Fort Seward at this location, in the former post hospital, where indigenous artists carve totems or weave Chilkat blankets.
-
American Bald Eagle Foundation
An impressive wildlife diorama is featured here, displaying more than 180 specimens and almost two dozen eagles. A highlight is the live video feed from a remote camera trained on an active eagle's nest.
-
Chilkat Storytellers Theater Show
An hour-long performance of Alaska Native dramatization.
-
Extreme Dreams Fine Arts
Out of town, near the entrance of Chilkat State Park, is this gallery packed with the work of 20 local artists, from watercolors and tapestry to handblown glass, cast silver and beautiful beads. The gallery also has a climbing wall because it's the studio of artist John Svenson, a renowned mountain climber who has scaled the highest peak on every continent except Mt Everest.
-
Fort Seward
Fort Seward, reached by heading uphill (east) at the Front St-Haines Hwy junction, was Alaska's first permanent army post. Built in 1903 and decommissioned after WWII, the fort is now a national historical site with an increasing number of restaurants, lodges and art galleries utilizing the original buildings. A walking-tour map of the fort is available at the visitors center, or you can just read the historical panels that have been erected there.
-
Great Land Wines
They can't grow grapes in Alaska but that doesn't mean they can't make wine. Maybe Haines isn't quite Napa Valley but you can still stop at this winery's tasting room, and sip and purchase wines made from rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries, fireweed flower or anything else they find growing outside. The most unusual is its onion wine that has a definite hint of, well, onions.
-
Haines Brewing Company
Dalton City, the movie set for White Fang that was relocated at the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds, is a beacon for beer lovers. Among the false-front buildings and wooden sidewalks is the Haines Brewing Company, the maker of such beer as Dalton Trail Ale and Elder Rock Red. Tours are short - hey this is a one-room brewery - but tasting is free and you can have a half-gallon growler (around US$8 ) filled for later.
-
Hammer Museum
This is a monument to Dave Pahl's obsession with hammers. He's got a zillion of them, well actually 1400 on display and another 300 waiting to be displayed. In Pahl's museum you learn world history through the development of the hammer, from one less than ¼oz to another weighing more than 40lb. The national press this place has generated is amazing.
-
Sheldon Museum
This houses a collection of indigenous artifacts upstairs with an interesting display on Chilkat blankets. Downstairs is devoted to Haines' pioneer and gold-rush days and includes the sawn-off shotgun that Jack Dalton used to convince travelers to pay his toll.
-
Advertisement
-
Tsirku Canning Company
If historic salmon canning is your passion, you're in luck. This cannery has the only three-piece can-reform line left in existence. You can watch the antique equipment clank along during the hourlong tour, shaping flat metal into cans and then filling them with salmon. Afterwards you can step into the gift shop and purchase a 'Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Farmed Fish' bumper sticker.
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
