Sights in Haines
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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.
The eagles can be seen from the Haines Hwy, where turnouts allow motorists to park and view the birds. The best view is between Mile 18 and Mile 22, where you'll find telescopes, inte…
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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.
Within the parade ground is Totem Village. Although not part of the original fort, it includes two tribal houses and totem poles and is the home of the Chilkat Storytellers Theater Show, an hour-long performance of Alaska Nativ…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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American Bald Eagle Foundation
The American Bald Eagle Foundation displays more than 100 species of animals, including almost two dozen eagles, in their natural habitat.
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Hammer Museum
For something quirky, hit the Hammer Museum, a 1200-hammer monument to owner Dave Pahl's obsession with the tool.
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Sheldon Museum
The Sheldon Museum features indigenous artifacts upstairs, and gold-rush relics downstairs
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