Things to do in Sitka
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Chichagof Island's Western Shoreline
Chichagof Island's Western Shoreline is one of Southeast Alaska's best blue-water destinations for experienced kayakers.
Unfortunately, the trip often requires other transportation, because few paddlers have the experience necessary to paddle the open ocean around Khaz Peninsula (which forms a barrier between Kruzof Island's north end and Slocum Arm, the south end of the West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness). Either rent a folding kayak and then book a floatplane or hire a water-taxi service to take you there.
The arm is the southern end of a series of straits, coves and protected waterways that shield paddlers from the ocean's swells and extend over 30 miles north to Lisiansk…
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Harbor Mountain Trail
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This trail is reached from Harbor Mountain Rd, one of the few roads in the Southeast providing access to a subalpine area. Head 4 miles northwest from Sitka on Halibut Point Rd to the junction with Harbor Mountain Rd. A parking area and picnic shelter are 4½ miles up the rough dirt road.
Another half-mile further is the parking lot at road's end, where an unmarked trail begins on the lot's east side. The trail ascends 1½ miles to alpine meadows, knobs and ridges with spectacular views. From here a trail follows the tundra ridge to the free-use shelter on the saddle between Harbor Mountain and Gavan Hill, where you can pick up Gavan Hill Trail. Plan on spending two to fou…
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Gavan Hill Trail
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
Gavan Hill Trail ascends almost 2500ft over 3 miles to Gavan Hill peak. The trail provides excellent views of Sitka and the surrounding area. From the trail's end, the adventurous hiker can continue to the peaks of the Three Sisters Mountains.
Gavan Hill is also linked to Harbor Mountain Trail. Halfway across the alpine ridge is a free-use USFS shelter available on a first-come, first-served basis; it's 3½ miles from the Gavan Hill trailhead, a hike of three to four hours.
From Lincoln St, head north up Baranof St for six blocks. The trailhead and a small parking area is reached just before the cemetery gate at the end of Baranof St. Camping is good in the trail's alpine …
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Mt Verstovia Trail
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This 2½-mile trail is a challenging climb of 2550ft to the 'shoulder,' a small summit that's the final destination for most hikers, although it's possible to continue climbing to the peak of Mt Verstovia (3349ft). The view from the shoulder on clear days is spectacular, undoubtedly the area's best.
The trailhead is 2 miles east of Sitka, along Sawmill Creek Rd; look for a large sign for the trailhead near a lone restaurant (which changes names so frequently that it shall here remain nameless). The Russian charcoal pits (signposted) are reached within a quarter-mile, and shortly after that the trail begins a series of switchbacks. It's a four-hour round-trip to the should…
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Mt Edgecumbe Trail
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
The 6.7-mile trail begins at the USFS Fred's Creek Cabin and ascends to the crater of this extinct volcano. Views from the summit are spectacular on a clear day. About 3 miles up the trail is a free-use shelter (no reservations required).
Mt Edgecumbe (3201ft) is on Kruzof Island, 10 miles west of Sitka, and can only be reached by boat because large swells from the ocean prevent floatplanes from landing. Stop at the Sitka Convention & Visitors Bureau for a list of local operators who will drop off and pick up hikers. Actual hiking time is five to six hours one-way, but by securing Fred's Creek Cabin, you can turn the adventure into a pleasant three-day trip, with two nigh…
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Katlian Bay
This 45-mile round-trip from Sitka Harbor to scenic Katlian Bay (on Kruzof Island's north end) and back is one of the area's most popular paddles. The route follows narrow straits and well-protected shorelines in marine traffic channels, making it an ideal trip for less experienced blue-water paddlers who will never be far from help.
A scenic sidetrip is to hike the sandy beach from Katlian Bay around Cape Georgiana to Sea Lion Cove on the Pacific Ocean. Catch the tides to paddle the Olga and Neva Straits on the way north and return along Sukot Inlet, spending a night at the USFS Brent's Beach Cabin. Plan on four to six days for the paddle.
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Indian River Trail
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This easy trail is a 5½-mile walk along a clear salmon stream to Indian River Falls, an 80ft cascade at the base of the Three Sisters Mountains. The hike takes you through typical Southeast rain forest, and offers the opportunity to view brown bears, deer and bald eagles.
The trailhead, a short walk from the town center, is off Sawmill Creek Rd, just east of Sitka National Cemetery. Pass the driveway leading to the Public Safety Academy parking lot and turn up the gated dirt road. This leads back to the city water plant, where the trail begins left of the pump house. Plan on four to five hours round-trip to the falls.
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Princess Maksoutoff's Grave
Across Marine St, at the top of Princess St, is Princess Maksoutoff's Grave, marking the spot where the wife of Alaska's last Russian governor is buried. But for a strategically placed chain-link fence, the grave would be in the Russian Cemetery. But a bright and shiny sign proclaims this tiny three-grave site as the Lutheran Cemetery.
Cynics might postulate that the princess probably lost her status as a bona fide Lutheran when she married the Russian Orthodox governor, but now that she's a bona fide tourist attraction, the Lutherans want her back.
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Sheldon Jackson Aquarium
Housed in the Sage Building is the Sheldon Jackson Aquarium, a classroom during the school year but Sitka's top attraction for children during the summer. The aquarium features an 800-gallon 'Wall of Water' filled with sea anemones, rockfish and starfish and three touch tanks where kids can feel the spiny skin of a huge starfish or the coarse shell of an abalone.
It is also home of the country's only on-site, college-run hatchery, an especially impressive sight when thousands of king, coho, pink and chum salmon boil the water during feeding.
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Beaver Lake Hike
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
This short trail starts from Sawmill Creek Campground, which is reached from Sawmill Creek Rd, 5½ miles east of Sitka. Across from the former pulp mill on Sawmill Creek Rd, turn left onto Blue Lake Rd for the campground; the trailhead is on the campground's south side.
Although initially steep, the 0.8-mile trail levels out and ends up as a scenic walk through open forest, muskeg and marsh areas to Beaver Lake, which is surrounded by mountains. Plan on an hour round-trip.
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Sitka Cross Trail
Rather than leading up out of town, this easy, well-used 2.2-mile trail runs roughly parallel to civilization, from one end of town to the other. The west end starts by the water tower at the intersection of Charteris St and Georgeson Loop, but you can pick it up behind the baseball field at the end of Kimsham St, beside the hostel. The trail leads east from there, crossing Gavan Hill Trail and ending at Indian River Trail. Along the way you'll pass peat bogs and old-growth forests.
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Whale Park
If you don't have funds for a wildlife cruise, try Whale Park, 4 miles south of town, which has a boardwalk and spotting scopes overlooking the ocean for whale watching. Fall is the best time to sight cetaceans; as many as 80 whales - mostly humpbacks - have been known to gather in the waters off Sitka from mid-September to the end of the year. If you don't mind cold, rainy weather, the Sitka's is the first week of November.
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Russian Cemetery
Old headstones and Russian Orthodox crosses can be found in the overgrown and quintessentially creepy Russian Cemetery, located at the north end of Observatory St, or just squeak through the gap in the chain-link fence behind the princess' grave), where the drippy verdure seems poised to swallow up the decaying graves, like something out of a Stephen King novel.
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Pioneer Bar
- Sitka, USA
- Entertainment › Bar
Known locally as the 'P-Bar,' this is the most interesting place to have a beer in Sitka and one of Alaska's classic bars. The walls are covered with photos of fishing boats, their crews and big fish and a blackboard where occasionally a captain advertises for a crew. Don't ring the big brass ship's bell over the bar unless you're ready to buy a round.
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Isabel Miller Museum
Within the Centennial Building is the Isabel Miller Museum, which is one room with a good portion of it a gift shop. The rest is crammed with a collection of relics, a model of the town as it appeared in 1867 and displays on Russian Alaska. Outside between the museum and the library is an impressive handcarved Tlingit canoe, made from a single log.
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Tribal Tours
A wide array of local tours, from simple walks around the harbor to VIP tour that includes hors d'oeuvres, beverages and preferential seating at local performances. In-between there is its 2½-hour bus tour that includes Sitka National Historical Park, Sheldon Jackson College and a Tlingit Native dance performance.
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Sitka's Secrets
Sitka's Secrets runs its 27ft boat to St Lazaria Island National Wildlife Refuge on a four-hour cruise to view seabirds galore and any other marine wildlife that happens along the way - usually a lot. The operators are a married couple, both degreed biologists and former national wildlife refuge managers.
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Alaska Pioneers Home
Across Katlian St from the square is the prominent, yellow Alaska Pioneers Home. Built in 1934 on the old Russian Parade Ground, the home is for elderly Alaskans. The 13ft-tall bronze prospector statue in front of the state home is modeled on longtime Alaska resident William 'Skagway Bill' Fonda.
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Castle Hill
Kiksadi clan houses once covered the hilltop site, but in 1836 the Russians built 'Baranov's Castle' atop the hill to house the governor of Russian America. It was here, on October 18, 1867, that the official transfer of Alaska from Russia to the USA took place. The castle burned down in 1894.
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Sitka Trail Works
- Sitka, USA
- Activities › Hiking
Sitka offers superb hiking in the beautiful but tangled forest surrounding the city. A complete hiking guide is available from the USFS Sitka Ranger District office. Sitka Trail Works, a nonprofit group that raises money for trail improvements, also offers guided hikes throughout the summer.
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Sitka Wildlife Quest/Allen Marine Tours
Sitka Wildlife Quest/Allen Marine Tours offers a two-hour cruise on Tuesday and Thursday at 18:00 to view whales, sea otters, puffins and other wildlife and a three-hour tour on Saturday and Sunday at 08:30. All tours depart from Crescent Harbor dock and are narrated by a naturalist.
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Van Winkle & Sons
Sitka's longtime proprietor of seafood serves up such specialties as Dungeness crab cakes, seafood soufflé and even a pizza covered with shrimp and scallops. Its 2nd-floor location and wall of windows allows you to dine to a view of Sitka's island-studded harbor.
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Shelikof Bay
You can combine a 10-mile paddle to Kruzof Island with a 6-mile hike across the island from Mud Bay to Shelikof Bay along an old logging road and trail. Once on the Pacific Ocean side, you'll find a beautiful sandy beach for beachcombing and the USFS Shelikof Cabin.
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Mosquito Cove Trail
At the northwest end of Halibut Point Rd, 0.7 miles past the ferry terminal, Starrigavan Recreation Area offers a number of short but scenic trails. One of them, Mosquito Cove Trail, is an easy and scenic 1¼-mile loop over gravel and boardwalk.
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Ludvig's Bistro
Ludvig's Bistro Sitka's boldest restaurant is steadily becoming known as the Southeast's best. The menu is described as 'rustic Mediterranean fare' and almost everything is local, even the sea salt.
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