Trail of the Whispering Giants


A huge 25ft-high rendering of an Alaska Native in Sitka spruce warily guards Prince William Sound College. The sculpture by Peter Wolf Toth is one in a series of 50 similar artworks (one in each US state). It was donated to the town in 1981.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Valdez Museum

0.12 MILES

This lovingly curated museum includes an ornate, steam-powered antique fire engine, a 19th-century saloon bar and the ceremonial first barrel of oil to…

2. Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum

0.22 MILES

For a small town Valdez has several wonderful museums, including this one, the private collection of an American couple who settled in Alaska in 1947 and…

3. Civic Center

0.32 MILES

The Civic Center sits amid greenery with picnic tables, a small lake and the short Overlook Trail in close proximity.

4. Small-boat Harbor

0.4 MILES

Valdez’ harbor is a classic: raucous with gulls and eagles, reeking of fish guts, sea salt and creosote, and home to all manner of vessels. The benches…

5. Valdez Museum Annex

0.43 MILES

This annex of the Valdez Museum is dominated by a scale model of the Old Valdez township. Each home destroyed in the Good Friday Earthquake has been…

6. Old Valdez

2.95 MILES

Old Valdez is like a wilder, starker, less trammeled version of Italy's Pompeii. This is where the town stood before the devastating 1964 earthquake…

7. Trans-Alaska Pipeline Terminal

3.4 MILES

Across the inlet from town, Valdez’ ever-pumping heart once welcomed visitors, but since September 11, 2001, stricter security protocols have closed it to…

8. Columbia Glacier

20.98 MILES

This is the star glacial attraction in Prince William Sound – a large sea inlet named by British colonizers after a young English prince in the eighteenth…