Sitka Between Coastal Trails and Culture

Sitka is accessible only by air or sea. Options include scheduled and charter flights, ferries, and cruise ships. If you plan to arrive by ferry, be sure to factor the relevant schedule into your travel plans. Most downtown Sitka attractions are within walking distance of one another. When choosing a hotel, it may therefore help to first consider whether you want to focus on downtown, historic sites, or nature experiences during your stay.

Historic Sites and Sitka’s Past

Old Sitka State Historical Park is designated a National Historic Landmark and features interpretive signs about the area’s history. Facilities also include a public boat launch and dock, which give visitors access to the marine waters north of Sitka. The Forest Muskegs Trail in this park is 1.25 miles long and accessible; a guide booklet accompanies the self-guided trail.

Sitka National Historical Park preserves sites and artifacts connected with the 1804 Battle of Sitka. It is Alaska’s oldest federally designated park. The park’s totem poles originated in coastal villages in Southeast Alaska. This connects the site’s history with origins that reach beyond Sitka into the wider region.

Sitka’s museums also cover a range of subjects. The Sheldon Jackson Museum is Alaska’s oldest museum. Its Native Artist Residency program allows summer visitors to watch Alaska Native artists at work and talk with them. The Sitka History Museum holds more than 8,000 three-dimensional artifacts and nearly 25,000 historical photographs. These collections offer a glimpse of the range of its holdings.

The Russian Bishop’s House is one of the few surviving buildings from the Russian period in North America. Its first floor houses a museum with exhibits on Russian exploration and settlement. Rangers lead tours of the furnished second floor. If you plan to take this tour, check the schedule before your visit.

Trails Through Forest and Coastal Landscapes

The trails around Sitka vary in length and setting. The forest trail at Halibut Point State Recreation Site is half a mile long; there is also a beach where you can beachcomb and explore the intertidal zone. The Mosquito Cove Trail is 1.5 miles long. It follows Starrigavan Bay and Mosquito Cove through a coastal forest of spruce and hemlock. Between these two trails is the 1.25-mile Forest Muskegs Trail in Old Sitka State Historical Park.

The Starrigavan Estuary Life Trail offers a different view of the landscape: its boardwalk leads through old-growth forest and a muskeg area in Southeast Alaska. The Totem Trail winds through temperate rainforest, with interpretive signs explaining the area’s natural and cultural history. At Beaver Lake, a trail passes through a lakeside muskeg area and offers views of mountains and water. Together, these descriptions span coastal forest and intertidal zones as well as rainforest and muskeg.

Wildlife Viewing and Experiences on the Water

At the Alaska Raptor Center, visitors can watch bald eagles regain their strength and practice flying at the Suzanne and Walter Scott Flight Training Center before being released. The Molly O. Ahlgren Aquarium at the Sitka Sound Science Center has touch tanks featuring more than 200 local species. At Fortress of the Bear, indoor and outdoor viewing areas offer opportunities to observe rescued black and brown bears in naturalistic enclosures.

Guided natural history boat tours travel from Sitka into Sitka Sound and along the wild outer coast. They offer opportunities to observe humpback whales, sea otters, brown bears, Steller sea lions, and puffins. Sightings are seasonal and not guaranteed. Sitka WhaleFest focuses on another aspect of marine life: its centerpiece is a three-day scientific symposium. The program also includes hands-on workshops, contributions from artists and performers, and opportunities to explore Sitka Sound.

You can shape your itinerary around the subjects that interest you most: historic sites, forest and coastal trails, museum collections, or wildlife viewing. Most downtown attractions are within walking distance; the trails and nature experiences described here each offer their own landscapes and points of interest.

Discover more destinations: Sitka, North Slope Borough, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Aleutian Islands, Yakutat, Aleutians West Census Area, Anchorage.

Return to the main travel overview: Alaska.