Ketchikan - Totem Heritage CRT or Bight State park

[joy1rn]

Which is best way to go? We are doing a misty Fjords sea plane and then would go to either totem place. We are taking HAL late May, early June.

[donaldsc]

Which is best way to go? We are doing a misty Fjords sea plane and then would go to either totem place. We are taking HAL late May, early June.

 

Unless you really want native dancing, the only place to go it Totem Bight. First of all, it is free. Second of all, it is in a great setting. Third of all, you do not have the owners of the place shilling to get more money out of you. Fourth of all, it is located in a great setting instead of inside the city.

 

You can easily get to Totem Bight by city bus. No need to take a tour to the place.

 

DON

[Northern Aurora]

The Totem Heritage Center is one of the two city owned museums in Ketchikan. I've been several times and think it is one of the overlooked attractions of Ketchikan. Since they don't seem to pay a commission to the cruise lines and don't have much of an advertising budget the Totem Heritage Center tends to be ignored.

 

The Totem Heritage Center is located in Ketchikan and is an easy walk from the cruise docks. Since the totems are inside it is a nice option when Ketchikan is experiencing some of their "liquid sunshine," particularly if the "sunshine" is pouring heavily. There is a nominal admission fee, so check their website for current rates.

[donaldsc]

The Totem Heritage Center is one of the two city owned museums in Ketchikan. I've been several times and think it is one of the overlooked attractions of Ketchikan. Since they don't seem to pay a commission to the cruise lines and don't have much of an advertising budget the Totem Heritage Center tends to be ignored.

 

The Totem Heritage Center is located in Ketchikan and is an easy walk from the cruise docks. Since the totems are inside it is a nice option when Ketchikan is experiencing some of their "liquid sunshine," particularly if the "sunshine" is pouring heavily. There is a nominal admission fee, so check their website for current rates.

 

I did not think of that one. Good idea. The last time I was there someone was carving a totem and we watched him for a while.

 

DON

[AmberCascades]

We didn't have too much time in Ketchikan last summer so we got to the THC about half an hour before closing. The man almost didn't want to take our money (I think it was $5 each admission) since they were closing in a bit and he thought we might not want to pay to come in for such a short time. We insisted that it was okay and we went in. There was a native girl (I think she was Tlingkit (sp?)) who said she was available for questions and then we looked around on our own. We thought it was very interesting and towards the end of our self-tour, she joined us and we discussed native art and the totems and she told us about her own family history re totems. We were so happy that we raced up there before it closed. I can't comment on the other places since we didn't get to them.

[Budget Queen]

It can depend on the time they have. 3 hours are needed for taking the public city bus to Totem Bight. With a Misty flight, few cruises have enough port time to do both comfortably. As already mentioned, the Totem Heritage Museum is certainly worthwhile, very different from Totem Bight. Another option with some totems is The Southeast Discovery Center (public lands)