Haines Day Tours & Attractions

With bald eagles, bears, and gor­geous scenery, as well as fas­ci­nat­ing cul­ture and his­to­ry, these tours out of Skag­way and Haines offer an up-close expe­ri­ence with insights from knowl­edge­able local guides. There are sev­er­al options, includ­ing wildlife and nature tours that focus­es on find­ing and learn­ing about wildlife, a pho­tog­ra­phy tour where you get the chance to enhance your pho­tog­ra­phy skills, raft­ing, and some fun sight­see­ing tours  ...more

Guid­ed sea kayak­ing in Alaska’s South­east opens up the mag­i­cal world of water-based tour­ing. Glide through a marine envi­ron­ment with gor­geous views in every direc­tion, and many oppor­tu­ni­ties to spot wildlife – from eagles and salmon to bears, whales and sea lions. Options include day tours for busy sched­ules and mul­ti-day immer­sions, all under the expert guid­ance of nat­u­ral­ists who help you under­stand the com­plex work­ings of a unique and amazing  ...more

Oper­at­ing from May to Sep­tem­ber, this pri­vate fer­ry ser­vice is the eas­i­est and fastest way to trav­el between Haines and Skag­way. The 45-minute ride pass­es through Taiya Inlet, a steep-walled rocky fjord just out­side of Skag­way, and then opens up to the Lynn Canal near Haines. As you ride, look for seals and sea lions, as well as hump­back, minke, and orca whales. Don’t for­get to look up from the water from time to time to check out the  ...more

With bald eagles, bears, and gor­geous scenery, as well as fas­ci­nat­ing cul­ture and his­to­ry, these tours out of Skag­way and Haines offer an up-close expe­ri­ence with insights from knowl­edge­able local guides. There are sev­er­al options, includ­ing wildlife and nature tours that focus­es on find­ing and learn­ing about wildlife, a pho­tog­ra­phy tour where you get the chance to enhance your pho­tog­ra­phy skills, raft­ing, and some fun sight­see­ing tours  ...more

Dri­ve your­self on this guid­ed off-road ATV tour in Haines and expe­ri­ence pris­tine wilder­ness, unfor­get­table views, and a deli­cious meal! And at the top, 1,500 feet above sea lev­el, you’ll take in the sweep­ing vista of shim­mer­ing Chilkoot Lake, set in the stun­ning Chilkoot Valley.

Dis­cov­er Haines! The Shel­don Muse­um is the muse­um of the Chilkat Val­ley. Expe­ri­ence the art and cul­ture of the Tlin­git peo­ple. Re-live pio­neer days, explore the gold rush, the Dal­ton Trail and life at Fort William H. Seward. The muse­um store has a large selec­tion of local and Alaskan books and art. Accred­it­ed by the Amer­i­can Asso­ci­a­tion of Muse­ums. Hours Sum­mer Mon-Fri: 10am-5pm Sat-Sun: 1pm-4pm Extended…  ...more

A col­lec­tion of approx­i­mate­ly 1400 types of ham­mers, rep­re­sent­ing many dif­fer­ent trades and uses, housed in a cot­tage-style house. The Ham­mer Muse­um pro­vides a jour­ney into the past through the use of man’s first tool. From ancient times to the present, the ham­mer tells the sto­ry of man’s progress and inge­nu­ity. A unique adven­ture for the whole family.

Built like a cathe­dral but with two sto­ries of win­dows to let the out­doors in, the Haines Library is a gath­er­ing spot for vis­i­tors and res­i­dents alike. Three easy chairs at the end of its great hall are a priv­i­leged nook for patrons who get there first. When opened in 2002, Library Jour­nal ranked this as the nation’s finest small library. Find a book or mag­a­zine, sink into the rock­ing chair or an easy chair and soak in the view. You’ll feel like  ...more

The Amer­i­can Bald Eagle Foun­da­tion and Live Rap­tor Cen­ter is a non-prof­it edu­ca­tion cen­ter locat­ed near the post office, a few blocks from down­town Haines. And in the sum­mer, the cen­ter hosts live rap­tor pro­grams fea­tur­ing bald eagles, owls, hawks, and oth­er birds of prey. The muse­um has an enor­mous room filled with real­is­tic taxi­dermy dis­plays of a wide vari­ety of Alaskan crit­ters. You’ll also find a vari­ety of habi­tats and species  ...more

The dream of the famed Chilkat tribe of Tlin­git Indi­ans, this work­ing muse­um hon­ors the great lega­cy of North­west Coast art as prac­ticed by a proud and wealthy peo­ple. It hous­es the famed Whale House arti­facts while serv­ing as a work­shop for con­tem­po­rary carvers and weavers.

This park about an hour’s dri­ve from Haines is a trib­ute to own­er Steve Kroschel, who has been work­ing with wildlife for most of his 60 years, includ­ing an appear­ance on TV’s Late Show with John­ny Car­son. The bond between Kroschel and his menagerie makes this park endear­ing­ly different.

The Amer­i­can Bald Eagle Foun­da­tion and Live Rap­tor Cen­ter is a non-prof­it edu­ca­tion cen­ter locat­ed near the post office, a few blocks from down­town Haines. And in the sum­mer, the cen­ter hosts live rap­tor pro­grams fea­tur­ing bald eagles, owls, hawks, and oth­er birds of prey. The muse­um has an enor­mous room filled with real­is­tic taxi­dermy dis­plays of a wide vari­ety of Alaskan crit­ters. You’ll also find a vari­ety of habi­tats and species  ...more

Just a 10-minute walk from down­town along the water­front, this fort was built by the U.S. Army start­ing in 1902, then pur­chased by Army vet­er­ans in 1947. The Fort orig­i­nal­ly housed the enlist­ed men in two Bar­racks build­ings. Only one of the two build­ings stands today. It is unoc­cu­pied and in need of major repairs. The oth­er Barrack’s build­ing burned down in 1981. Recent­ly, the foun­da­tion of the burned build­ing was trans­formed into an outdoor  ...more

Char­lie Anway, one of the town’s ear­ly pio­neers who home­stead­ed the prop­er­ty, built the cab­in in 1903. Anway had a knack for gar­den­ing and even­tu­al­ly devel­oped the famous Anway straw­ber­ry — a berry so large and juicy that Haines became known as the Straw­ber­ry Cap­i­tal of Alas­ka. In 2003, the prop­er­ty was donat­ed to the Chilkat Val­ley His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety; plans are in the works to restore the cab­in and open it to visitors.

The ​“Haines Beer­fest,” as its known by locals, is very pop­u­lar, and tick­ets sell out weeks in advance. It kicks off with a gourmet din­ner, paired with beer tast­ings. The fol­low­ing day, the crowd descends on the South­east Alas­ka State Fair­grounds, where craft beer and home­brew sam­ples abound.

You prob­a­bly call them ​“snow­mo­biles,” but Alaskans call them ​“snow­ma­chines.” The Alcan 200 is billed as the ​“fastest snow­ma­chine race on earth.” Machines have been clocked over 110 miles per hour as they zoom along the 154-mile course, from the Cana­di­an Bor­der to Dezadeash Lake, Yukon Ter­ri­to­ry. Por­tions of the Haines High­way are closed dur­ing the race, and plen­ty of par­ty­ing takes place in town before and after this Jan­u­ary event. 

The Klu­ane Chilkat Bike Relay takes place in June, right around the longest day of the year (the sum­mer sol­stice). The 8‑leg relay starts in Haines Junc­tion, Yukon, and ends in Ft. Seward in Haines, a dis­tance of 150 miles. It attracts a wide range of enthu­si­asts, from seri­ous bike rac­ers to local teams sim­ply out to have a good time.

Sep­a­rat­ed from the Alas­ka main­land by fjords and steep moun­tains, South­east Alas­ka devel­oped its own ​“state fair” 50 years ago. In the words of one of its annu­al themes, the Haines-based fair real­ly does ​“soak in Southeast.”

The annu­al Alas­ka Bald Eagle Fes­ti­val takes place in Haines dur­ing the sec­ond week of Novem­ber at the peak of the largest con­gre­ga­tion of eagles in the world. Drawn by a late run of chum and coho salmon, some 2,000 to 4,000 eagles con­verge on the Chilkat Riv­er Valley.

The Chilkat Cen­ter for the Arts is the cre­ative hub of Haines. The facil­i­ty fea­tures a 300-seat audi­to­ri­um that has host­ed every­thing from local children’s plays to a stripped-down ver­sion of the Moscow Sym­pho­ny. There’s a dance stu­dio where locals get togeth­er to prac­tice activ­i­ties like yoga, jujit­su, and bal­let. The cen­ter is also the home of local pub­lic radio sta­tion KHNS, which serves Haines and near­by Skagway.