Best Things To Do In Skagway

Tak­ing a TEM­SCO heli­copter tour shows off the Gold Rush lands around Skag­way in a new light, reveal­ing gor­geous, glac­i­er-filled val­leys, tum­bling water­falls and peak after icy peak at the north end of the Juneau Ice­field. Then land on a remote glac­i­er for an excit­ing guid­ed jour­ney on ice that was formed thou­sands of years ago!

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

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

Walk the fine line between folk­lore and gold fever. The Liarsville Camp, near Skag­way, was orig­i­nal­ly named after jour­nal­ists who came here dur­ing the Klondike Gold Rush and cooked up all man­ner of tall tales. The event begins with an all-you-can-eat feast in the for­est. Then explore the old trail camp and fin­ish off your day with a vis­it the Fan­cy Goods store. You can also have your pic­ture tak­en with one of the dance hall girls or the camp’s  ...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

Skag­way may be a quaint small town, but it offers a big lens into the Alas­ka fron­tier. This tour oper­a­tor — run by a cer­ti­fied Nat­u­ral­ist for the state of Alas­ka — offers a friend­ly and fas­ci­nat­ing way to explore some sur­pris­ing depths of the Alas­ka wilder­ness. Options include pri­vate tours rang­ing from 5 to 7 hours that explores the sights of British Colum­bia and the Yukon

Take the train out of Skag­way to some of Alaska’s best hik­ing. Not just any train, though, but a Gold Rush-era, nar­row-gauge train that winds through gor­geous scenery and drops you off at the trail­head. The White Pass & Yukon Route Rail­road winds through stun­ning scenery on its way to drop you off on hik­ing trails that offer water­fall, moun­tain, and glac­i­er views. It’s a fun way to gear up for a day or two of great hik­ing. The train is an  ...more

Board a TEM­SCO flight that whisks you thou­sands of feet above sea lev­el to the Den­ver glac­i­er and a dog mush­ing camp hid­den away on a snow field. Lis­ten to their cho­rus of ener­getic bark­ing before tak­ing off with their mush­er across the glac­i­er. After the demon­stra­tion, you will make your way over to cud­dle the future Idi­tar­od cham­pi­ons, puppies! 

Ride the rails on a real gold-rush era, nar­row-gauge rail­road from Skag­way into the heart of the Yukon. On the White Pass & Yukon Route Rail­road, you’ll have sev­er­al trip options, tak­ing you past glacial rivers, water­falls, and gorges for a real taste of wild Alas­ka. You’ll feel like you’ve gone back in time on this authen­tic train, as you climb 3,000 feet to scenic vis­tas and past apt­ly-named spots named Inspi­ra­tion Point and Dead Horse  ...more

Some peo­ple love the view of Alas­ka from the side of a ship, or from above in a bush plane. But this cycle shop and tour oper­a­tor based in Haines and Skag­way proves that there’s noth­ing quite like the view of Alas­ka from atop two wheels, as you glide through the gor­geous­ly unique scenery. Its day trips are a fab­u­lous way for inde­pen­dent trav­el­ers and cruise pas­sen­gers to take a detour on their voy­age, enjoy­ing a dif­fer­ent pace and per­spec­tive on  ...more

This mod­er­ate, 2‑mile loop trail near the Skag­way Riv­er cir­cles a boul­der strewn out­crop­ping. It also fea­tures sun­ny look­outs while mean­der­ing through a birch and pine for­est and lead­ing to a pro­tect­ed cove and pic­nic area.

If you’re in Skag­way for a sum­mer job or just a week­end fling, take your bike. Most­ly flat ter­rain and a com­pact urban lay­out makes this town a fan­tas­tic spot to see on two wheels. There’s even a free bike-repair sta­tion out front of Skagway’s pub­lic library.

Com­plet­ing this all-day climb, a 10-mile round trip climb­ing near­ly 5,000 feet, isn’t for begin­ners. But at the top, you’ll be on the ridge sep­a­rat­ing the Dyea and Skag­way riv­er val­leys, with an awe-drop­ping, 360-degree view. Once above the tree­line, some rock cairns mark the way, but the trail can be vague due to heavy brush and rocky terrain.

This trail is con­sid­ered to be a very long muse­um and the old arti­facts left over from the Gold Rush Days must be left alone. Adven­ture­some trav­el­ers can retrace the stam­ped­ers’ route to the gold mines by back­pack­ing the 33-mile climb up and over the ​“Gold­en Stairs,” immor­tal­ized in Char­lie Chaplin’s silent film, ​“The Gold Rush”. The trail begins nine miles out of town in Dyea and on aver­age the trek takes five days to com­plete, but…  ...more

An amaz­ing look at the his­to­ry of the Alaskan Gold Rush, with the added nov­el­ty of hik­ing from Alas­ka to Cana­da. This trip offers a vari­ety of scenery and dis­tinct­ly dif­fer­ent ecosys­tems: riv­er val­ley, coastal tem­per­ate rain­for­est, exposed alpine, and arid bore­al forest.

Tucked on the moun­tain­side over­look­ing the cruise ship docks, this mod­er­ate hike offers great views down Taiya Inlet and an idyl­lic camp­ing spot. This 8‑mile round trip trail is unknown even to some locals. It leads through a mixed stand of trees and descends to a beach­front jut­ting south towards Haines on Lynn Canal.

This park across from the Skag­way Riv­er offers ball­fields, horse­shoe pitch­es, a BMX trail, and a disc golf course. Out­door town events and con­certs, includ­ing the annu­al sol­stice cel­e­bra­tion, are held at the park’s stage/​amphitheater.