We found out why Ketchikan, Alaska calls itself the “salmon capital of the world” and also met some lumberjacks who call this fun port city home.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Cruising the Last Frontier
• Review: WestJet 737-800MAX Economy Class LAX-YVR
• Superb Service and Surprisingly Good Food: The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
• Vancouver with Kids: Fun in the Great Outdoors
• Family Dining in Vancouver: The Best of What We Ate
• Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise – Part 1 – Booking and Room
• Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise – Part 2 – Dining
• Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise – Part 3 – Onboard Entertainment
• Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise – Part 4 – Ship Features
• Disappointing Wi-Fi on Celebrity Solstice
• PSA: Do Not Waste Money on Celebrity Cruises Drink Packages
• Pro Tip: Celebrity Cruises Gives Free Parking at MGM Resorts
• Icy Strait Point: A Simple Alaskan Port Town
• Skagway: A Small But Enjoyable Port
• A Brief Encounter at Dawes Glacier
• Juneau: Full of Outdoors Experiences
• Ketchikan: Home to Salmon and Lumberjacks (this post)
• Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge YVR (Transborder / US Flights)
• Review: Air Canada 737-800MAX Business Class YVR-LAX

Map of the Area

Ketchikan is a very walkable city and it’s one where we ended up not purchasing any excursions directly from Celebrity Cruises. Why? Because there were only two specific things we wanted to see and one of them (seeing the salmon ladder) is a short 5-10 minute walk from our cruise ship. Similar to other ports in Alaska, there is the possibility of running into many cruise ships (there is space for four cruise ships docked at one time, not counting potential tenders).

Just outside Berth 3 is a large statue of an eagle. I like that many of these Alaskan ports have beautiful local decorations.

Salmon Walk (Creek Street)

If your cruise ship docks here in the morning, I recommend coming to the Creek Street District before the crowds show up (just follow Dock Street over to the small bridge shown below). This place gets very popular and you’ll have a better time if you’re not fighting the crowds for a better spot to view the salmon. Thankfully, you’ll find salmon all along the river here as they try their best to fight the currents and make it upstream.

We didn’t see any bears hunting for fish while we were here, but we did see a seal swim up and steal a salmon before it could make it far. Sadly it was too quick for me to take a picture of it.

Continue along the path and you’ll find a part of the river that looked darn near impossible for the fish to get through. And yet they kept attempting to make their way up, and indeed a few did make it all the way to safety. Eight-year-old Alex called these victorious salmon “champion fish”, though there were many, many dead fish that could be seen along the path who died on their journey. I’ve heard the dead bodies are consumed by bear cubs.

There are also a lot of caterpillars in the viewing area. I could be mistaken, but I believe this is the yellow-haired dagger moth caterpillar. He didn’t bother us, but he did surprise us as we were leaning over to watch the salmon. A simple reminder that nature is all around us.

You can continue up the river a bit more and find a nice viewing area to see the fish that were able to make it all the way up. If you make your way over to the corner of Park Ave and Freeman Street, you’ll find a clearing in the bushes that leads to an open area where you can catch the sights (and smells) of the salmon resting in the area.

It’s an absolute must-do to come and view the fish here at the salmon ladder. The best part is that it’s free for all to do and a very simple walk from the cruise docks. If you do nothing else here, I’d say you had a successful trip to Ketchikan.

The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

This felt like the most commercialized experience of our time here in Alaska, though that isn’t to mean we didn’t have a good time enjoying it ourselves. You can purchase tickets through your cruise line or on your own through their website if you remember to do it well in advance as shows do sell out. I found that prices for adults were comparable, but it was cheaper for children to purchase directly. We paid $231 for six tickets (four adults, two children).

Being as we purchased tickets on our own, we were able to choose our own seats out of the sun and we were able to get settled in sooner than if we had gone through the cruise line. As with the salmon ladder, it’s an easy walk to the lumberjack show from the cruise docks. The show itself is about an hour in length.

The show itself was pretty intense, with the crowd being separated into two sides: one to root for the United States and the other to root for Canada. What followed was a series of 12 events that eventually crowned one side the champion. If you have children (or adults) who are sensitive to loud noises, know that they do have some souped-up chainsaws during some of the events that are a tad on the loud side, so bring headphones if you feel the need. I won’t spoil all the fun, but the lumberjacks seemed to really get into the spirit of competitiveness (and so did our kids).

If you get hungry, you can stop by the snack store to load up on snacks. It’s not cheap, but these prices are marginally cheaper than what you would find at sporting events in Los Angeles. It’s best to grab your snacks before the event starts, as you don’t want to miss out on any of the action.

When it’s all over, you can come take your photo with the lumberjacks and the announcer. If you haven’t been before, I’d say it’s worth it to come here and check out a show. You’ll probably walk away with a smile on your face. I can’t speak to how authentic it is, but were you really expecting that when you came here in the first place? Given the rest of the activities we did in Ketchikan were free, spending money to watch this show didn’t feel egregiously expensive.

Ketchikan Fire Station Museum

If you have a few minutes to kill before your visit to The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, you might want to check out the museum at the Ketchikan Fire Station. You’ll find it a short stone’s throw away, 400 feet from the show over on Bawden Street south of Mill Street. And, yes, this museum won’t cost you anything.

Don’t come here expecting a fancy, big-time museum. Even if you’re not rushing through, you might find it hard to spend more than 15 minutes inside. But if you’re into fire trucks or history, it’s worth a visit. If you’re lucky, the fire trucks might be on display for you to explore, but we didn’t have any such luck when we visited. Still, it did provide some pacing for us between visits to the salmon ladder and to The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show.

Anything Else?

We were mightily tempted to board the Ketchikan Duck Tour, last seen running around in the picture below on its way to pick up the next wave of guests. We ultimately refrained from doing so, as the timing of when it happened would have resulted in a rush between watching the lumberjacks and jumping on this duck tour. In terms of style of tours, I’ve always enjoyed duck tours as they give a tour of both land and sea in these amphibious vehicles, though perhaps it’s not necessarily a must-do given all the time we spent on our cruise ship anyways. Between the lumberjack show and the duck tour, we prioritized the lumberjack show and thought that was the better choice.

What do you like to do in Ketchikan?