Along the Totem Trail, interpretive signs explain both the natural and cultural history of the area. In Sitka, landscape and history come together in the very subject of a trail—and continue in their own distinctive ways at other places.
Forest Trails and Coastal Landscapes
The Forest Muskegs Trail in Old Sitka State Historical Park is 1.25 miles long and accessible. A self-guided interpretive brochure accompanies your visit. Signs in the park also provide information about the site's history. There is also a public boat launch and dock, providing access to the marine waters north of Sitka.
Other trails offer their own highlights: The Mosquito Cove Trail runs 1.5 miles along Starrigavan Bay and Mosquito Cove through a coastal forest of spruce and hemlock. The Starrigavan Estuary Life Trail is a boardwalk through old-growth forest and a muskeg area. At Halibut Point State Recreation Site, you'll find a half-mile forest trail and a beach where you can beachcomb and explore the intertidal zone. The trail to Beaver Lake passes through a lakeside muskeg area and offers mountain and lake views.
History in Parks and Museums
Sitka National Historical Park preserves historically and culturally significant sites and artifacts associated 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; along the Totem Trail, interpretive signs explain the natural and cultural history of the area.
The Russian Bishop's House offers another perspective on Sitka's past. It is one of the few surviving buildings from the Russian period in North America. The first floor houses a museum with exhibits on Russian exploration and settlement. Ranger-led tours take you through the furnished second floor.
Sitka's museums also each have their own focus. The Sheldon Jackson Museum is Alaska's oldest museum. The Sitka History Museum has more than 8,000 three-dimensional artifacts and nearly 25,000 historical photographs. During the Sheldon Jackson Museum's Native Artist Residency, summer visitors can watch Indigenous artists from Alaska at work and talk with them.
Wildlife and Marine Life
The Molly O. Ahlgren Aquarium at the Sitka Sound Science Center has touch tanks featuring more than 200 local species. At the Alaska Raptor Center, you can watch bald eagles regain their strength and practice flying at the Suzanne and Walter Scott Flight Training Center before being released. Fortress of the Bear has indoor and outdoor viewing areas where you can watch rescued black and brown bears in naturalistic enclosures.
Naturalist-led boat tours from Sitka head into Sitka Sound and along the wild outer coast. You can look for humpback whales, sea otters, brown bears, Steller sea lions, and puffins; sightings are seasonal and not guaranteed. Sitka WhaleFest centers on a three-day scientific symposium about marine life. The program also includes hands-on workshops, presentations by artists and performers, and opportunities to explore Sitka Sound.
Plan Your Trip and Accommodation
When choosing where to stay, it helps to decide what interests you most: forest and coastal trails, cultural collections, or wildlife viewing each lead to different discoveries in Sitka. Sitka can only be reached by air or sea, including scheduled and charter flights, ferries, and cruise ships. Most attractions in downtown Sitka are within walking distance of one another.
Explore more destinations: Sitka, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Wade Hampton Census Area, Bristol Bay, Petersburg Census Area, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Aleutian Islands.
For the overview of the wider region: Alaska.
