Skaway what to do?

[dancing]

We will (6) be in Skaway for 9 hours and are not real interested in any excursions that is offered by the cruise line. Doing the railroad from Denali so do not want that. What is there to do that is close to town museums? fishery? etc Hate to stay on ship all day.

[Budget Queen]

Just for clairification, the Alaska RR, especially if you are not doing Seward/Anchorage- is in no way comparable to the White Pass RR.

 

But to go along with your question. Biking out the Dyea Road is enjoyable, hiking to Lower Dewey Lake, going to the Park Service Visitor Center- seeing their movie, exhibits, sign up for walking tours, ranger talks. http://www.nps.gov/klgo Walk out to the Gold Rush Cemetery- along the way, take a look at the residential areas, walk back down Alaska St., and enjoy a look at the airport and school. http://skagway.com/citymap.html

[snowmc]

We have been to Skagway several times. We have done the horseback riding and the combination railroad/bike trip....this was soooo much fun, highly recommend it. Skagway is a fun town to just walk around in also. Some of the best souvenir shopping, I think. The railroad is interesting, but would not want to just ride that, thus the recommendation of the bike trip. When at the pier, look for the harbor seal that hangs around there...he's really cute. Have fun...Skagway is probably my favorite port in Alaska.

[shadowrider]

Is it possible to rent bikes in town, bike to the trailhead of the Chilkoot Trail, to see it? Maybe also go into Dyea? Is the Gold Rush Cemetary in the general direction? If so, how much time do you think all of this would take? Thanks, in advance, for your advice.

[Budget Queen]

Is it possible to rent bikes in town, bike to the trailhead of the Chilkoot Trail, to see it? Maybe also go into Dyea? Is the Gold Rush Cemetary in the general direction? If so, how much time do you think all of this would take? Thanks, in advance, for your advice.

 

Sure is available. :) I would allow 4 hours, which would give a lot of time to get off the bikes. This also is a hilly ride in some sections, plus a gravel road- no bike paths. :)

 

If you want to do this, I would suggest you get an early start with the bike rental, especially if you have a nice sunny day and 4 ships in port (10,000 people). I've used this company a few years ago. http://www.cyclealaska.com/rental.html

 

If you do go out to Dyea, which is about 9 miles, do a detour stop at the Slide Cemetery. There are ranger Dyea tours at 2pm, but a self guided option is also available. http://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/upload/Dyea%20walking%20tour%20brochure-2.pdf

 

In my opinion, this is one of the best bike riding areas in Alaska!!!!!!

 

 

You can detour to the Gold Rush Cemetery, here is a map http://skagway.com/citymap.html

[Kellie in Texas]

I had posted quite a long list of what we did in Skagway (and Juneau and Ketchikan and Victoria) but unfortunately that thread has disappeared . . . possibly because I posted it as a new thread and not as an answer to someone, which I did not realize at the time was a problem.

 

Mods, is there a way to get this back? I can re-post it separately under the various towns, if necessary. I intended to copy it as part of my review for our Golden Princess cruise last week and now it's gone. :(

 

In Skagway, we booked the Yukon Bus tour with Chilkoot Charters. It's a 6-7 hour trip up the highway to Carcross in the Yukon Territory. You have to have a passport as it crosses the border. Some people take the White Pass RR up to Fraser and then continue on with a Chilkoot (or other) bus, but we just stayed on the bus the whole day. At Carcross, you get a BBQ chicken lunch with all the fixings and you can pet the sled dog puppies and ride on a sled dog cart (for an extra fee). It was a nice lunch stop. We saw a black bear on the side of the road on the way back down.

 

Up at Carcross is where we ran into the huge mosquitos, which is what several people had asked about on my original thread. Oddly enough, we never actually got bit, but they were swarming around in your face. If the skeeters like you, you should take mosquito spray/lotion.

[fleckle]

We will (6) be in Skaway for 9 hours and are not real interested in any excursions that is offered by the cruise line. Doing the railroad from Denali so do not want that. What is there to do that is close to town museums? fishery? etc Hate to stay on ship all day.

Skagway walking tour map at

 

http://www.skagway.com/walkingtour.html

 

Hover mouse on each number in circle to see description.

Move mouse to top or bottom to scroll map.

 

[suspaul]

Thanks for the link to the map and printable version.

[dolittle]

If you are up to it there is A hike along the tracks that is very good . Also dont miss the old miners bar that is now A museum it is run buy the National park service it is also free.

[Jasperdo]

The Skagway Museum is a nice museum, located in the former McCabe College building. It does a good job of explaining the history of the area. It's at the foot of 7th Street (Number 15 on the Walking Tour map).

 

[gemcrusier]

jasperdo I looked at your pictures of the golden and noticed your camera was the new cannon the pictures were great how do you like using the camera easy??

[zqvol]

We will (6) be in Skaway for 9 hours and are not real interested in any excursions that is offered by the cruise line. Doing the railroad from Denali so do not want that. What is there to do that is close to town museums? fishery? etc Hate to stay on ship all day.

 

 

We did a nice hike followed by a river float. The hike was 2 miles 1/2 mile up hill, 1/2 mile down hill and one mile flat. The float down the river was about 5 miles. It was really nice. I will see if I can find out the company that we used and post for you.

[Jasperdo]

jasperdo I looked at your pictures of the golden and noticed your camera was the new cannon the pictures were great how do you like using the camera easy??

Thank you. My Cannon camera is extremely easy to use. I keep it in my pocket, and take it out to get a photo. I have the P "Program" setting at -1/3 exposure on Vivid. I take all my photos on that setting. I never photoshop my photos. That's how they come out of the camera.

[Linsuesue]

Fleckle-thanks for the great walking tour map! I printed it off and it included the description of each of the stops.