Tongass Rainforest Hiking Expedition

[tangerinebunny]

Have any of you done the Celebrity Tongass Rainforest Hiking Expedition?

 

There are no reviews up on their site.

 

If you've done it or hiked in Tongass, did you see much wildlife? Was the hiking aspect hilly or difficult?

 

We're going in early August.

 

Thanks - Diana

[mapleleaves]

Tongass Forest covers a large area ...you might get more responses if you post a link to the excursion so that people can see where the hike is.

 

a few popular hikes noted in this link:

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/ketchikan-hiking.html

[Budget Queen]

Most ship excursions are pretty basic.

 

I've hiked in the "Tongass", many times. It's huge with loads of trails.

 

Copy the actual tour description and where it is, how long.

[tangerinebunny]

Thanks for the suggestion and link. All the website says is:

 

Experience the rainforests of Ketchikan while hiking through the Tongass National Forest. Your excursion starts by traveling to the wilderness trail head, where your guide takes you on an approximate two mile hike through the ancient forest that encompasses the park. You’ll stop at a meadow to discover exotic plants, flowers, wildlife, and a waterfall. While hiking the trail you’ll also experience and learn about Alaskan Native American traditions. KE88

[Budget Queen]

Thanks for the suggestion and link. All the website says is:

 

Experience the rainforests of Ketchikan while hiking through the Tongass National Forest. Your excursion starts by traveling to the wilderness trail head, where your guide takes you on an approximate two mile hike through the ancient forest that encompasses the park. You’ll stop at a meadow to discover exotic plants, flowers, wildlife, and a waterfall. While hiking the trail you’ll also experience and learn about Alaskan Native American traditions. KE88

 

Frankly you don't have to pay for this type of excursion. Simple to go on your own, you may want to take a look at the trail information Maple gave above.

 

Do NOT count on any wildlife. Early August is jackpot for bear tours.

 

Expect some hills. But, overall cruise excursions are pretty tame and frankly, pretty overpriced. At the most, what you are looking at, shouldn't be over, maybe, $50pp, in my opinion.

[mapleleaves]

Pretty generic description ... could be a number of trails.

The problem with group hiking excursions is that they're only as fast as the slowest participant. The positive is that you have a guide that will point out the names of plants, etc if that's important to you.

 

If you're interested in DIY, the hikes noted in the previous link provide info on how to get to the trailheads.

This link provides descriptions for a bunch of trails in and around Ketchikan: http://www.ketchikanalaska.com/adventure/hikingtrails.html

 

This link is from Alaska Fish and Game and provides hiking info for wildlife viewing sites;

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=southeastviewing.ketchikan

[tangerinebunny]

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Edited April 5, 2015 by tangerinebunny

[bearbait]

And it may be a new tour for this season. It almost sounds like they a taking a people out to Settlers Cove at the north end of the road. Though there are also a few waterfalls down on the southern end of the road too. As BQ stated $50 would be about what you should pay for that.

 

The main benefit to going on a guided hike is that hopefully the guide is a local and can actually explain to you what flora & fauna you are looking at.

[Mobius]

This was one of the excursions I was considering. While I prefer to go out on my own, at the same time there are safety in numbers.

 

How much are they charging you for it? I know they are offering the same thing through Holland America, but would need to double check the price (I want to say it was $79).

[Budget Queen]

This was one of the excursions I was considering. While I prefer to go out on my own, at the same time there are safety in numbers.

 

How much are they charging you for it? I know they are offering the same thing through Holland America, but would need to double check the price (I want to say it was $79).

 

The port area hiking trails are pretty popular. With several cruise ships in port they are pretty busy. For a 2 mile, unknown trail, I find $79, a very high price for what you get. If you contacted the visitor center, direct, they may be able to recommend a private guide, with the benefit of some conversation prior and getting more details and an enhanced hike for $150 for 2? (as an example)

[judynorth]

This sounds like the excursion that we took on our first AK cruise. We felt at the time that it was priced way too high for what you actually got on the tour. I posted on another thread that we took the city bus to Totem Bight Park and enjoyed it very much and it cost 50 cents pp for the bus. And on the bus ride you even get to see Walmart. :)

[knbcruisers]

The USDA has a guide of all the hiking trails in Ketchikan. You can download this for free.