Things to do on our own in Skagway

[aim-high]

Hi,

 

Myself and my wife are going to Skagway in June as part of our NCl cruise. We have almost the whole 12 hrs to spend in Skagway and at this point, we still dont have a clear picture on what to do on our own at Skagway. We are thinking of renting a car and then driving up the Klondike Highway. I see that there are lot of tours in that area like White pass mountain railroad, Yukon Tours , Dog sledding etc, but the tickets are pricey so are thinking of just driving and seeing places.

so the question is how far to drive from Skagway port ? Is it worth to just drive until Carcross (ofcourse,take pictures along the way) and then return back ?

We like hiking so will I find places along the way to stop and do some hiking ?

I see everyone mention about Emerald Lake but I cant seem to find in google maps. I see only Tutshi Lake and Tagish lake near Carcross.

 

Any suggestions that we can do on our own is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[Yukon]

I added Emerald Lake to this road map - http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/images/south_klondike-hwy-map.html (it's the turnaround point for most people).

[dfitz]

We just got home from our cruise. For us, Skagway seemed more like a fake Disneyland town, so we were glad we rented a car and headed to Carcross. Rented through Avis, about $108 total for a Toyota Corolla & took about $25 in gas to go a little beyond Carcross and back, plus some side-tracking.

 

It's a beautiful drive, quite a bit of snow still on the ground while we were there (May 27), lots of pull outs w/ views, and we saw bears grazing right on the side of the hwy.

 

Carcross is very small town, but there's a beautiful spot overlooking a beautiful lake there. Shortly after driving through Carcross, there's a dog camp on the right where you can stop to visit the dogs, or do wheeled cart rides for about $35 through Pristine Wilderness Tours, no reservation reqd. Just a little further is a place called Spirited Adventures where we did a saddle/paddle & lunch. The canoe part is on Spirit Lake which is a beautiful lake that is not clearly visible from the road ... Emerald Lake is right on the road just a little further beyond Spirited Adventures w/ a pull out overlooking it.

 

There are some trails right near port in Skagway but we didn't have time to hike them, but heard they are pretty. We had dinner at a very good place that serves Thai food, it's on 4th street and is called Starfire, very much a locals place, good food if you like Thai.

 

Posting some pics from our drive & the saddle/paddle. The colors of Spirit Lake are much brighter than the pic shows, more similar to Emerald Lake.

 

Oh, the poor people who did the train excursion did not have fun on this day ... about a quarter of the way, they were stopped by a landslide and stuck for quite a long time before being able to back up and turn the train ... they were given refunds, but basically sounds like they lost their day in port.

 

Note: Wildlife sightings are not guaranteed, but the views are gorgeous, although you won't have the snow that we had in May.

[dfitz]

Here's some addtl pics from our recent trip and drive from Skagway to Yukon

[Lanaki]

I suggest that you purchase Murray's Guide. It is only $5 and I think well worth it. (Yukon, who posted the map link, is the intrepid author of the wonderful Murray's Guide. It is nice to have something from a true local.)

 

"www." then "murraysguide" then ".com" (won't let me post the URL).

 

If we were driving I would buy it but we are taking a tour via van. However, I may buy it anyways just so I know what to look for and where we are at each point. (And since they will stop for photo ops I think it will be very handy.) We are going all the way to Emerald Lake.

 

Dfitz - thank you for posting your experience and the pictures.

[diverearl]

We like hiking so will I find places along the way to stop and do some hiking ?

 

After the drive to the Emerald Lake / Carcross area (highly recommended) you might look into the short walk up to Reid Falls located just behind Gold Rush Cemetery. Really beautiful area with very little tourist traffic.

 

This sight gives a good run down of 2009 event and local things to do in or around Skagway http://www.skagwaynews.com/attractions.html .

[aim-high]

Dfitz,

 

Thanks so much for your beautiful narration and pictures from your tour. That gives us a lot of ideas and time to spend in Skagway. The pictures look really really amazing and with our passion for photography , we definitely would be spending good amount of time just stopping the road and taking pictures.

We have already booked a rental from Avis so we will be heading to Carcross just after our ship arrives.

 

If you dont mind posting more pictures from your trip, I would be happy to take a look and I hope to return back from my trip and post some pictures in this board.

[vbmom87]

Here is a link for hiking trails around Skagway:

 

http://www.skagway.com/skagwaytrailmap.pdf

[nativetexan]

dfitz - thanks for the info!! My husband and two teenage sons might be interested in the saddle/paddle. Would you mind sharing cost information? Is there any way to get there besides renting a car? Just curious. We don't want to ride the train and there just doesn't seem much else!!

 

Any info/suggestions appreciated!!

 

Thanks everyone!!

 

Alaska in 4 weeks!!

[dfitz]

You're welcome :)

 

Combined, me and my daughter took about 500 pictures during the week! We just used our little digital point and shoots, but are very happy with the pics. I'm thinking I'll try to get them organized w/ titles and maybe put a link to them so you can see them full-size ... might take me a little while, so feel free to remind me that you're interested in seeing them :p my email address is below. If you want any info/pics of Juneau or Hoonah, those were our other ports.

 

Be prepared for a bit of a line at Avis when you pick your car up, it's a funny little office run out of what appears to be the office of a hotel ... it was nice that they have a bunch of new cars, ours still had the "new" sticker on it. We saw the lot full of cars, and didn't see the office right away ... it's across the street from the lot, and a few doors down. It's a short walk from the ship, maybe 10 minutes.

 

The saddle/paddle just past Carcross was kind of nice to have as a destination and purpose for the drive ... the 1 hr "paddle" part was basically across the lake and back, but beautiful views while paddling and the water is an amazing color and clear ... the 1 hr horse ride part is the standard stable ride (one part had an esp beautiful view), our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and vegetation which was interesting - we were lucky enough to have just the 3 of us as our group, not sure what I would have thought of it had we been in a group of 12, but it was only $85/pp and included lunch (sandwich, drink, pie) - a fair price compared to most Alaskan excursions. They did say moose sometimes come near the lake and that dall sheep can sometimes be seen on the nearby mountains, we didn't see them on our trip. Saw some beautiful flowers along the trail though.

 

One last comment about your drive to Carcross ... on the way out of Skagway all the tour buses & groups are heading out too, so if you want to skip being part of the crowds, head straight out w/o stops (you'll arrive at your destination ahead of the crowds, plan about 1 to 1 1/2 hour drive) then take your time and do your photo stops and pull overs on the way back ... that's what we did and it worked out very nicely - we had every pull out to ourselves, well except for at one of the bears, a jeep tour group noticed us watching the bear, so they all pulled over too ... but we'd already had a lot of "private" viewing ahead of their arrival :) When the string of jeeps pulled over, the bear moved a bit further away and became a little more aware of the people ... while it was just us there, he was busy grazing and turning rocks over looking for insects.

 

Diverearl suggests the trail by the cemetary, we started hiking it, but were getting short on time so didn't go far, but it was pretty. You can allow more time to hike the trail by driving to the cemetary, you drive through the dirt parking area and lane near the train yard on the way out of (or back into) town. And Diverearl is correct that it has very little tourist traffic ... we only saw 4 other people while we were at the cemetary area, but it was also late in the day.

 

~Denise

dfitz0321@aol (dot) com

[denali2000]

Denise

Since you crossed out of and back in to the US, what was your experience at the border? Were there delays in getting back in to the US or getting in to Canada?

thanks.

[aim-high]

Thanks for your additional tips, dfitz.

 

We are also stopping at Juneau , Ketchikan and Victoria as part of our Cruise. We have booked the Harv and Marv at Juneau and thinking of going to the Mendenhall glacier. So we hope to have fun at these places. Take your time for the putting addtional photos and I hope to see more later in this thread.

[kenish]

Denise- Welcome back! Was Alaska way more than you expected? It was for us.

 

FYI, you might consider Picasa for posting your photos. It's part of Google, it lets you upload pictures, edit them (much easier than Photoshop), and post them in an album. http://picasa.google.com/

 

Here's my album as an example: http://picasaweb.google.com/kenish01/Alaska?authkey=ZICx8hyjUvg#

[dfitz]

dfitz - thanks for the info!! My husband and two teenage sons might be interested in the saddle/paddle. Would you mind sharing cost information? Is there any way to get there besides renting a car? Just curious. We don't want to ride the train and there just doesn't seem much else!!

quote]

After watching youtube videos of the train, I knew it wasn't for us ... we have a 20 yr old daughter who travels w/ us. The hear the hiking trails are great. The saddle paddle was listed as $95pp on the website, but when I phoned to make reservations, Jan (pronounced Yawn) offerred it at $85pp since we were a group of 3. Here's their website w/ all the info and details: http://www.exploreyukon.com/daytrips.html or google Spirited Adventures, Yukon. I believe it is also offered as an excursion through Princess Tours, and we met a nice guide there w/ another smaller tour group that was arriving as we were leaving, we got his card, but I'm going to have to find it ... he was really nice. If you want to contact me at my private email, I have a whole bunch of info/research that I can send you that I have from planning our trip, my email is in a previous post.

 

Denise

Since you crossed out of and back in to the US, what was your experience at the border? Were there delays in getting back in to the US or getting in to Canada?

thanks.

We are US citizens, carried passports, there was no wait either way in the car lane ... there was quite a collection of buses waiting to be checked going into Canada, I'm not sure how long of a wait the tour buses had, but we breezed through in a matter of about 2 minutes going both ways, not even one car in front of us :)

 

Denise- Welcome back! Was Alaska way more than you expected? It was for us.

 

FYI, you might consider Picasa for posting your photos. It's part of Google, it lets you upload pictures, edit them (much easier than Photoshop), and post them in an album. http://picasa.google.com/

 

Here's my album as an example: http://picasaweb.google.com/kenish01/Alaska?authkey=ZICx8hyjUvg#

Hi Ken, thank you! Alaska is gorgeous, I'd like to go back but not on a cruise ... the ferry system would be great. I'd like to be able to have time in the ports when cruise ships aren't there. While we were in Juneau, there were a total of 5 cruise ships in port at the same time - that's way too many. I haven't tried picasa yet, but I have the day off tomorrow, I'll check it out. Was heading to bed, but now I'm tempted to go look at your album :p I don't want to go too far off subject here, so I'm going to send you some addtl info about some cabins that you and your son might like, our heli pilot told us about them ... tomorrow.

~Denise

[larmaro]

Thanks for sharing those amazing pictures. That was a great one of the raft, where were you rafting and with what company. I go in three weeks and I can't wait especially after seeing your pictures.

[dfitz]

Thanks for sharing those amazing pictures. That was a great one of the raft, where were you rafting and with what company. I go in three weeks and I can't wait especially after seeing your pictures.

You're welcome :) The one in the canoe is on Spirit Lake, the name of the place is Spirited Adventures, here's the link for more info and contact http://www.exploreyukon.com/daytrips.html You can't see this area of Spirit Lake from the hwy, and the colors of the water are similar to Emerald Lake. You do basically canoe/paddle across the lake and back ... there are gorgeous views while paddling ... I'm working on sorting, editing, and putting titles on my pics right now, will post more later ... for now here's one more pic of a view while paddling ... I'm going to try to get our album on picasa like Kenish recommended and will try to remember to come back here to post the link :)

 

You can see in this pic that it was really windy the morning we were there, but they gave us the option of trying it (and turning back if we wanted), or doing an alternate activity of a guided hike. I had never canoed before, so wanted to try it and we did fine.

[theresef]

We just returned as well and I have yet to post all our pics (2500 in all!!!!) so will be later this week.

 

Highly recomend the saddle paddle at Spirit Lake. You can book directly thourhg Yan at Spirit Lake Wilderness Lodge. Believe someone already told you the prices.

 

Although wild life is not guaranteed - we saw moose, black bear, eagles, dall sheep and a plethora of smaller animals.

 

truly a spectacular trip. Felt bad for the folks that syated in Skagway the day we went - between the fog, rain and landslides - pretty much a lost port day. Skagway was very simialr to Old Western Town in Disney:)

 

Outside of Skagways was awe inspriing!!!

[AdoptAtty]

I had no idea what to do when we landed in Skagway... we had gone flightseeing with Island Wings and Whale Watching with Harv & Marv earlier in the trip. My parents wanted to walk around the town and then return to the ship. We did see some beautiful art work in some of the shops!

 

Kind of by accident I met Cris Siegel of Skagway Float, and ended up hiring him to speand a few hours with part of our family because my girls (13 & 16) wanted to see snow... well, we did! This was our least expensive excursion and the one my daughters loved the most. They also loved Reid Falls! Cris was wonderful and I thought quite reasonable.... www.skagwayfloat.com

 

Keep in mind I asked him to take us out into some real snow...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LoriPhil]

If you're wandering around town, I understand it's about a 10 minute walk to a footbridge spanning the river - possibilities for critter-sightings there. (We've got it on our to-do list this time)

[Chat Noir]

We enjoy the drive. It's rather peaceful considering there are thousand's of people in port.

 

This year we stopped in again at the Cinnamon Cache Bakery between Carcross and Emerald Lake. The rolls were excellent this trip.

[SeaDawg]

If you're wandering around town, I understand it's about a 10 minute walk to a footbridge spanning the river - possibilities for critter-sightings there. (We've got it on our to-do list this time)

 

For your own private seal show head to Yakutania Point. From the docks, go north on Broadway to First Avenue, then left until you reach the Skagway airport fence. Follow the fence until you reach the front of the terminal. Straight ahead is the footbridge that takes you over the Skagway River to the point.

[dfitz]

... Although wild life is not guaranteed - we saw moose, black bear, eagles, dall sheep and a plethora of smaller animals.

 

truly a spectacular trip. Felt bad for the folks that syated in Skagway the day we went - between the fog, rain and landslides - pretty much a lost port day. Skagway was very simialr to Old Western Town in Disney:)

 

Outside of Skagways was awe inspriing!!!

Wow, what day were you there? I so wanted to see a moose, and when they told me they sometimes see them eating by the lake I was hopeful.

The poor people that were in Skagway the day we were there (5/27) who decided to take the train had a bad day too as the train was stopped and forced to turn back because of a land slide.

 

We described Skagway pretty much the same as you, a fake Disney feeling. Although, we did find the yummy Thai restaraunt ... I think it was on 4th street.

[cole]

A fun place to stop at the end of the day is the Red Onion. Live piano player and "dance hall gals" that sing along with him on occasion. Found the Alaskan Made shops had beautiful souvenirs if you are in to that. A delightful little port!

B. Cole

[rsham]

Great pictures - Kenish. Well organized and I love that you tagged the pictures with what I was looking at. Looks like a great trip and I can't wait to go in August 2009.

[theresef]

Wow, what day were you there? I so wanted to see a moose, and when they told me they sometimes see them eating by the lake I was hopeful.

The poor people that were in Skagway the day we were there (5/27) who decided to take the train had a bad day too as the train was stopped and forced to turn back because of a land slide.

 

We described Skagway pretty much the same as you, a fake Disney feeling. Although, we did find the yummy Thai restaraunt ... I think it was on 4th street.

 

We were there 5/26 - so aday before youu guys. Must have scared all the wild life out of the woods and into our view! Will post some pics later this weekend and you can see the bear walking down the highway - directly on the yellow line!

 

We stopped and had a beer in Skagway heading back to the ship and a store or two - but absolutely loved our trip into the Yukon. Would do it again in a heartbeat! Hopefully this time we can see the views from the road - we had heavy fog until we crossed the border and on the way back - well...peasoup would have been clearer:)