9 Alaska hikes (easy to moderate) to do on a cruise ship visit (on your own!) + guided hiking tours 🏔 Alaska cruise port tips

Hi there!

One of the best cheap and free things to do in Alaska cruise ports is hiking! And there are hikes you can do on your own in every cruise port.

There are also hiking tours and excursions that include a little bit of hiking too, if you want to get more out of your Alaska experience by getting local knowledge about Alaska rainforests through a guide.

Most Alaska cruises spend most of the time in Southeast Alaska that is covered by the largest national forest in America! This is Tongass National Forest, which is also the “largest intact temperate rainforest in the world,” according to the US Forest Service.

I have been to the most popular cruise ports of Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway at least 5 times each, and this means that I have had the opportunity to do a bunch of different hikes of varying length and difficulty! I’ve also been to Sitka and Icy Strait Point a couple of times, so I’ve included hiking ideas for those ports too.

Hiking is a perfect way to explore Alaska because it will allow you to get a glimpse of the aspect of Alaska that is wilderness.

 

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Below I list hikes that you can do on your own, and I also make hiking tour suggestions for partner website Viator. This is a good place to read the reviews. (I may earn a commission if you book the tour.)

 

 

1. Nugget Falls Trail (Juneau)

The Nugget Falls Trail starts at the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center, which is one of the most popular places to go in Juneau on a cruise ship visit.

After you go to the visitor center to get your national forest stamp and Photo Point to see the glacier, you can get started on the flat easy gravel trail to Nugget Falls! This will end up being around 2 miles round trip.

I went to Nugget Falls by taking a bus to “near” the visitor center. You can catch the bus in downtown Juneau about a 15 minute walk from the cruise port, and the closest bus stop to the visitor center is about 1.5 miles away. So you can consider the walk to and from the visitor center a part of your hike!

I did the Taku Lodge excursion in the morning (and I did some short light hiking there!), and then I did Nugget Falls in the afternoon.

 

 

🤓 Alternate option: Guided hiking tour in Juneau in Tongass National Forest at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area? For a rugged hike to see the Mendenhall Glacier, you must consider doing the Mendenhall Glacier guided hike. You won’t actually touch the glacier, but it’s a fun hike to see it closer than most people do!

For another hike through Tongass National Forest which a chance to see the glacier (this will be a bit more distant), you’ll want to consider the rainforest and waterfalls trek. This one is for you if priority #1 is hiking through a rainforest and learning about it!

And finally, another excursion you must consider to see the Mendenhall Glacier is the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Adventure. This one involves some light walking over rugged terrain to see the glacier closer than most people do. And, aside from this light hiking, the way you allow yourself to get closer is by paddling a canoe to get to a shoreline that’s closer to the glacier! You can also do a paddling only excursion to see the glacier through the Mendenhall Glacier lake canoe tour, and there will be no hiking involved.

 

 

2. Mount Roberts Alpine Trail (Juneau)

The Mount Roberts Alpine Trail is one of the most convenient hikes to do from a cruise ship. That’s because your transportation to get to the start of the trail is basically at the cruise port. It’s the Goldbelt Tram!

You’ll take the tram up, and then from there you can start your hike on the 1.5 mile Mount Roberts Alpine loop trail to see totem poles. There are also a couple of observation decks that you can walk to. And then if you want to hike further, you can continue going up the mountain to Gastineau Peak or Roberts Peak.

 

 

One of the things to prepare yourself for in doing a hike from the tram station is the possible long wait for the tram. Because of the proximity to the cruise port, it really is one of the easiest things to do. This means crowds and lines.

If you are interested in a moderately difficult hike, then you can also hike TO the tram station, instead of taking the tram ride up. You’ll hike the Mount Roberts Trail from Basin Road.

I did the Sentinel Island lighthouse tour in the morning (and I did some short light walking through the forest on the island!), and then in the afternoon I hiked the Mount Roberts Trail to the tram station.

 

🤔 Another hike to consider in Juneau? If you’re a hiker, you need to consider the West Glacier Trail! (You should consider even if you don’t consider yourself to be a “hiker,” as long as you are prepared for a day hike!) It’s helpful to have all day in port to do this.

This is a hike to see the Mendenhall Glacier, and you’ll get a closer view of the glacier compared to the visitor center.

I think I would still call this hike moderate, but because of it’s length and the amount of walking you’ll end up walking if you take the bus, it leans on the side of moderate to difficult. You start this at the West Glacier trailhead. (map.)

Also read more about how to do Mendenhall Glacier on your own.

 

 

3. Totem Trail at Totem Bight State Historical Park (Ketchikan)

One of the best ways to see totem poles during your Alaska cruise is to do the half mile trail in Ketchikan at Totem Bight State Historical Park. This will take you through a forest to the shore line.

I went to Totem Bight State Park by bus. There’s a bus stop a few minutes walk from the cruise ships that dock in downtown Ketchikan. The bus stop is in front of the coffee shop called Alaska Coffee. (map)

If you’ll be docking at Ward Cove (NCL cruise ships), then Totem Bight is on the Ward Cove side, so you don’t need to go all the way to downtown. See Ward Cove tips.

I went to Totem Bight in the morning and then had an afternoon Misty Fjords National Monument seaplane excursion which flew across Tongass National Forest.

 

 

If you plan to go hiking at Totem Bight State Park, be sure to save the alaska.gov Totem Bight state park map pdf to your phone, just in case you are not able to find a paper map when you get there! This will help you appreciate what you’re seeing a little bit more!

 

🤓 Alternate option: Guided walking tour that includes totem poles? Another way to get a better appreciation for totem poles is to do a guided tour. And you can learn about totem poles and the rainforest through the Alaska rainforest walk and totem park small group tour.

 

 

4. Rainbird Trail (Ketchikan)

An easy way to see a rainforest during your Alaska cruise is in Ketchikan by doing the Rainbird Trail.

You can make this as short as you want (10 minutes walking by staying near the start of the trail) or you can make it longer by hiking the whole trail which is listed as 1.3 miles one way.

There are 3 spots that you can start the Rainbird Trail. Whether you want to make it a short time on the trail or if you want to hike the whole trail one way, I think that starting from the trailhead near the University of Alaska Southeast campus can be perfect.

If you want to hike it round trip, then you can also walk to the nearest starting point from the cruise port, which will be around a 20-30 minute walk.

I started at the Rainbird trailhead that is near the college campus. I got on the free downtown Ketchikan shuttle at the bus stop in front of Alaska Coffee (map) and then got off at the stop near the Safeway. Then from there, I walked to the start of the trail, around 10 minutes. (map)

It rains a lot in Ketchikan, so it’s a good idea to wear waterproof hiking shoes and a poncho or rain jacket if you plan on going hiking in Ketchikan!

I also think it’s a good idea to stop by the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau that’s located in front of the cruise ships downtown (map) so you can ask about the hiking trail conditions.

Officially, there was a sign out in front of the spot I started at that said the trail wasn’t maintained. (Although it was fine when I did it.)

 

Late summer 2024 NOTE: Before doing this hike in Alaska, please go to the visitor center located in front of the cruise ships in downtown Ketchikan (map) to find out the safety of hiking around the university trailhead. You can’t do the whole trail as of late August, and it’s best to get local real-time updates for other parts of the hiking trail. There was a major landslide in Ketchikan on August 25. I have marked on the Ketchikan cruise port map (an interactive google map that I made) where I believe the impacted area is based on media reporting.

 

 

 

🤔 Another hike to consider in Ketchikan? For a solid hike in Ketchikan that leans on the difficult side, you’ll want to look at doing the Deer Mountain Trail. This will be a 4-5 hour hike. The Deer Mountain trailhead is a 30-40 minute walk from downtown Ketchikan. (map)

 

🤓 Alternate option: Guided hiking tour in Ketchikan in Tongass National Forest? You can learn more about the rainforest environment of Southeast Alaska through the magical old-growth creek trek guided tour with a hike through Tongass National Forest.

 

 

5. Yakutania Point Trail (Skagway)

Yakutania Point is a hike you can do by walking from Skagway cruise port. Once you start the trail, it will be around a 30 minute round trip hike.

You can make it a longer hike by continuing on further to Smugglers Cove.

You can also try to find the “Hidden Cove” which you can do so by going down one of the side trails you see once you get started on the Smugglers Cove Trail past Yakutania Point!

Your starting point for the Yakutania Point Trail is the Skagway footbridge, which is a 10-20 minute walk from the cruise ship depending on which pier you are docked at. (map)

The first time I went to Yakutania Point, I did it before doing a helicopter tour. Since the tour was through Temsco, I walked over to the helicopter landing pad after the hike since it was nearby. (map.) Even though I had booked this excursion through the cruise line, this was better than walking all the way back to the cruise port for the meeting spot.

So if you have a helicopter tour with Temsco, it can also be convenient to do the Yakutania Point Trail after your tour. You can opt out of the shuttle back to the cruise port.

 

 

 

6. Lower Reid Falls Trail (Skagway)

A short hike to see waterfalls in Skagway is Lower Reid Falls.

This is a short but rugged trail through a forest. From the start of the trail, you’ll be at the waterfalls in around 5 minutes.

At the start of the trail to Lower Reid Falls is a Gold Rush cemetery.

You can walk to get to the trailhead, but it will take you around an hour on a normal road. (map)

The easier way to get to the Lower Reid Falls trailhead is to take the shuttle from downtown Skagway to the Gold Rush cemetery. It’s a paid shuttle, and in 2023, this was $5 one way.

You can walk to downtown Skagway from the cruise ship. When I went to Lower Reid Falls, I got on the bus in front of the Mascot Saloon. (map.) The shuttle came around every 30 minutes or so.

 

 

🤔 Another hike to consider in Skagway? Another hike that you can do by walking from the cruise port is the Lower Dewey Lake Trail. This is a hike through the forest that goes up so it’s on the side of moderate to difficult. It will take you for a loop around the lake. You can also make it a further hike by doing another trail that’s a part of the Dewey Lake trail system.

 

 

7. Totem Trail at Sitka National Historical Park

One of the easy things to do in Sitka is to go to Sitka National Historical Park!

Most cruise ships dock at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, and from there, there’s a free shuttle to downtown Sitka. (Otherwise, if Sitka is a tender port for you, you will also be dropped off at the harbor in downtown.)

And from the shuttle drop-off, it’s an easy walk to get to the Totem Trail. It’s about a 15 minute walk to get there. (map)

Before you start your totem walk, be sure to head to the visitor center to pick up the national park brochure (with map) and walk through the totem exhibit.

 

 

 

8. Indian River trailhead to the Sisters viewpoint (Sitka)

The Three Sisters mountains are visible in Sitka even without hiking, as they are the prominent mountains you can see from downtown Sitka.

But hiking from the Indian River trailhead, I made the Sisters viewpoint as my “destination.”

It was around 40 minutes one way, although I was going slow and did make some stops along the way. I also saw a “national forest boundary” sign too, so you will officially be walking on national forest lands!

Once I got to the viewpoint, I turned around. You can continue further on the Indian River Trail to waterfalls.

I made the Sisters viewpoint my destination because I thought going all the way to the waterfalls might be too much walking for me… and then I ended up walking a lot more anyway… just not to the waterfalls! 😆

On the trail, you’ll also see signs for the Sitka Cross Trail in different directions… and well going back the same way you came is boring 😆 and I ended up hiking parts of the Sitka Cross Trail to get to the Baranof Street trailhead. And from there, you’re practically downtown.

So you can also start hiking from the Baranof Street trailhead, which is a 10 minute walk from the cruise shuttle drop-off. (map.) This is a quicker way to get in a walk through the forest.

The Indian River trailhead is about a 30 minute walk from downtown Sitka. (map) Along the way, you’ll pass the Sitka National Cemetery.

 

 

🤔 Another hike to consider in Sitka? Another hike I’ve seen mentioned that cruisers have done is the Mount Verstovia Trail. This is a solid day hike that leans on the difficult side, and the Mount Verstovia trailhead is located almost 2 miles from downtown. (map)

Someone in an Alaska cruise facebook said that they got a taxi from downtown to the trailhead for $20 to start the hike, and then after the hike they called the same taxi to get back to the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal for $50. This was in 2023. They took around 4.5 hours to do the Mount Verstovia hike.

 

🤓 Alternate option: Guided hiking tour in Sitka in Tongass National Forest? For a guided hike in Tongass National Forest, you can do a private guided hiking tour through Tongass National Forest. You can also do a Sitka walking tour that includes stops at Sitka tourist attractions along with a walk through Tongass National Forest.

 

 

9. Icy Strait Point nature trail

It’s easy to go for a short forest hike in Icy Strait Point. You can get to the start of the trail by walking just a few minutes from the cruise ship. (map pdf)

Instead of taking the free gondola, you can walk through the forest to get to where the gondola drops you off. This is also where the paid Sky Glider mountaintop gondola begins that will take you up to the zipline.

 

 

Once you’re finished up with the nature trail, next you can go for a walk along the Icy Strait Point beach to see if you can spot any marine life! I’ve seen jellyfish along the shore line!

 

 

How do you know where your cruise ship will dock?

Things can change, but you can look up where your cruise ship is scheduled to dock right now in every Alaska cruise port by look at the schedule for 2024 and the schedule for 2025.

Depending on the location your cruise ship docks, you may have an extra 5-15 minute walk compared to docking at another pier.

 

More easy walking in cruise ports during your Alaska cruise:

• Juneau
• Ketchikan
• Skagway
• Sitka
• Icy Strait Point
• Victoria
• Vancouver

 

Happy hiking in Alaska cruise ports!

 

This is based on my hiking experiences in Alaska! Trail conditions can vary, and your experience may vary!