5 walks to do in Sitka (free + easy walking!) from a cruise ship on your own 🏔 DIY Sitka Alaska cruise port tips

Hi there!

Your starting point for easy walking in Sitka is downtown.

Most likely, your cruise ship will dock at Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. If this is the case, there will be a free shuttle that will drop you in downtown Sitka, at the Harrigan Centennial Hall. On google maps, it is also marked as “cruise buses.” (map)

Otherwise, if Sitka is a tender port for you, then your tender boat (“water shuttle”) will also drop you off in downtown Sitka, at Crescent Harbor. This is also near the “cruise buses.”

Either way, getting to downtown Sitka is not a problem when you arrive by cruise ship!

And from downtown Sitka, there are a few easy walks that you can do! Below I have 5 walks for you to do!

There are partner websites included below.

It’s very possible to walk around Sitka on your own downtown.

But Sitka is also a small Alaskan town with much history to appreciate (in particular, Tlingit Native Alaskan history and Russian America history), and you’ll get a better appreciation for it by walking it with a local.

And so, the must-do walks are the guided downtown Sitka walking tour or the Ghosts of Haunted Sitka walking tour.

And when you’re in Sitka, you also have a chance to go walking in the largest national forest in America through a guided hike in Tongass National Forest.

If you are interested in walking around Sitka on your own, I also recommend going inside the Centennial Hall once you arrive. When I’ve gone there, they have had paper maps to guide you around downtown Sitka. It was also possible to attend a Russian cultural show at the hall for around $15. In 2025, the Russian show is only on Wednesdays.

I have been to Sitka by cruise ship a couple of times (on Princess and NCL cruise ships), and here are my picks for easy walks to do!

You can do most of these if you have a day in Sitka. They are all pretty close to the cruise ship shuttle drop-off spot.

And now, here are things to do in Sitka on your own from a cruise ship!

1. Sitka Sea Walk

The Sitka Sea Walk starts around the cruise shuttle drop-off, and then goes along the Crescent Harbor. You can walk out to the Sitka Breakwater at the harbor.

Then you can keep walking just a little bit further and you’ll see there’s an area where you can walk along the shoreline. It’s a beach walk, Alaska-style!

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Near the Sitka Sea Walk is also the Sitka Sound Science Center which has an aquarium. (map)

How much time do you need?

To walk from the cruise shuttle to the start of the Sitka Sea Walk is less than 5 minutes.

Then the walk along the harbor is another few minutes. If you make your “destination” the Sitka breakwater, you’ll get there in 10 minutes. (map – you don’t need to follow this exact walking route. Just get yourself to the harbor, and you’ll see a walking path!)

To get to the Sitka National Historical Park visitor center, it is around a 15 minute walk from the cruise shuttle. (map)

2. Sitka National Historical Park visitor center

Totem poles are a classic Southeast Alaska thing to see, and you can see them in Sitka at the Sitka National Historical Park.

Continue walking in the same direction as the Sitka Sea Walk and you will get to the Sitka National Historical Park visitor center!

Once here, you can do an easy walk through the forest on the Totem Trail to see totem poles in Sitka. There is also a fort site to learn about Russian America history.

At the visitor center, there’s an exhibit to learn about Native Alaskan totem poles.

How much time do you need?

To walk from the cruise shuttle to the Sitka National Historical Park visitor center, it is around a 15 minute walk from the cruise shuttle. (map)

Once there, you’ll want to spend some time at the visitor center itself to go through the exhibit. It is not that big, so you can walk through it without taking up too much time. There is also a 12-minute film about Sitka.

The totem trail and the Russian Memorial trail is a 1.6 mile loop. You can walk this quicker or slowly to take in the nature more.

You don’t need to walk the whole totem trail to see totem poles. You can also make it a quicker visit by just walking on the trail for 5 to 10 minutes and then turn around.

Another one of the best cruise ports to see totem poles is Ketchikan. See my post about totem poles in Ketchikan. There are also a bunch of totem poles in Victoria if you’re on a cruise from Seattle.

3. Russian Bishop’s House (and more Russian America history)

Sitka used to be the capital of Russian America.

There are many ways to explore Russian American history in Sitka, and going to the Russian Bishop’s House is one way. You can stop by on your way to the Sitka Sea Walk.

According to the National Park Service, the Russian Bishop’s House is one of the few surviving examples of Russian colonial architecture in North America.

Read more about the Russian Bishop’s House and watch the video.

How much time do you need?

To walk from the cruise shuttle to the Russian Bishop’s House is less than 5 minutes. (map)

Once there, you’ll want to give yourself an hour to fully walk around and explore.

The National Park Service says you’ll want at least 20 minutes to walk around and explore the exhibits to learn about the history, and then another 30 minutes for the guided tour.

Guided tours are offered during the main Alaska cruise season, from May to September.

If you’re at the beginning or end of this time and the Russian Bishop’s House is of great interest to you, you might want to reach out to the National Park Service to find out if/when tours are available. Look for “contact” info.

At other national park sites, I have had success in reaching visitor centers by calling the phone number listed at the very bottom of the page. You might want to do this anyway even if you are going in the middle of summer, just to check if tours will be offered when you’re there.

More Russian America in Sitka

Having been the capital of Russian America, Sitka has one of the strongest Russian historical influences that you can still see in the US today.

If you want to see more of this Russian America in Sitka, along with the Russian Bishop’s House, you may also want to see the St Michael’s Cathedral, Baranof Castle State Historic Site, Russian Orthodox Cemetery, and Russian-American Building No. 29 National Historic Landmark.

For Russian food, order dumplings at Sitka Pel’Meni (reviews).

For Russian souvenirs, head to Russian American Company (reviews).

These are all around downtown Sitka.

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Russian cultural show in Sitka

If your cruise ship is in Sitka on Wednesdays, you can attend the Russian and Ukrainian Folk Dance Show.

And it does look like it’s only on Wednesdays, per the calendar.

Tickets are available at the door, or you can buy tickets in advance.

4. Baranof Castle State Historic Site (Castle Hill)

This is my “one last thing” that I did quickly before it was time to go back to the cruise ship. So if you find yourself with 30 to 40 minutes before the last shuttle back, then you can make it a walk to the Baranof Castle State Historic Site.

This is another opportunity to learn about the history of Sitka and Russian America, and because you’re going up to get to it, it offers nice views of Sitka too!

According to the National Park Service, Baranof Castle State Historic Site is one of the most historically significant sites in Alaska. It is a National Historic Landmark and it is on the National Register of Historical Places.

Read more about Russian American history of Castle Hill.

👆 Castle Hill and Baranof Castle State Historic Site.

👆 This is a part of the Alaska state parks system.

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👆 Castle Hill is part of Russian America history.

👆 Views from the top of Castle Hill.

👆 Walking back to town.

How much time to do you need?

To walk from the cruise shuttle to the Baranof Castle State Historic Site will take less than 10 minutes. It’s a very short loop once you are on the top of the hill, so it doesn’t actually require that much time. There are a few signs to read, but even then, you probably won’t need more than 10-15 minutes to read them all. Other than that, you might want to stay at the top of the hill just to sit back and take in the views!

If you have extra time, then “just around the corner” is Totem Square. (map)

On the way back, I walked over to the bridge for some views of the water. (There are no sidewalks along the road so it is not the safest thing.)

5. Sitka Cross Trail (Baranof Street trailhead)

The Sitka Cross Trail goes through the forest in Sitka and covers a bit of distance.

It’s around 8 miles in length, but you don’t need to do anywhere near 8 miles in order to do a nature walk in Sitka on the Sitka Cross Trail.

There are several trailheads to get you on the Sitka Cross Trail. The Baranof Street trailhead is around a 10 to 15 minute walk from the cruise ship shuttle. (map)

Then basically, you can walk as much or as little as you want!

If you want to walk towards an open space to get a view of the famous Sitka peaks, then you want to go to the right at the Sitka Cross Trail intersection, towards Indian River.

I had downloaded the Alaska map on the app called mapsme. It’s free to download up to a certain amount of maps.

The Sitka Cross Trail is mapped out on mapsme.

👆 Walking near Baranoff Street trailhead.

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I actually did a one-way hike/walk from the Indian River trailhead.

I walked to the Indian River trailhead from downtown Sitka. (30 minute walk.) I hiked the Indian River Trail to the Three Sisters viewpoint, and turned around. I followed the Sitka Cross Trail signs, and then I ended up at the Baranof Street trailhead. And from there, I walked back to town.

So, there are different ways to do the Sitka Cross Trail depending on how much you are willing to walk. (The way I did it was a lot of walking, and part of the Indian River Trail was in Tongass National Forest. See my post about hiking in Alaska cruise ports.)

More Sitka cruise port tips

To better plan your day of walking, see my post with the Sitka cruise port map with the cruise ship shuttle drop-off whether you will be tendering off-shore or docking at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal. This also includes how to find out where your specific cruise ship will dock.

Sitka cruise shuttle tickets

It seems this is new for 2025. You can take a look at reserving your Sitka Sound cruise shuttle ticket. I don’t have experience with this since there were no tickets when I went, but I’m guessing if you don’t do it before your cruise, there will be some sort of system while you’re on the cruise ship. But waiting to get a ticket might mean that it will take you longer to get on the shuttle.

Sitka tender port

I’ve also been to Sitka on a cruise ship that was anchored off shore. (This makes Sitka a “tender port” in this situation.)

If Sitka is a tender port for you, it is VERY important that you pay attention to the instructions you are given the night before! It will likely be included in the daily activity schedule that will be delivered to your stateroom (cabin).

If you don’t figure out what’s going on until the day you’re in Sitka, you could be waiting for longer than you’d like and end up being one of the last ones off the ship! In most cases, a ticket is necessary to get off the ship, so the sooner you get the ticket, the better! And you will only know how to get the ticket by reading the instructions!

Honestly, tender ports are annoying because there’s a lot of waiting going on to get off the ship. So bring your patience!

More easy walks: Ketchikan | Juneau | Skagway | Icy Strait Point | Victoria | Vancouver | Seattle

More walking: Hiking in Alaska cruise ports

HAPPY WALKING IN SITKA!