Easy walking to Sitka National Cemetery from cruise shuttle in downtown Sitka

Hi there!

The Sitka National Cemetery is located alongside a regular street, and you can just show up and freely walk around. There is no admission ticket or anything like that.

It’s located about a 15 minute walk from the Sitka cruise shuttle drop-off spot that’s in downtown Sitka if you go straight there. You can also go to the cemetery as a slight detour on your way to the Sitka National Historical Park visitor center.

The Sitka National Cemetery is one of 2 national cemeteries in Alaska. (The other one is Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Anchorage.)

Among others, it includes tombstones of veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the US Coast Guard.

With the waters along Alaska’s shoreline being so vast and wild, Alaska is home to the largest Coast Guard base in the US, in the town of Kodiak. (While cruise ships do go to Kodiak, it is a rare cruise ship stop.)

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The easy spot to look for on google maps is “cruise buses” to locate the cruise shuttle drop-off which is at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Make a quick stop inside before you start on your 15 minute walk to the Sitka National Cemetery. (map)

So google maps will give you the quickest way there with the walking directions by taking you immediately inland, but there is a walking path along Crescent Harbor. So you can also just keep walking along the waterfront path around the harbor until Jeff Davis St, and then turn inland at that point to take you to the cemetery. Just past Jeff Davis St are the Sitka Breakwater and Sitka Sound Science Center (and Sage Beach!) if you want to stop by these places before or after you go to the cemetery. Further in that direction is the Sitka National Historical Park visitor center.

Google maps walking directions will get you there.

But keep the scenic views as long as possible by walking along the waterfront trail until Jeff Davis St! (map)

You can walk along Crescent Harbor a bit before you make your way inland to the cemetery. The cruise shuttle drop-off is pretty much at Crescent Harbor.

You can do a wildlife watching tour on one of these small boats out of Crescent Harbor. Even just going out on the water on this kind of boat will give you a so-very-Alaska experience, and you’ll also have a chance to see lots of wildlife. You can also do private tours from one of these boats, including a private wildlife watching tour and a fishing charter.

I walked out on the breakwater boardwalk to get more views of Sitka Sound before turning inland towards the Sitka National Cemetery. Then I walked up Jeff Davis St, and there were signs towards the cemetery.

And then I arrived at the Sitka National Memorial and had a quick walk around. There was one tombstone I saw that was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

You can find official information on the Sitka National Cemetery on the US Department of Veteran Affairs website.

I went to the Sitka National Cemetery on my way to the Indian River trailhead. From there, I hiked to a Three Sisters mountain viewpoint, and then turned back and hiked further on the Sitka Cross Trail to come out at the Baranof Street trailhead in downtown Sitka.