Ketchikan, AK Summary

Ketchikan is the first Alaskan city north of Canada. It is 90 miles from Prince Rupert, and being accessible only by water, it is a regular ferryboat and cruise ship stop. Its population of 8,000 lives on the southwest of Revillagigedo Island, separated from the mainland by Behm Canal. It is the wettest community in North America, with an average rainfall of between 156 and 162 inches.

To avoid floods, many businesses and homes rest on stilts or cling to hillsides. Winding staircases and wooden boardwalks provide access.

This is a fishing, canning, and logging town, though tourism is also important to the economy. It contains the largest number of Tlingit and Tsimshian people in the country and displays many totem poles. At the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center, 150,000 king (chinook) and coho (silver) salmon are raised and released into the wild each year.

Misty Fjords National Monument, an area of 3,570 square miles, begins 22 miles east of Ketchikan. It is famous for its sea cliffs, rock walls, and steep fjords, and is home to many marine mammals, black bear, Sitka deer, and bald eagles.