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| SOUTHEAST ALASKA |
Southeast Alaska is a region 500 miles long, known as the "panhandle" of Alaska, which begins at Dixon Entrance to the south and ends at Yakutat Bay to the north. This region is also know as "the inside passage". Only Haines and Skagway have road access with the rest of the region being served by the Alaska Marine Highway with ferry service.
The Tongass National Forest, America's northernmost rain forest is the dominant feature of this area. This area of Alaska has several National Monuments as well as several National Parks
Gustavus - (429) When British explorer George Vancouver sailed through Icy Strait, the area was covered by the Grand Pacific Glacier which had pushed the Tlingit Natives off the land across the strait to Chichagof Island, where many settled in the Hoonah area.
Gustavus borders Icy Passage and Glacier Bay and is backed up by the Chilkat Range of the St. Elias Mountains. Glacier Bay is whale country.
Glacier Bay was set aside as a national monument in 1925 by President Calvin Coolidge. In 1980, it was one of a number of parcels upgraded to national park status by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The 5,100-square-mile park has 16 tidewater glaciers, including La Perouse Glacier, the only one in the park to dump into the Gulf of Alaska.
Haines (1,714 residents) is at the northern end of America's longest fjord, and shares a border with 20 million acres of protected wilderness. The heart of Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park is less than 25 miles by air from downtown Haines, and Canada's Kluane National Park and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park are just up the road. As you can imagine, opportunities for outdoor recreation are endless.
Haines is located on the shores of the Lynn Canal on the Chilkat Peninsula between the Chilkoot and Chilkat Rivers. The town is bordered by the spectacular Chilkat Mountain Range on the west and the Coast Range on the east.
Each winter during the months of November and December, photographers and nature lovers flock to the Chilkat Valley to view the spectacle of thousands of Bald Eagles as they gather at the Chilkat River to feed on the late run of chum salmon.
Juneau - Situated along the Inside Passage, the state's Capital City is located in one of the most spectacular scenic areas in Alaska. With 32,000 year-round residents, Juneau's population swells during the annual legislative session and again during the summer tourist season which sees over 900,000 cruise ship passengers disembark in Juneau's downtown historic district.
Growing from its' rich mining history, the downtown area now has a bustling waterfront and government offices that crowd up against the bases of Mt Juneau and Mt Roberts. Juneau is further distinguished by distinctly varied residential and commercial pockets within the community that stretch from Douglas to Lemon Creek and include the Mendenhall Valley with the breathtaking Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau Ice Field.
Juneau offers a vibrant arts scene and the nationally renowned Perseverance Theatre and Juneau Symphony as well as a host of other entities to create an ideal balance of recreational and cultural opportunities.
Ketchikan (7,845) combines the best that Alaska has to offer. Located on Revillagigedo Island in Southeast Alaska, within the Tongass National Forest, like most of Southeast Alaska, has the best of both worlds - the mountains and the sea. Ketchikan enjoys a lush green landscape 365 days a year thanks to an average of 162 inches of precipitation, which includes about 32 inches of snow. Winters can be chilly, but the year round climate is rather temperate and temperatures can reach into the 90's during the summer.
Ketchikan is a progressive and growing community crime is low, the air is clean, business is booming, health care is advanced, education is a priority, and the real estate market is steady. Ketchikan is a great place to live, work, and play.
Petersburg (3,146) owes just about everything to the fishing industry. From its Tlingit origins as a fish camp, this Inside Passage town has grown into one of the busiest Alaska seafood centers.
It got its modern start when Peter Buschmann, a Norwegian immigrant, arrived in the 1890s and founded the Icy Strait Packing Co. cannery, a sawmill and a dock by 1900.
Shrimping is also important to the Mitkof Island town of 3,200. The state's first shrimp processor was founded in 1916. More than a thousand people are employed by the processing industry.
Many other Norwegians followed Buschmann to the area, and the town site was populated mostly by Scandinavians, whose heritage is celebrated each May during the Little Norway Festival.
Sitka is the fifth largest city in Alaska (population 8,835), is situated on Baranof Island, on the outer coast of Southeast Alaska
Wildlife adds to Sitka's natural beauty. The mild climate, rich habitat and relatively low human population make Sitka one of the best places to view wildlife. Nearby waters are a popular feeding ground for humpback whales in the late fall and early spring.
The air and water in Sitka is among the cleanest on earth. The sense of community is strong, and the violent crime rate is extremely low. Families feel protected and supported.
Sitka boasts two excellent libraries, a community theater company, several live music venues, a daily newspaper and an award winning public radio station, as well as reliable cable TV and Internet connections.
Skagway (841) is known as the gateway to the Klondike. This historical city is surrounding wilderness areas.
A place exists in Alaska where the past lives on, where the cries of "gold in the Yukon" still echo from steep canyon walls, where the sounds of barroom pianos and boomtown crowds ring out in the night. A place where the romance and excitement of yesteryear linger around every street corner, every bend in the trail. That place is Skagway.
Today, tourism is Skagway's main economic base. Within Skagway's downtown historical district, false-fronted buildings and boardwalks dating from gold rush time line the streets and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park as a major visitor attraction. The City of Skagway, National Park Service, and local residents have succeeded in retaining Skagway's 1898 Gold Rush atmosphere.
Wrangell (2,144) is the only Alaska town to fly the Russian, British and American Flags. The Wrangell area may have first been lived in by humans 8,000 years ago, according to scientists who have studied a collection of petroglyphs found in Wrangell and neighboring places.
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What is now Wrangell was settled in 1811 by Russians, who traded for furs with the Tlingit Indians and named the island after Ferdinand von Wrangell, the manager of the Russian-American Co
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