Ketchikan Cruise Port: Where Ships Dock, What’s Near the Pier and Excursions

On the morning a ship slides into the Tongass Narrows, with Deer Mountain rising behind the waterfront and low cloud snagged on the hillside, the first question is always the same: where exactly are we tied up? In Ketchikan the answer depends on your ship, because vessels use either the downtown piers or a separate cove outside town. What follows covers the docks, what you can reach on foot and the excursions that leave from here.

Where do cruise ships dock in Ketchikan?

Ships dock in one of two main places: downtown Ketchikan or Ward Cove, which sits about 5.5 miles from downtown. Which one you get is set by your cruise line and your sailing, so the first job is to find your ship’s berth rather than assume the waterfront.

The Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, which runs visitktn.com, publishes a Cruise Ship Calendar on that site. It is the place to look up your ship’s specific docking location for your day in port. The calendar the bureau posts covers 2026.

Downtown piers

The downtown waterfront has five potential docking locations: Piers 1 through 4, and Doyon Landing. Doyon Landing typically takes smaller overnight ships, so if you are on a smaller vessel that stays into the evening, that is the berth you are likely to hear about.

Docking downtown puts you at the edge of the historic center. Downtown Ketchikan is easy to walk, with historic buildings, galleries, shops and locally made goods, so a ship at one of these piers lets you step off and start wandering. The Visitors Center on Berth 2 and the kiosks on the docks sit right where you land, which makes them the natural first stop if you have not yet settled your plans for the day.

Ward Cove

Ward Cove has a single pier that allows docking on both sides, so two ships can tie up there at once. It lies about 5.5 miles from downtown, which means the town itself is a separate trip from the ship, not a stroll down the gangway.

If your ship is listed for Ward Cove, plan your day around that gap. Think about whether you want to head into town for the galleries and Creek Street, or whether an excursion that collects you from the pier suits you better. Either way, knowing your berth the evening before saves a morning of guesswork.

The season and the crowds

Cruise ships that ply the Inside Passage visit Ketchikan from early May through late September, and more than 800,000 visitors arrive each year by ship. That is a lot of people for a town of roughly 14,000, so expect the waterfront to feel lively whenever several ships are in.

The town sits on Revillagigedo Island, about 700 miles northwest of Seattle, and it is the southernmost and fourth largest city in Alaska. It has earned the nickname Rain Capital of Alaska, so you will want to read the sky as well as the calendar when you step ashore.

What is within reach of the dock?

From the downtown piers, the historic center is within walking reach, with galleries, shops, and totem poles and a famous boardwalk street nearby. From Ward Cove, you are about 5.5 miles out, so the downtown sights are a separate trip.

Downtown streets and galleries

Downtown Ketchikan is easy to walk, and it rewards slow wandering. Historic buildings line the waterfront streets, and the shops and galleries sell locally made goods, which makes it a good place to look for something made in town rather than a mass-produced souvenir.

The town is also home to the cultures of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people, and that presence shows in the art you will see in galleries and in the carved poles around the area. Take your time in the doorways, because much of the interest here is in the details.

Creek Street

Creek Street was once a raucous red-light district, and during Prohibition it was a row of speakeasies. Today it is home to quieter establishments and keeps its historic charm, with the old buildings still standing along the creek.

It is a pleasant place to stroll when the weather cooperates and just as interesting under a gray sky, when the wet boards and the hillside behind add to the old-town mood. Pair it with a gallery browse downtown for a full walking morning.

Totem poles and the lumberjack show

Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles, found at Saxman Totem Park, Totem Bight State Park, Potlatch Park and the Totem Heritage Center. Four different sites means you can choose the one that fits your time, or string together more than one if your day is long.

The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show is performed near Ketchikan Creek between May and September, which matches the cruise season, so ships in port overlap with it. If loggers racing up poles and sawing against the clock sounds like your kind of afternoon, it sits close to the creek that runs through town.

Place	Season given
Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show	May to September
Cruise ship visits	Early May to late September

Which excursions leave from Ketchikan?

Floatplane flights to Misty Fjords, wildlife and sightseeing tours, and trips into the Tongass National Forest all start from Ketchikan. Misty Fiords National Monument is one of the major attractions in the area, and the floatplane is one way visitors reach it.

Misty Fjords by floatplane

Visitors can take a floatplane to Misty Fjords from Ketchikan. Seen from the air, the national monument is a landscape of steep rock walls and water, and the flight itself is the draw for many people who want to see country that roads do not reach.

In a town this wet, the weather shapes what you see from the cockpit, so go with an open mind about the sky. A cloudy day can still give a moody, memorable view, and the pilots know the terrain.

Wildlife and sightseeing tours

Visitors can join a wildlife or sightseeing tour from Ketchikan. These tours give you a way to see the Inside Passage and its surroundings with someone who knows the area, and they suit travelers who would rather be shown the landscape than piece it together alone.

As with any wild setting, what you see is a matter of chance. You may spot wildlife, and the scenery on its own is part of the reward.

The Tongass National Forest

Visitors can explore the Tongass National Forest from Ketchikan. Mossy, dripping and green, this is the rainforest that surrounds the town, and the 160 inches or so of rain that fall on Ketchikan in an average year are the reason it looks the way it does.

Booking your tour

Tours in Ketchikan may be booked on the day of your visit at the Visitors Center on Berth 2 or at any of the kiosks located on the docks. You may also book directly through a tour company’s website in advance, which suits anyone who likes to have the day fixed before the ship arrives. If your ship is at Ward Cove, remember that the dock kiosks and the Berth 2 center are part of the downtown waterfront, so your berth shapes which booking route is handy.

Good to know before you go

Ketchikan is among the rainiest cities in North America, and the air was about 43 degrees Fahrenheit on the visitors bureau’s page at the time it was read, so a rain layer and a warm one make sense. The bureau also offers a free visitors guide and a newsletter, and it provides maps of the city and downtown. Ketchikan International Airport has Alaska Airlines nonstop jet service to Seattle, Juneau, Sitka and Wrangell, which matters if your plans extend beyond the ship.

Sources

Visit Ketchikan, cruise travelers (https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/cruise-travelers/), checked October 11, 2026
Visit Ketchikan, cruise calendar (https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/about-ketchikan/cruise-calendar/), checked October 11, 2026
Visit Ketchikan, things to do (https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/things-to-do/), checked October 11, 2026
Visit Ketchikan, maps (https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/about-ketchikan/ketchikan-maps/), checked October 11, 2026
Wikipedia, Ketchikan, Alaska (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchikan,_Alaska), checked October 11, 2026
Wikivoyage, Ketchikan (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ketchikan), checked October 11, 2026