Sitka from Juneau: Ferry, Flights and What to Do on Arrival

Leaving Juneau for Sitka means leaving the road system behind, because no highway runs to Baranof Island and the last stretch is always water or sky. The trip ends at a town of spruce-covered hills, a Russian Orthodox cathedral and a rain forest that begins at the edge of town.

How do you get to Sitka from Juneau?

You go by air or by sea, since Sitka, on Baranof Island, is accessible only by air and by sea. There is no road from Juneau and no train, so the real choice is between a scheduled flight on Alaska Airlines and an Alaska Marine Highway ferry.

The flight is the quicker of the two. The ferry is the way to bring a vehicle, and it is the way to see the coast from the deck.

What decides is whether you carry a car, how much you want the water itself to be part of the trip, and how much flexibility you need. Alaska Airlines serves Sitka year-round from a single-terminal airport with a jetway, so the flight is available whatever the month. The ferries also serve Sitka year-round, and the Southeast communities generally have service in every season, with mainline vessels for the larger towns and smaller day boats for the small ones.

The airport has its own character. It sits on Japonski Island, and its single paved runway stretches along a causeway out into the water, so the landing itself is part of arriving in Sitka. A ferry arrival is different: you come in through the islands and the sheltered water of the sound, with Baranof Island and Kruzof Island on either side.

If you want the fullest picture of the route, some travelers fly one way and take the boat the other. That gives you the speed of the plane when you are short on time and the slower rhythm of the ferry when you are not. Whichever you choose, the sailing calendar on the Alaska Marine Highway site is the place to see actual dates before you settle on a plan.

Ways to get to Sitka from Juneau

By Alaska Marine Highway ferry

The Alaska Marine Highway provides year-round service for passengers and vehicles to Sitka. The system covers a long stretch of coastline and links more than 30 communities, and Juneau is one of its regional hubs, so you reach Sitka by boarding in Juneau and riding the Southeast network.

Passengers without vehicles check in two hours before departure in Juneau, so plan the morning around that. Walk-on passengers may bring up to 100 pounds of hand-carried baggage.

Animals travel on the car deck and must be in an approved carrier or in a vehicle with an adult passenger. The Sailing Calendar and the Sailing Search tool show which sailings run on your dates, and in the schedule grids arrivals appear in plain text and departures in bold.

By scheduled flight

Alaska Airlines operates air service to Sitka year-round, landing at Rocky Gutierrez Airport, named for a former mayor of the town. The airport has a single terminal with a jetway, and the runway runs along a causeway that juts off Japonski Island. It is the choice for travelers who want to reach Sitka without spending a long stretch on the way.

A flight suits those with a tight schedule, those traveling without a vehicle and anyone who prefers to spend the saved time in town. Because service runs through the year, it also gives you a way in when you are planning outside the main travel months. Baggage rules and fares are set by the airline, so confirm them when you book.

Road, train and bush plane

No road reaches Sitka from Juneau, and no passenger train serves either town. The Alaska Railroad runs elsewhere, from Anchorage toward Seward and Hurricane, so it does not figure in this trip. A shuttle between the two towns does not exist either, because the water is in the way.

Once you are in Sitka, a free shuttle bus runs from Old Sitka Dock to Harrigan Centennial Hall downtown, a ride of about 15 minutes. It is aimed at cruise passengers coming in at that dock, but it shows how the town handles the arrival from the water.

Options compared

The flight and the ferry are the only real answers, and they trade time for experience. If your priority is arriving with a car, the ferry is the one that does it.

Both run year-round, so season does not close either door. What changes is the weather, because Sitka has an oceanic climate with abundant precipitation, and a wet day can shape how the trip feels more than the mode you chose. Pack for rain regardless of which way you go.

If you are weighing a round trip, remember that you can mix the two. Many routes in the ferry system run through hubs, with riders using one or more vessels to reach the final stop, so a ferry out and a flight back, or the reverse, is a way to see both sides of the route without committing to one.

Making a day of it

Once you are in Sitka, the town rewards a slow start, and the best first stop is Sitka National Historical Park. It sits on Metlakatla Street and holds a temperate rain forest of towering spruce and hemlock, tidelands where sea stars and crabs show up, and the river called Kaasdahéen, or Indian River. In spawning season you may see salmon swimming up it.

Two miles of wooded pathways wind through the park, lined with many replica totem poles, and the visitor center shows ceremonial and traditional objects from Tlingit and Russian Orthodox cultures. Many of the artifacts there are owned by Tlingit clans and are still used for ceremonial purposes, which gives the displays a weight that a plain museum does not have. The park keeps the story of a landscape that drew Tlingit, Russians and Americans, and sometimes set them against each other.

The Russian Bishop’s House, part of the park and restored by the National Park Service, has museum exhibits and a furnished second floor that shows Russian activities in Alaska. Pair it with the park walk for a morning that covers both the natural side of Sitka and its layered human history. Sitka Sound, with Baranof and Kruzof Islands around it, was a center of the maritime fur trade in the early 19th century, and that past is easy to feel as you look out over the water.

If your visit falls around October 18, the town marks Alaska Day with a week-long festival that includes a reenactment ceremony of the signing of the Alaska purchase and interpretive programs. The festival has been held since 1949, so it is part of how Sitka sees itself. Bring rain gear for any day outdoors, because the town gets a great deal of rain across the year.

Leave Juneau early enough to give the park and the town real time, and plan to stay at least overnight if you can. A single day trip leaves little room once the ferry or flight is counted, while a night or two lets the rain forest, the cathedral-lined streets and the harbor settle in at an unhurried pace.

Good to know before you go

Rain is the constant in Sitka, so a waterproof layer matters more than anything else you pack. Ferry walk-ons should remember the baggage limit and the early check-in in Juneau, and anyone traveling on the road system in Alaska can look at the Alaska 511 site for road conditions once they leave town.