Has anyone been to Saxman village in Ketchikan? We do not want to take an organized tour, just have time for a quick visit. Is it within walking distance of town or will we need a cab. Anyone know the price for admission?
Thanks
i went to saxman through the cruise ship and it was ok but i did not get much out of it. if you go on your own you can spend more time there, but you wont hear what the stories are about the totom poles . the next time i will go to totom bight and see the poles against the water and walk in the rainforest. i hope if you go you have a good time. i know that the horse drawn trolleys go out there . that would be a fun ride, but that would be costly when you consider what it would cost too get in the village also. sorry i dont know those prices. ketchikan is a great port and make sure you go to creek street. it is very easy to find and it has fun shops. if you go in the salmon season you can see the huge salmon in the water under the bridge there. it is near dollys house. have a great time.
As Antron, I was at the Saxman village via the tour I schedule through the ship. The information given out by the tribe members was very good and I learned a lot. A big surprise was the amount of information about the totems the bus drivers told us while we were between the tribal programs. The totem pole cutting area was disappointing. I had been sneaking looks into the building as other groups went in and out. It seemed the craftsmen were only working when the tourists were in the building. Not sure how they could make any real progress like this.
For clairfication, Saxman Village is 2 miles from downtown. BUT it is NOT self guided. You need the commentary to really get anything out of it. NO LONGER are you likely to get into the carver's shed, but can look in the windows. There usually are guides available at the gift shop.
We did not go thru the ship but booked an independent tour company.
We paid about $40.00 each and got a very good tour.
A walk in the rain forest by a volunteer guide, shown the Salmon gates etc and talk,toured a saw mill (now closed) but were shown a video of how it used to work and as we were leaving the area a native person was carving and chipping away on a totem pole. He wanted some tips for a brief show and he told how the wood is cut and turned into the totem, He did not explain what the different clan carving ment, but in the gift shop was a large picture describing what each one depicted. Also some very BIG stuffed bears were in a display case.
This was by far the most educational of our tours. The hike was a bit difficult for some and it was over rocky slippery terrain. We saw eagles that were doing their mating dance in the air and some deer. It was to early for the salmon.
If you want the address of the company, please e-mail me direct.
Also in Skagway we went on a jeep trip into the mountains to pan for gold.
We took an indepentant tour of the island. We went into Tourist bureau to find out information. The tour was classifed as a city tour. It was on a school bus but the woman who was our guide was very very good. She told us stuff about town, took us to a rain forest, and then to the totem poles. We did not go into the actual village and see the show but she was so imformative we learned a great deal from her and I felt it was well worth the money. We only had to pay $25.00 each because the tour was about to leave and it was not a full bus. it took about 2 hours
Saxman village Ketchikan
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