Need ideas for excursions in Alaska in July

[ranchlady403]

We are on Solstice on July 27th and are looking for interesting places to go or things to do in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. 

We did all the typical things last time.  Anybody have any suggestions?

[twangster]

Welcome to the message boards!

How active are you and what sort of activities did you have in mind?  Cultural?  Hiking or outdoors stuff?  Shopping? 

The totem pole park in Ketchikan is on my list for my next stop there.  Highest concentration in Alaska and not offered as an excursion that I am aware of.

I'll probably spend a lot of time at Mendenhall hiking around on my own next time.  Stop at the brewery too.

Skagway has some good hiking that can be a game day decision based on weather.

[DocLC]

In Juneau, we like to take the shuttle bus available on the pier out to Mendenhall Glacier and hike out there. We've also done Mount Roberts Tramway and that provided for some nice views and hiking, too. Although touristy and a bit expensive, we did enjoy Tracy's Crab Shack. Personally, I'd go for the crab bisque over the legs. The bisque was phenomenal.

In Skagway, we did a Yukon territory tour by bus. Very scenic and we had the opportunity to see bears along the way.

Ketchikan is a fun town to just walk around and explore in my opinion.

[L454S]

Rent a jeep in Skagway and drive across the Canadian border into the Yukon to Carcross and beyond to Emerald Lake. Pictures all along the way........

 

[ranchlady403]

8 hours ago, twangster said:

How active are you and what sort of activities did you have in mind?  Cultural?  Hiking or outdoors stuff?  Shopping? 

The totem pole park in Ketchikan is on my list for my next stop there.  Highest concentration in Alaska and not offered as an excursion that I am aware of.

I'll probably spend a lot of time at Mendenhall hiking around on my own next time.  Stop at the brewery too.

Skagway has some good hiking that can be a game day decision based on weather.

Thank you for your response.  We are in our 70's - so hiking is mostly out.  Unless you include our hikes to the windjammer! 

We did the totems last trip.  It was interesting and unique.  

[ranchlady403]

5 hours ago, DocLC said:

In Juneau, we like to take the shuttle bus available on the pier out to Mendenhall Glacier and hike out there. We've also done Mount Roberts Tramway and that provided for some nice views and hiking, too. Although touristy and a bit expensive, we did enjoy Tracy's Crab Shack. Personally, I'd go for the crab bisque over the legs. The bisque was phenomenal.

In Skagway, we did a Yukon territory tour by bus. Very scenic and we had the opportunity to see bears along the way.

Ketchikan is a fun town to just walk around and explore in my opinion.

Thanks for your response.  We like the idea of crab legs.  Instead of spending $100+ on an excursion - we could get king crab legs and feast...

In Skagway - how far out did the bus go?  Did you do it as an excursion or on your own?  That sounds interesting.

[ranchlady403]

1 hour ago, L454S said:

Rent a jeep in Skagway and drive across the Canadian border into the Yukon to Carcross and beyond to Emerald Lake. Pictures all along the way........

 

I like the idea of getting out into the country side - and lots of photo stops would be great.  Even better if we had a driver and we could just gawk out the windows and see everything.

[Bob_KY]

We had a great time doing the "Bike & Brew" in Juneau.  A scenic bike ride to the Mendenhall Glacier.   My wife & I don't bike and it was a pleasant trek.  Then, free time at the Glacier.   A short bus ride to the Alaska Brewing Company for a tasting.  I wished they exported to the lower 48.   We still had time for quick bites (crab cakes) and a "duck fart" at the Red Dog Saloon (Walking distance from pier).  We enjoyed the "vaudeville style" piano player.

[DocLC]

3 hours ago, ranchlady403 said:

Thanks for your response.  We like the idea of crab legs.  Instead of spending $100+ on an excursion - we could get king crab legs and feast...

In Skagway - how far out did the bus go?  Did you do it as an excursion or on your own?  That sounds interesting.

It was a ship excursion and we went pretty far out as it was an all day excursion that included lunch. There were some glacier fed lakes that had some very unusually colors, one of which was called Emerald Lake. Another was called Mirror Lake because it perfectly reflected the trees and mountains that surrounded it. 

I remember many photo stops including one at the the border, one at the top of the mountain overlooking Skagway, and then at the lakes I mentioned above in addition to a few more. 

You could also do it on your own by renting a car. 

[Matt]

On 7/1/2018 at 6:51 AM, L454S said:

Rent a jeep in Skagway and drive across the Canadian border into the Yukon to Carcross and beyond to Emerald Lake. Pictures all along the way........

 

We did a similar excursion (Hummers instead of Jeeps) and it was a fun trip!