KETCHIKAN
Ketchikan, Alaska, population 15,000, is located on the steep and rocky shores of Revillagigedo Island in the Southeast Alaska Archipelago. Fishing and tourism are mainstays of the local economy. Average rainfall often exceeds 13.5 feet per year. Ketchikan is the gateway to the Tongass, the largest national forest in the United States.
Ketchikan has long been the King Salmon capital of the world and has large charter and commercial fishing fleets to prove it. The area has 5 public boat harbors and a ship and drydock facility for large vessels.
Ketchikan is the first stop for most cruise ships headed north along Alaska’s famed Inside Passage or the last Alaskan port for south bound ships, and thus is known as “The Gateway to Alaska.” Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection of totem poles and has been named in the ‘Top 100 Small Arts Communities’ in the United States.