After a long port day in Skagway (which for a small town has a surprisingly lot to do even without…read morepaying for a shore excursion), my wife & I stumbled upon this museum. Before we got back on our cruise ship, we saw that the museum was still open and wandered in. It was the late afternoon, so it wasn't too crowded. We were able to go through the exhibits and read through the signage without too many other people crowding around. And we also caught the last showing of the short documentary in the theater (4:00 PM start time), which lasted about 30 minutes. We learned a lot about the Alaskan Gold Rush from this movie. The entire experience was free. In the lobby, there are rangers to answer any questions, a small gift shop, and most importantly, a clean publish bathroom!

Visited the historic park in Skagway, Alaska and really enjoyed it. It tells the fascinating story…read moreof the Klondike Gold Rush, including how gold was originally discovered in 1896 by Skookum Jim Mason, his nephew Dawson Charlie, his sister Kate Carmack and brother in law George Carmack, which quickly sparked a rush of prospectors hoping to strike it rich. The museum is run by the National Park Service and does a great job of bringing the history to life. I especially enjoyed the film explaining how the discovery unfolded and how it transformed the region almost overnight. It's incredible to imagine the hardship people went through to get there in search of gold. Even Jack London made it up to the Klondike when he was only 20 years old, which adds another interesting layer to the story. Overall, a very well-presented and informative experience that's definitely worth a visit -- It's free.

I was so excited to ride on the white pass train and it didn't disappoint the views are TOP TIER…read more The train is heated and comfortable. We saw many rivers, creeks forests, glaciers, mountains it was just beautiful and jaw dropping. It was a 2.5 train ride. It goes one way and turns around so that the the other side can see. My tip would be to sit on the left side going and try to sit on the right side coming back or if you can't sit on the right side go outside and get pics and videos of the beautiful.

SCENIC TRAIN RIDE! 4.8…read more The construction of this 110-mile narrow-gauge railroad began in May 1898 to help gold prospectors traverse the treacherous mountain terrain. Construction began in Skagway and, remarkably, the route to Whitehorse, Yukon, was completed in July 1900. Once our cruise ship docked, we headed directly to the White Pass station, selected a boarding time, and purchased our train tickets. Tickets can also be purchased online if you want to guarantee your preferred departure time. As we boarded, we chose seats on the left side of the train, which offered the more scenic views. However, don't worry if you sit on the opposite side; on the return journey, you'll have an entirely different perspective, so you won't miss out on the breathtaking scenery. The landscape is spectacular from beginning to end. From the gradual ascent at the start, winding alongside riverbeds and dramatic gorges, past cascading waterfalls and across historic wooden bridges, the scenery becomes increasingly impressive as the train makes its steep 3,000-foot climb toward the summit. The round-trip journey takes just under three hours. It may sound like a long ride, but the time passes quickly. Along the way, our train attendant provided a fascinating and vivid narration of what life was like during the Klondike Gold Rush, while pointing out significant landmarks, historical details, and intriguing sights along the route. There are restrooms aboard, and you're welcome to stand up and stretch your legs whenever you like. We especially enjoyed stepping out of our train car onto the open-air platform between the cars. Feeling the crisp mountain air rush around us was incredibly invigorating and made the experience even more memorable. Although we were fortunate to experience the journey on a nice and sunny day, it wasn't until I became a passenger on the White Pass & Yukon Route that I could truly appreciate the formidable challenges faced by the gold miners. Looking out at the rugged mountains, sheer cliffs, and unforgiving terrain, it was easy to imagine how daunting this landscape must have been, especially during the brutal winter months. If you love breathtaking mountain scenery combined with a fascinating glimpse into Klondike Gold Rush history, this is a wonderful excursion to experience. It's not just a train ride; it's a beautiful journey through history and some truly spectacular wilderness.

Skagway is such a cool town. It almost feels like it's half a historical landmark with statues,…read moregold rush equipment, trains, and building exteriors that looked like Gold Rush era designs... and the other half a tourist trap with its shops and restaurants largely dependent upon tourist season for its existence. We weren't able to walk through more than a few blocks but I also don't think there was much more than what we saw via the bus that took us to our train excursion. Skagway was a stark contrast compared to Juneau and Ketchikan (the latter two were more like a normal city with the usual expected amenities).

Skagway is a small town in the Northern part of the Inside Passage of Alaska. This town is stuck in…read moretime. If you want to feel like you are in the 1800's Gold Rush, come here. I don't say that in a bad way. It is educational and very interesting. There are several breweries, one of which get very busy quick. They have tasty local beers and they couldn't be fresher. I remember my daughter needed something at a deug store and we were able to find one quickly. The town has several restaurants and some nice gift shops. I bought some nice reading glasses and a couole souveniers. Skagway is very warm and welcoming. The people could not be friendlier or more helpful. I enjoyed my time here a lot.

Visited Alaska Sled Dogs and Musher's Camp in May of 2025 during the 'shoulder season'. We decided…read moreto do this day excursion on our own and booked it through Alaska Shore Excursions for $598.47 for the 3 of us, saving $300 if we would have booked it through our cruise line (Norwegian). It was really nice because our group was really small, unlike going with the cruise ship excursion with a massive group. We got off at Skagway and the directions in the email said 'walk to the end of the pier' to meet an associate for Alaska Shore Excursions, not sure how we met up, I think we saw a van and headed for it. We were driven to another van, where Sarah took over as our guide and drove us to the middle of Skagway town so we could wait for another family, which showed up late. From there it was a 35 min drive to Musher's camp and we got some really great history from Sarah, who gave us the low-down on Skagway with fascinating facts such as: most of the wood used in Skagway came from a now-defunct town called Dyea that thrived over a 100 years ago, it was the size of SFO, but petered out for some reason. There are no MDs in Skagway, only 2 nurse practitioners. The high school graduating class only had 2 girls and 1 boy. Grocery shopping is limited to only 1x a week, on Wednesdays. The camp parking lot has a shop, but we didn't have much time to shop there. We had to get on a "unimog"; a monster truck Mercedes van outfitted with large wheels and low gears to take us up to a higher elevation (cooler temps for the dogs and less noise from yapping dogs for the Skagway residents). Once we got there we broke up into groups of 6 and we were led to our musher, Alex. We got onto a thing that looked like a super-large golf cart but it was pulled by Alaskan Husky dogs (fascinating history about them also). Alex's dogs had funny names like 'sushi' 'nori' 'wonton' 'fried rice' 'Charmander' 'Diglet' and 'Squirtle'. The dogs ages were 1.5 yrs old to 10 yrs old. The dogs did a great job pulling the 'sled', which was over 2,000 pounds. The ride lasted 10 mins and after we got to take photos with the dogs. We attended a talk at the end of the ride, led by a musher (too bad I forgot his name) about the Iditarod and how these dogs are training during the off-season and staying in shape pulling the land sleds. We saw a dog running in a giant "hamster wheel" and it was hard to concentrate on the lecture because the dog was stealing the show; the dog's name was Goodway. We got to pet Goodway soon after then go to the puppy pen and hold these baby dogs. It was a way to 'socialize' these puppies as well. I really enjoyed that. After our Musher's camp activities came to an end, we got back on the Unimog and back down to the lower parking lot area w/ the gift shop (again, not a lot of time to shop), and Sarah drove us back to the town of Skagway. I gave her a really nice tip because she contributed a lot to the total experience with her stories about Skagway and her expertly refined storytelling about a woman named Martha Black and Harriet Pullen, both influential women in Skagway/Alaska history. Would totally recommend you booking this tour directly with the dog camp or through Alaska Shore Excursions to save some money and also have a smaller, more intimate group.

This experience was amazing! All the staff at the camp, and the one getting us to the camp, were…read morevery helpful, knowledgeable and kind. It was a unique and great experience to meet people who actually have their own sled dogs and do races with them. I learned allot and had every question answered with happily :) A must do! The dogs, obviously, are amazing! You can see their want to work and run and how happy it makes them. It really shows how well taken care of and trained they are, the staff also loved all the dogs equally as well as they care for them. They helped get good pictures and we got to meet and pet all the dogs too! Best day ever really.

If you really want to learn about the Gold Rush, you must consider the women who worked the towns…read more The museum is a true artifact from that time, filled with memorabilia, stories, and ghosts. The women who take you inside for a tour do a great job with their witty banter and tongue-in-cheek commentaries. Once inside, be ready to learn about the lives of the girls who lived here.

This tour was a hoot!…read more For 15 minutes, our guide, who was dressed to the hilt in sexy red and black garb that women wore back in the day, delivered so much history and information on the building, the girls, and the entire operation of the brothel: all laced with sexual puns and innuendos. Such an interesting and fun tour. It was also creative that the tour was $5 for 15 minutes...exactly what a miner would have paid in gold nuggets or gold coins for that amount of time with a girl. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Skagway!

"She said last night she read those letters And they made…read moreher feel one hundred years old" (Bruce Springsteen) This statue was unveiled in 1997 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Skagway's founding. The city was named after the Tlingit Indian word for "windy place", where they hunted mountain bears and goats. They first encountered European Europeans in 1897 when they met a team of Canadian surveyors who were mapping the area. Within a few years, the discovery of gold in the Yukon brought in a stampede of hundreds of settlers looking to find their fortunes in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898. The sculpture represents a settler and his Indian guide in the early days of Skagway. The Tinglit Indian's clothes are made from moose hide and bear skin. He his backpack is made of mountain goat skin. The gold stampeder has a wooden box on his back and has a hunting knife, shovel and gold pan strapped to him.

We had such an amazing time with Alaska X dog mushing. Not only did we go dog mushing but we also…read moreso retired dogs, teenage dogs and the puppies. The puppies were so cute I wanted to take them home. Our tour guide was so super cool, I'm so upset I always forget names because he was so good. He was older and with such a great personality. The person we got that went dog mushing with us was so good with the dogs. You can tell she really loved them and they take great care of them.

This is just one of the tours you can do…read more We had a great time. The driver was very informative about the area. We learned a lot that we didn't know. This is a good tour company.

Great food and BEER!!! Staff is very friendly and engaging with customers. Will love coming back.read more

Such a fun place to eat in Ketchikan…read more A bit tourist but unique in the sense that it's not your typical restaurant cause rather it's historical and popular because it used to be a brothel. They do tours everyday and the lovely ladies who host it try to lure you in with flirtation and cracking jokes. The food was good and I loved the drinks. I had a great time here.

Such a historic, unique town to visit. It feels like stepping back in wild west times, with…read morebeautiful scenery and well preserved buildings. So glad we got to come here and experience it for a day. The history here is fascinating.

3 stars This is a…read morecity rich in gold rush history, but it is quite small and, besides their history, there doesn't seem to be much else going for it. The modern day gold rush for them comes via cruise ships, so I think that's keeping them alive. Personally, I don't have kids, but if I did have kids around age 10 (5th grade), I'd bring them here to experience what they learned in class. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we cover sections of the California and Alaska Gold Rush in the 5th grade?). So, basically taking the White Pass train or trail and panning for gold kind of experience. Actually, fun fact - someone told me that Skagway is the best school in the entire state! Anyways, my personal thoughts on kids-I-don't-yet-have aside, the town is pricey...like $$$. A woman's sweater can cost you $60-$75. The cute kids' clothing? Probably $30-$35. Mini stickers are $2.99-$3.99 & larger stickers are $3.99+. There are some ok-ish discounts. The more attractive the design, the more expensive the item is. Cough*Juneau is better**cough. But I'll bring my future kids back in the future. Promise!!