Ketchikan Creek runs through the middle of town, and every summer tens of thousands of salmon run up it to spawn where they were born. A little above Creek Street the creek drops over a stretch of falls and rapids. Strong fish leap it; to help the rest, a concrete fish ladder — a staircase of pools — was built alongside. A platform by the road lets you look straight down at the fish massing below the falls and throwing themselves at the white water.
The Married Man’s Trail links the ladder with Creek Street. In the days of the red-light district it was the back route, a muddy path through the trees by which customers could come and go without being seen on the boardwalk. Today it is a short, pretty walk of boardwalk and steps through salmonberry bushes and spruce.
Top things to do: Salmon Ladder & Married Man’s Trail
Watch the salmon jump
From roughly mid-July to mid-September, stand at the viewing platform on Park Avenue and watch the fish below the falls. Pink salmon come first and in the greatest numbers; king and silver salmon also use the creek. Patience is rewarded — the leaps come in bursts.
Follow the creek
Continue upstream along Park Avenue for ten minutes to City Park and the Totem Heritage Center. In late summer the gravel shallows are full of spawning fish, and gulls and eagles gather for the leftovers.
Walk the trail
Start at the upper end of Creek Street and climb the signed path. It takes five to ten minutes and gives good views back down to the boardwalk houses.
Look for dippers and eagles
American dippers — small grey birds that walk underwater — work the rapids, and bald eagles perch in the trees above the creek throughout the season.
How to get there
- On foot: 10–15 minutes from Berths 1 and 2. Walk to Creek Street, follow the boardwalk to its upper end and take the Married Man’s Trail; or follow Park Avenue from the centre.
- Access: the trail has steps and can be slippery. The viewing platform can also be reached on the level along Park Avenue.
- Cost: free, and open at all times.
Insider tips
- Outside the run — in May, June and early July — the ladder is just a concrete channel. Come for the walk, not the fish.
- Late in the season there are dead and dying salmon along the banks, and the smell to match. That is the natural end of the life cycle, and it feeds the forest.
- Polarised sunglasses cut the glare and make it much easier to see fish under the surface.
- Do not try to touch or catch the fish; fishing in the creek is restricted.
- Bears occasionally follow the salmon into town. If you see one, keep well back and leave it room.
Best tours for this sight
These bookable Ketchikan excursions fit best with a visit to Salmon Ladder & Married Man’s Trail:
Guided tour Ketchikan: Town Tour, Totem Heritage Center & Trail Hike
A guided tour that combines a narrated drive around Ketchikan with a visit to the Totem Heritage Center and its original 19th-century poles, and a hike on a trail in the Tongass National Forest. Check the product page for the current price and pickup point.
- Narrated tour of the town
- Visit to the Totem Heritage Center
- Hike in the Tongass National Forest
Show & meal from $158 Ketchikan: Lumberjack Show & Crab Feast
Two Ketchikan traditions in one ticket. First the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, where timber athletes race through axe, saw and tree-climbing events in a covered arena; then a sit-down feast of Dungeness crab, served until you have had enough. Easy, fun and weatherproof.
- An hour of chopping, sawing, climbing and log rolling
- All-you-can-eat Dungeness crab feast
- A short walk from the downtown cruise berths
Nature walk from $110 Ketchikan: Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary and Totem Park Walk
A naturalist leads you along trails and boardwalks through the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary at Herring Cove, explaining the forest, the salmon stream and the animals that depend on it. The walk ends at a historic sawmill and a small totem park. Gentle, and worthwhile in any weather.
- Guided walk in a 40-acre private rainforest reserve
- Historic sawmill and totem park
- Look for bears, eagles and salmon in season
