Ketchikan

Hiking

Deer Mountain. Get details on hiking around Ketchikan from the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center and Ketchikan Visitors Bureau. The 3-mile trail from downtown to the 3,000-foot summit of Deer Mountain will repay your efforts with a spectacular panorama of the city below and the wilderness behind. The trail officially begins at the corner of Nordstrom Drive and Ketchikan Lake Road, but consider starting on the paved, 1.5-mile scenic walk on the corner of Fair and Deermount streets. Pass through dense forests before emerging into the alpine country. A shelter cabin near the summit provides a place to warm up. Fair and Deermount Sts., Ketchikan, AK, 99901.

Ward Lake Recreation Area. About 6 miles north of town, Ward Lake Recreation Area has hikes next to lakes and streams and beneath towering spruce and hemlock trees; it also has several covered picnic spots and a pleasant campground. An easy 1.3-mile nature trail circles the lake, which is popular for steelhead and salmon fishing. Ward Creek Trail begins from the lake and follows the creek 2.5 miles, with shoreside paths to creek-side platforms. The trail is hard-packed gravel, and is wide and gentle enough for wheelchairs. More ambitious hikers head up the 2-mile Perseverance Trail, a challenging set of steps and boardwalk that takes hikers through the open muskeg (peat bog) to a small lake. Ward Lake, Ketchikan, AK, 99901. 907/225-2148.

More Sports and Outdoors

• Canopy Tours
• Driving Tours
• Fishing
• Harbor and Air Tours

• Hiking
• Local Interest
• Sea Kayaking
• Snorkeling