I am in the process of desiging an Alaskan trip. What is there in and around Ketchican to see?

Check out www.ktn.net. I am going to Alaska in May 2001 and this site was helpful to me.

Ketchikan is picturesque and very nice if you can look beyond the touristy shops by the cruise ship docks. There are float plane trips to magnificent Misty Fjords National Monument. Saxman Village outside of town is interesting, too. If the salmon are running, they will be seen along Creek Street. You can walk to a native fish hatchery and eagle rehab center. Assume it will rain as it is in a rain forest but it won't spoil your enjoyment.

Any particular reason you have decided on Ketchican? It is so hard to get to anywhere else from there? We stopped by there on cruise ship for a day - very touristy. Inland Alaska has so much to offer and you can go from place to place easier than from Ketchican.

Bob, what mode of travel? If your time is really limited, or if you have to get back on the boat or ferry, then frankly IMO Ketchikan (2 Ks, no C) doesn't justify more than a walk around Creek St., or a quick tour to Totem Bight park or see the totems in the city park. (No disrespect to Ketchikanians intended.)
If it were me I'd try for Sitka and Juneau in southeast Alaska, and save my tourism ammo for farther north.

Well of course there's a C in Ketchikan. Doh!

Creek Street and Totem Bight Park in Ketchikan are worth seeing but not for more than an afternoon. Make it a stop on the way to and from another town.

There is not much more than a days worth of things to do in Ketchikan. We went to the totem pole village and a wildlife cruise, and walked around the small town looking a the shops and watched the salmon going upstream.

While in Ketchikan we took a plane from Island Wings that flew us north to an island where we were able to watch the bears catching salmon at the base of a waterfall. And they were CLOSE, definitely not binocular material. It was the highlight of our Alaska trip, a bit pricey, but worth every penny.

if you like to hike, deer mountain was a nice day hike. you'll go through 3 types of terrain on the way up and there's a nice view of town from the top.