Ketchikan Black Bear and Wildlife Hiking Exploration, 2 1/2 Hours

Intimately explore the habitat of one Alaska’s most majestic residents on an Alaskan Bear Country & Wildlife Expedition. Thanks to conservation efforts and a people passionate about preserving America’s last frontier, southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest has remained virtually untouched over the centuries. This has made it a safe habitat for many of Alaska’s native wildlife denziens, including Ursus americanus or the American black bear.

Leaving from downtown Ketchikan, your expedition begins with a fully narrated scenic drive along the coast of Revillagigedo Island, with unbelievable views of nearby Gravina Island and the Tongass Narrows as you make your way to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, a 40 acre private reserve in the forested mountains surrounding picturesque Herring Cove, boasting  a pristine natural environment that is home to a variety of quintessential Alaskan creatures including Sitka black tail deer, black bears, mink, and seals along with a variety of bird species.

Once at the sanctuary, your naturalist guide will lead you along forest trails to elevated platforms and bridges amongst the magnificent woodland of cedar and spruce that make up a wildlife viewing system that affords adventurers both safety and intimacy. From this system, you’ll have the opportunity to observe the glorious American black bear in its natural habitat as the bears forage, fish, and play. After descending from the wildlife viewing platform system, you’ll connect back with the trail to traverse an elevated boardwalk along Eagle Creek that will allow you to observe the wildlife of the wetlands as the mammals and birds, including American bald eagles, come to feast at the waterway’s salmon runs. You’ll then make your way to the Alaska Raptor Center exhibit where you’ll have the opportunity to see a bald eagle up close.

After, you’ll be able to explore the buildings and machines of the Herring Bay Lumber Company, one of Alaska’s historic sawmills that once operated on the land of the sanctuary. Visit Tsimshian totem pole park, home to an  impressive 40-foot totem and 13 other poles, all from one master carver and shop for that perfect souvenir in the general store. Discover the beauty and grandeur of the Alaskan wilderness and make memories to marvel at for years to come on a Bear Country & Wildlife Expedition.