Creek Street from Ketchikan cruise port?! YES it’s easy! (+ Married Man’s Trail) 🏔 Alaska cruise travel blog

Hi there!

Possibly the most famous thing to do in Ketchikan on your own is Creek Street.

👆 Creek Street Ketchikan map: You can find a map when you get to Creek Street.

👆 Map of Ketchikan near Creek Street: The start of Creek Street can be #23, #25, or #10. You can stop by the Ketchikan visitor center near the cruise port to get a walking route map of Ketchikan!

So, is it hard to get to Creek Street?

No, it is not hard at all.

You can walk to Creek Street from the Ketchikan cruise port.

It’s something that you can do quickly at the end of your day… if you don’t mind that everything will be closed anyway!

I had a full day by going to Totem Bight State Park by bus in the morning and in the afternoon doing a Misty Fjords National Monument park seaplane tour that came with a wilderness landing.

When I got back to the Ketchikan cruise port after the seaplane tour, it was 4:15pm with a back-on-board time of 5:30pm.

I quickly went to Creek Street and there was pretty much no one there.

I was dropped off by my tour right by the heritage statues, which was just a couple minutes walk from being able to get on my cruise ship.

If you look mountain side (not water side), then there is the Welcome to Ketchikan sign.

So coming from here, you can just walk down that street to get to Creek Street!

This will put you at the west end of Creek Street, at the junction of Creek Street and Married Man’s Trail.

If you’ll be docking at the main Ketchikan cruise port, then you’ll be docking right in downtown Ketchikan.

And downtown Ketchikan is where you’ll find Creek Street.

This means that you can walk to Creek Street from the cruise ship!

Depending on which specific spot your cruise ship is docked at, you might have a few extra minutes of walking.

The day I went to Creek Street, we docked in town right in front of the Ketchikan Visitor Center.

When I was on the Sapphire Princess, the cruise ship docked near the Ketchikan Visitor Center. (map) This was almost the closest you could get to Creek Street coming from a cruise ship.

From the Ketchikan Visitor Center near the cruise port to Creek Street is about a 5 minute walk.

When I was on the Majestic Princess, the cruise ship docked at berth 4, which was a bit further away. (map) It would have been around a 15 minute walk to Creek Street.

👆 Your landmark to start walking towards Creek Street from the cruise port can be “the rock” heritage statues and liquid sunshine gauge… if your cruise ship is docked near here!

👆 If you want to get this welcome to Ketchikan sign, then maybe you’ll think this is the best spot to start your walk to Creek Street!

👆 Welcome to Creek Street!

I understand that basically if you are not a Norwegian cruise ship, then you will be docking in town. NCL cruise ships dock far away at Ward Cove. I understand from having met NCL cruise ship passengers while in Ketchikan that you will have a free shuttle to downtown Ketchikan if you are docking at Ward Cove. So after you have taken the free shuttle from Ward Cove into town, then you’ll be able to walk to Creek Street!

What I wish I would have known before going to Creek Street

I wish I would have known about the walking route called the Salmon Walk!

You can go directly to Creek Street from the cruise port (as shown below!), or you can make it into a Salmon Walk loop!

If I would have known about the Salmon Walk, I probably would have done it the second time I went to Ketchikan, since I still had a good amount of time after returning to the cruise port from Saxman Totem Park.

So the next time I’m in Ketchikan with extra time, I will have the Salmon Walk map handy and use that to go for a walk around downtown Ketchikan!

The Salmon Walk is a 1.5 mile walk, and you can take your time while doing the walk making stops along the way at places like the Tongass Historical Museum, the Salmon Ladder (if it’s salmon season), the Totem Heritage Center, and of course Creek Street.

Creek Street is part of the Salmon Walk.

See more: Salmon Walk (click on the salmon head or look for “discover the map” to see the map!)

More below on the 3 spots you can start walking Creek Street!

🏔

How to get to Creek Street

If you won’t be using google maps, then one of the easiest things to do is walk into the visitor center that’s located in front of the cruise ship and ask the staff there which way to get to Creek Street.

You might as well walk in there any, because you can get a free map of Ketchikan too!

Otherwise…

There are basically 3 main spots where you can start Creek Street.

It mostly depends on where you’re coming from as to which is the best spot to start Creek Street.

Creek Street is not that long, so no matter where you start, you can easily walk to the other part.

It really doesn’t matter where you start.

So when you’re walking in Ketchikan, if you see a sign pointing in the direction of Creek Street, you can just follow the sign.

Although, if you only want to walk one way, and you want to walk both Creek Street and Married Man’s Trail (they are both pretty short so you might as well), then you’ll want to start at one end or the other.

1. South end: Creek Street sign (south/east end of Creek Street) (map)

This is the best spot to start Creek Street because you can make it a one-way walk from Creek Street to Married Man’s Trail!

You’ll feel like you are starting off Creek Street right!

2. Middle: At the intersection of Creek Street and Married Man’s Trail (near Chief Johnson totem pole) (map)

If you are coming from the Ketchikan Visitor Center, the heritage statues, and the Welcome to Ketchikan sign, then this is where you’ll end up.

And then you’ll come to the Chief Johnson totem pole, and then the boardwalk junction.

If you go to the right, you’ll be walking on Creek Street.

If you go to the left, you’ll be walking on Married Man’s Trail.

Ketchikan Visitor Center to Creek Street

3. North end: Married Man’s Trail (north/west end of Creek Street) (map)

Married Man’s Trail is a short boardwalk with creek views with cascades.

If you start Married Man’s Trail from the northwest end, then you will end up walking onto Creek Street.

Otherwise, if you’re coming from the other end of Creek Street, if you keep walking on the boardwalk, you’ll end up on Married Man’s Trail.

Creek Street to Married Mans Trail

Historic Ketchikan walking tour map from the Ketchikan visitor center near the cruise port

Stop by the Ketchikan Visitor Center near the cruise port to get a map!

And that’s a bit about getting to Creek Street!

More of Ketchikan on your own:

• What to see: Totem Bight State Park totem poles
• What to see: Saxman Village totem poles

More Alaska cruise ports on your own:

• Mendenhall Glacier bus
• Skagway footbridge
• Yakutania Point
• Things to do in Sitka

HAPPY STARTING THE CREEK STREET WALK IN KETCHIKAN!