Hi there!
In May 2023, I went to Totem Bight State Park by bus from the Ketchikan cruise port while on an Alaska cruise.
Your experience may vary!
The best cruise ports to see totem poles in Alaska are Ketchikan and Sitka.
In Ketchikan, the best places to see totem poles are at Totem Bight State Historical Park and Saxman Totem Park.
Both of these places are accessible by bus from the Ketchikan cruise port.
👆 Bus route from Ketchikan cruise port to Totem Bight State Park.
For my one day in Ketchikan, I went to Totem Bight State Park in the morning.
Then in the afternoon at 2pm, I did an Alaska seaplane tour with a wilderness landing in Misty Fjords National Monument.
After that, I went to Creek Street.
Right near Creek Street, there is the Chief Johnson totem pole too.
See more about what I did during my Alaska cruise from Vancouver!
Because of the timing of the seaplane tour, it meant I had to carefully plan out my time in Totem Bight State Park to match the bus timings.
It worked out perfectly!
I even had time to eat lunch on the cruise ship.
👆 You can take a bus to do a totem pole hike in Ketchikan! Will you like the totem pole hike? Here is what you can see: Totem Bight State Historical Park totem poles
👆 There is a bus stop near the cruise port in Ketchikan! Not all cruise ships dock directly in front of the bus stop, even if you are on a Princess cruise ship. So it might be an extra walk of about 5 to 10 minutes if you are docked at the pier a little further away.
👆 There is a bus stop in Totem Bight State Park.
👆 From the Totem Bight State Park bus stop, it’s a short walk to the start of the Totem Bight trail.
Cost to do Totem Bight State Park on your own
The cost of doing Totem Bight State Historical Park on your own is $9 per person.
You will need $4 for the bus in cash ($2 each way), and $5 for the entry fee (credit card).
If you prepare ahead of time, you can also pay the bus fare through an app on your phone instead of through cash.
Then you can go cashless for your trip to Totem Bight State Park.
More Alaska cruise ports on your own: In Juneau, you can take a bus to Mendenhall Glacier in Tongass National Forest on your own… as long as you don’t mind walking a little extra! In Sitka, you can see totem poles in Sitka National Historical Park on your own.
How to get to Totem Bight State Park
It’s easy to get to Totem Bight State Park on your own!
You can get to Totem Bight State Park by bus from the cruise port.
There is a bus stop that is near the Ketchikan cruise port, and from there, it’s a direct bus to Totem Bight State Historical Park to see totem poles in Ketchikan!
Google maps makes planning for the Totem Bight State Park bus super easy.
It can help you with locating the bus stop, and it can also help you figure out the bus timings.
You just need to make sure you have cash in dollar bills so you can take the bus.
Or, you can be prepared ahead of time by paying for your bus fare through the designated Ketchikan bus app.
More for Ketchikan:
More below about what you need to know to get to Totem Bight State Park by bus!
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What to know about taking the bus to Totem Bight State Park
You can use google maps to help you plan your bus trip to Totem Bight State Park.
Make the “Ketchikan cruise ship docks” as your starting point, and make “Totem Bight State Historical Park” as your destination.
Then, click the public transit option.
If you’re still at home, you can change the “depart at” time to get a better idea of bus timings available. It may also be helpful to change the day of the week, as weekdays vs weekends may be different.
👆 When you are docked in Ketchikan, you can use google maps to figure out when the next bus to Totem Bight State Historical Park is.
There is a bus stop near the Ketchikan cruise port.
If your cruise ship will be docking right in Ketchikan town (like some Princess cruise ships do), then there is a bus stop near the cruise ship.
You won’t have to walk far to get to the bus stop.
The bus stop is in front of the cafe called Alaska Coffee.
There is a sign with red letters that says “bus stop / no parking.”
👇 When you are in Ketchikan cruise port, you can use google maps and your current location to figure out where to go for the bus stop near Ketchikan cruise port.
👆 Bus stop near Ketchikan cruise port. Explore the map.
There is also a Ketchikan Visitor Center pretty much right at the cruise port. If you are going to ask for directions to the bus stop at the visitor center, be sure to specify that you want to go to Totem Bight State Park. If you just say you want to go to “totem park” or that you want to see totem poles, they may give you directions on how to get to Saxman Park. There were people on my bus who seemed a little annoyed that they were given “wrong” information, being told to catch the bus on the opposite side of the road for a bus going in the opposite direction as Totem Bight State Park. But I think what happened is that they were given directions to Saxman Park. Perhaps they asked for directions to a totem park… which Saxman Park also is.
NCL docks far away at Ward Cove. I did meet people at Totem Bight State Park who were on a Norwegian cruise ship. There is also a bus stop along the highway near Ward Cove.
There is a bus stop at Totem Bight State Park.
You will be dropped off inside Totem Bight State Historical Park!
So it is an actual direct bus to Totem Bight State Park!
👆 You will get off the bus in Totem Bight State Park and then start walking to the start of the Totem Bight trail!
The bus stop to get back to the cruise port is the same bus stop you’ll be dropped off at in Totem Bight State Park.
It’s around a 25 minute bus ride between the Ketchikan cruise port and Totem Bight State Park.
Ketchikan cruise port to Totem Bight State Park by bus will be around 25 minutes.
You can follow along on google maps to know when you’re getting near.
The bus driver will announce when the Totem Bight State Park bus stop is coming up.
You can also expand out on google maps to see all the bus stops.
The bus driver will be announcing upcoming bus stops, so you can follow along that way too.
From the bus stop near Ward Cove to Totem Bight State Park is around a 5 minute bus ride. It’s around 3 miles.
It’s $2 in cash for a one-way bus fare.
No change will be given, so you want to have $4 in dollar bills, $2 each way.
You can pay your bus fare using the Ketchikan bus app.
If you want to go cashless on the Ketchikan bus, you can download the Token Transit app and pay your bus fare that way.
You will show your phone to the bus driver when you get on the bus.
The Silver Line North bus TO Totem Bight State Park is once an hour at 25 minutes past the hour.
You will take the Silver Line bus NORTH to get to Totem Bight State Park.
At the time that I took the Ketchikan bus in May 2023, the bus was scheduled once an hour at 25 minutes or 26 minutes past the hour, from the bus stop that I was at near the cruise port.
So for example, there is a bus to Totem Bight State Park from the Ketchikan cruise port at 9:26am, 10:26am, 11:25am, 12:26pm, 1:26pm, etc.
My bus was a few minutes late. So don’t stress if the bus does not arrive on time.
You can use google maps to confirm the bus timings.
The Silver Line South bus FROM Totem Bight State Park is once an hour at 13 minutes past the hour.
You will take the Silver Line bus SOUTH to get back to the cruise port from Totem Bight State Park.
At the time that I took the Ketchikan bus in May 2023, the bus was scheduled once an hour at 13 minutes past the hour, from the Totem Bight State Park bus stop.
So for example, there is a bus from Totem Bight State Park to the Ketchikan cruise port at 11:13am, 12:13pm, 1:13pm, 2:13pm, etc.
You can use google maps to confirm the bus timings.
When you are on the bus, you can ask the bus driver for confirmation about the time of the bus from Totem Bight State Park.
If you are still at home and doing a little planning, then another way you can use google maps is to adjust the time.
For example, you can see the suggested bus route if you want to be back to the cruise port by 1pm.
One hour is enough time at Totem Bight State Park.
Of course, you can always spend longer if you want to take in your surroundings in more slowly.
But for most people, you won’t need more than 1 hour at Totem Bight State Park.
So for example, your plan for Totem Bight State Park can be like this:
- 9:26am: bus from Ketchikan cruise port
- 9:50am: arrive at Totem Bight State Park
- Walk the trail to see totem poles at Totem Bight State Park
- 11:13am: bus from Totem Bight State Park
- 11:50am: arrive at Ketchikan cruise port bus stop
This is basically how I did it.
I was even able to make the 9:26am bus with a 9am cruise ship arrival into Ketchikan. It was quick to get off the ship.
The entry fee for Totem Bight State Park is $5.
Once you get to Totem Bight State Park, there is a self-pay machine.
You will need a credit card to pay the Totem Bight State Park entry fee.
You can see a bunch of totem poles at Totem Bight State Historical Park!
Directly to the left of the self-pay machine for the entry fee, you’ll see a box.
Inside that box is a brochure with information about the totem poles of the state park.
Grab that, then be on your way to see some totem poles in Alaska!
And that’s a bit about getting to Totem Bight State Park by bus!
I went to Totem Bight State Park in May 2023. I was on a Princess cruise that made a stop in Ketchikan. Your experience may vary!
See more about how to take the bus in Ketchikan (with pictures!)
HAPPY BUS RIDE TO TOTEM BIGHT STATE PARK!
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