Ketchikan,
Alaska, population 15,000, is located on the steep and rocky shores of Revillagigedo
Island in the Southeast Alaska Archipelago. Fishing and tourism are mainstays
of the local economy. Average rainfall often exceeds 13.5 feet per year. Ketchikan
is the gateway to the Tongass, the largest national forest in the United States.
Ketchikan has long been the King Salmon capitol of the world and has large charter
and commercial fishing fleets to prove it. The area has 5 public boat harbors
and a ship and dry dock facility for large vessels.
Ketchikan
is the first stop for most cruise ships headed north along Alaska's famed Inside
Passage or the last Alaskan port for ships bound south, and thus is known as "The
Gateway to Alaska." Ketchikan has the worlds largest collection of
totem poles and has been named in the 'Top 100 Small Arts Communities' in the
United States.
See
an aerial view of Ketchikan, Alaska