How to Get There

Overview

Haines (Tlingit: Deishú) is located in Haines Borough, Alaska, in the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle, near Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.The original Native name for Haines was Deishú, meaning "end of the trail" by the Chilkat group of Tlingit. It received this name because they could portage (carry) their canoes from the trail they used to trade with the interior, which began at the outlet of the Chilkat River, to Dtehshuh and save 20 miles (32 km) of rowing around the Chilkat Peninsula.

Geography

Haines is situated on the Chilkat Peninsula at a narrow spot called the Deshu Isthmus. The community is bounded by Portage Cove of Chilkoot Inlet to the east and by the Chilkat River at its mouth into the Chilkat Inlet to the west. To the south, down the Chilkat Peninsula, Haines is bordered by Mud Bay, and, to the north, it is bordered by the Lutak.

Alaska Route 7, the Haines Highway, terminates at Haines and leads northwest 39 miles (63 km) to the Canadian border near Pleasant Camp, British Columbia. The Haines Highway continues north to a junction with the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction, Yukon, 147 miles (237 km) from Haines.

Attractions

Many tourists visit during the annual appearance of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve between October and February. During this time, Haines has the largest concentration of bald eagles in the world.

The community and surrounding area are popular for outdoor recreation. Rafting in the Chilkat River and hiking in the Takshanuk Mountains (Mount Ripinsky and other peaks) are both popular. Growing winter recreational opportunities are available at and around Chilkat Pass, for which Haines serves as a gateway with the Haines Highway. The Davidson Glacier, due to its relatively accessible nature, is also a popular attraction.

Lutak Inlet and Chilkoot Lake are easily accessible and popular fishing sites. Lutak Inlet is frequented by numerous sea lions, seals, and orcas.

Fort William H. Seward is a nationally recognized historic site (declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978), where a number of barracks, officer housing, and parade grounds are maintained, in private ownership today. Some of these structures are open to the public as businesses and restaurants. The fort is also referred to as "Port Chilkoot", a leftover from the Port Chilkoot Company, which was formed after World War II by a group of investors who purchased the fort from the federal government.

Haines has a number of cultural offerings. Alaska Indian Arts offers demonstrations by traditional craftsmen. History of the town of Haines and the local Tlingit people are featured in the Sheldon Museum & Cultural Center. The Hammer Museum is dedicated to the history of the hammer in human society. The Tsirku Canning Company Museum offers a glimpse of Haines' historic salmon canneries.

Haines is the location for the Southeast Alaskan State Fair, held annually each July. Among other attractions, the fairgrounds incorporate a portion of the set from Walt Disney's White Fang film, filmed in Haines in 1990. The surviving set includes a dozen small structures common to a mining town of the period of Jack London's book of the same name.

Transportation

Haines is more accessible than most other southeast Alaskan communities of its size, as it is connected to the North American highway system by the Haines Highway, which passes through British Columbia on its way to the junction with the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction, Yukon. However, snow and ice conditions in the winter and the long driving times can often make this route less feasible, and at times results in closure of the portion of the highway in the Chilkat Pass, just north of the Canada–US border. Haines is one of only three cities in southeast Alaska which are accessible by road to another city, the other two being Skagway and Hyder.

The primary mode of intra-Alaskan transportation is by the Alaska Marine Highway.

The Haines Airport receives a large amount of traffic, with three bush carriers (Alaska Seaplanes, Wings of Alaska and Harris Aircraft Services) providing services to Gustavus, Skagway, Sitka, and Juneau.

Recently, Haines became a port-of-call to several cruise ship operators, including Princess Cruises and the Holland-America Line.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Admiralty Island", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0