Totems, City & Wildlife by Cable Car Trolley
Ketchikan, USA
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore the sights of Ketchikan aboard a San Francisco–style cable car trolley. Traveling on this open-air vehicle, you'll see attractions such as the Fish Ladder and the Native American totem poles of Saxman Native Village, plus look for wildlife such as bears, seals, salmon, and bald eagles at the Herring Cove viewing area. This is a fully narrated and guided tour.
- Take a ride through Ketchikan on an open-air trolley
- Discover a variety of sights, from totem poles to native animals
- Learn about the area from a guide
- Park admission fees included for a hassle-free experience
What's Included
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
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End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Saxman Tribal House
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Herring Cove
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Stroller accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 34 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.8
based on 157 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Driver was very knowledgeable about Ketchikan and explained the area very good. The stops were very good,
!We saw bears! And dead salmon 🤢, and some live ones 😎 and maybe an eagle 🦅 and lots of totem poles and the stories to go with them all. Jeff was a great driver and raconteur and his coonskin hat was more fun than a cap. I walk with a cane. He was very solicitous of my limitations. Thanks for a great day!
Loved this tour! Jeff provided great information and was a wonderful guide! The length was perfection see areas of Ketchikan.
Open air trolley was fun but we also had a nice sunny day. Getting on and off is alittle tricky for someone with mobility issues and we did a fair amount of walking.
Our tour guide was very helpful and we got to see a Bear with her cubs eating salmon.
Thought it was too rushed it was supposed to be 2.5 hrs and was 2. Couldn't stop long enough to do trails or look k around. On the bus going too fast to take pics of animals
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Sorry you felt rushed, but our trolley tours are 2 to 2.25 hours in length. We have to go the speed limit which in most cases out the road is 45 miles per hour, otherwise we will get in trouble if reported for going under the speed limit.
Make sure you get there early to figure out exactly where you need to meet. We missed our tour because the location wasn't clear enough. It was a vast area with several tour groups operating out of the same area. We even asked a few different local workers and they weren't able to help us either. Waste of over £200
Sanctuary of the bears is animal abuse!!! Poor creatures living amongst trash!
Town pole was pitiful. Told we weren’t allowed to go in places other tourists were.
It was a good overview of the totem poles, etc. The trolley was comfortable and the guide was very informative.
Very disappointing! The web site says and I quote "City Highlights, Saxman Totem Park and Herring Cove Wildlife viewing". Well the city tour is the 3 blocks exiting the city. The trolley is windy, noisy, uncomfortable, and you cannot hear the driver/narrator. Totally a ridiculous tour for $85 per person. Recommendation is for everyone to take an alternative bus tour if that is your thing.
Very disappointing. Our driver was very late. There was no tour of the town, we didn’t see the salmon ladders. He just drove past and told us where they were. We blew out of town so fast to get to wildlife viewing areas. An open air trolley car is not meant to go 50-60 MPH down the highway. It was a rough ride. We hit a pothole one time and flew off our seats, hurting our elderly parents back and bum. We parked and walked on the outside of the guard rails along the highway to get to the viewing area. Why? There was a nice boardwalk on the opposite side of the creek. Why are we walking down the highway and a gravel road. I’m sure it has to do with tickets and fees. Our 2 hour tour ended up taking over 3 hours and ruined the rest of our day in Ketchikan.
This experience was great would recommend. It only has two stops but dont let that stop you from going. Mike explained the town, pointed out patts and had ton of jnfo about it.bThe two stops pack in a lot of information. One stop is near a bridge where Mike our guide told us about the fish, birds , bears etc..the second was a totem pole atea and went over a few of them and met one of the famous artists.
I would not recommend booking this as it was definitely not worth $80. You can just as easily take a 15 minute bus ride, which costs $2 each way, to go to Saxman and the ticket you buy with them ($5 each) will come with a brochure that describes the totems you are looking at. Our guide only explained 3 of them and only gave us 20 minutes to walk around. Then you can hire a taxi/uber to go to Herring Cove and stand on the side of the highway to look at the creek just as we did. There is no special guided walk or anything while you're there - the guide literally just brought us to the edge of the highway to look at the creek. This was an incredibly disappointing experience for how expensive it was and I would not recommend it. With just a little bit of effort on your end with the bus and uber, you could do this excursion yourself with an entire family of 5 for less than $80.
Good people, but the tour goes nowhere...no bears, eagles only in the distance...close to a hatchery, but no tour of it. Sorry, but we were dissapointed to have spent our money on this tour!!
Though the trolly car was not available we went in a van instead however the tour was fabulous. The guide was native Alaskan friendly and knowledgeable. We saw black bear roaming free, breathtaking waterfall ,sea lions and lots of totem poles . A good day was had by all.
Our driver was very engaging, but accepted that it was late in the season. As a result there was very little wildlife to see in the creek he took us to approx 8 miles away. A stop at the totem pole park on the way back was OK, but he couldn't get us into the workshop (which took in other visitors) to see a new totem pole being crafted.
Overall, very disappointed.
It was an interesting and informative outing. The guide was personable and didn’t let the drenching rain dampen his mood or get in the way of taking us to the wildlife viewing spots. It was just difficult to get beyond the cold rain and being soaked, even with rain repellent clothing. Can’t control the weather.
This was good but trolley very crowded for sitting….guide was good and we lucked out with sunny day.
The tour itself was OK. They take you out to the totem pole park, which is a distance from downtown so it would be hard to get there otherwise. We could only look through the window at the woodcarver whereas I saw other groups going inside that building. I guess there’s a price difference on that. The main downside of this tour was the guide himself. I think he was just done for the season. He seemed to lack any enthusiasm for his job and only provided basic information. At the totem park, I could overhear other operators who spoke at length and enthusiastically while describing the totem poles. Stopped and saw an area where the salmon are spawning so that was interesting. We were running short on time to catch another tour so he was amenable to dropping us off quickly.
Did not leave on time. Waited for late arrivals, so had to hurry through tour to get back to ship on time.
The meeting place wasn’t specific. I thought I read that we were to meet at berth 2 when actually he was all the way on the other side of the visitor center past berth 1. After being 15 minutes late the tour guide called us. Other than that the tour was good.
Very convenient trip with the trolley at the NCL drop off in Ketchikan. Jeff the tour guide was very knowledgeable of local history and was very earnest in his desire for us to see a bear. We did see a small cub, eagles and seals. A great alternative to expensive shore excursions from NCL and you see the same things.
Great way to learn the history and customs of the area. Combination of walking and riding.
Jeff was a fabulous guide.
Great tour! We saw lots of eagles and a black bear. The totem poles were interesting. The tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable. The only issue is that it was difficult to hear the tour guide in the back of the trolley while we were moving with the road noise and wind.
Jeff and Alexander provided great information about bears, eagles and wildlife. Great to see the bears.
This was a good trip but we went in the 4th of July. Our trip was shortened due to road closures. It was still a good trip and we had a great day
The trolley is not enclosed, has open sides. It was raining and cold, minimal wildlife. Second stop was closed except for the gift shop.
Unfortunately, our experience with the tour on July 4th was disappointing. Due to the holiday, the trolley was unavailable, and instead, we were overbooked into a single van shared by three large families. This resulted in children having to sit on adults’ laps despite everyone having paid full price—an issue both of safety and fairness.
While I understand that road closures may have required changes, it’s reasonable to expect the tour company to anticipate these challenges and adjust the schedule accordingly, perhaps by starting earlier to stay on track.
Additionally, the wildlife tour portion was a letdown. Since it is not salmon season, there were no bears to be seen, making this segment feel like a waste of time. If bear sightings are not feasible at this time of year, this tour should not be offered—or at the very least, this should be clearly communicated to guests in advance.
That said, I would like to highlight that our tour guide was excellent—knowledgeable, engaging, and professional throughout the experience. It’s unfortunate that the logistics and planning did not match the quality of the guide.
We were looking forward to a well-organized and enjoyable experience, but unfortunately, this did not meet expectations.
Lots of eagles everywhere. Salmon running upstream at the last wildlife stop. Come at low tide for best viewing.
We had the best guide! During the trip we saw more bald eagles than we ever have before and the totem park was beautiful.
Our tour was very in Cable Car Trolley an unique experience, the driver explained everything about our tour been fun and playing trivia with all the information giving to us. 100% recommendable and also for the cold weather he has blanket to used
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per personWas $85.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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