Chilkoot Experience and Bear Quest

Begin your adventure when you are escorted onboard the Chilkat Express at Skagway’s small boat harbor; owned and operated by the Klukwan Natives you will immediately feel welcomed by the captain and crew. Your 30-minute voyage on Lynn Fjord to the private docking facility in Haines is a scenic landscape of sheer rock cliffs, abundant waterfalls, glaciers, inlets, terminal moraines, snow capped mountain ranges that rise straight up out of the depths of the Fjord. Wildlife sightings often include: Fur Seals, Eagles, rafts of Surf Scoters with sporadic appearances by Whales and occasionally Mountain Goats and Bear.

Arriving in Haines you are face to face with the charming unspoiled “Post Card” setting of the small community of Haines and the magnificent Chilkat Mountain Range, which forms the northern escarpment of Glacier Bay National Park.

You are further engulfed in the beauty of this special place in the world as your bus transfers you approximately 8-miles along the glacier blue waters of Lynn Fjord and Lutak Inlet where you are likely to view Eagles, sea birds, and during the salmon runs, fur seals that follow the salmon en route to the lake. A terminal moraine at the end of Lutak Inlet is where the pavement turns onto the1-mile long picturesque boulder strewn river and old growth forest drive to the Lake. The lake landscape has been compared to that of Lake Louise, Banff, Canada and is one of seven historic Tlingit Village sites in the Haines area named Chil-Koot or “Large Basket of Fish” The Chilkoot Drainage is home to about 30-brown bears.

Beginning around mid July this lake and one-mile-long narrow, shallow river outflow from the lake to Lutak Inlet becomes easy feeding grounds for generations of brown bears that frequent the river and lake shallows to feed on the multi thousands of Sockeye, Pink and Coho Salmon returning to the Chilkoot to spawn. This is a favorite site for sows to teach their cubs the fine art of fishing and for visitors and locals to witness the interactions of wildlife and the food chain. Although we cannot guarantee seeing bears, historically, the best dates to watch brown bears are August 1 through September. Your driver/guide takes great pride in presenting the “Magic” of the Chilkoot to our guests.

Departures (Local Time)

11:45 AM (Hours: 5.5)