Simply Amazing Sitka Tour: Fortress of the Bear, Alaska Raptor, & Totems

This amazing tour leaves nothing on the table, covering 4 of Sitka's top destinations. Our tour begins at the Harrigan Centennial Hall where you'll come aboard a comfortable full-size passenger van. We'll head south on Sitka's road system. Along the way we might spot bald eagles in the treetops and Sitka Black Tail deer grazing on brush. We’ll contour Silver Bay, a body of water surrounded by high mountains. In the later months Humpback and Minke whales can sometimes be seen here. With time and weather permitting we’ll stop here for photos. Near the end of the road system we'll arrive at The Fortress of the Bear. This non-profit rescue facility is home to seven Alaskan bears. Here we'll get up close and personal (on a platform we view them from a safe distance) with our six rescued beautiful Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears and three Black Bears--the only black bears on Baranof Island. Our next stop is The Alaskan Raptor Center. This rehabilitation center for birds of prey has a state of the art flight room and home to multiple rescued Eagles, owls and other birds of prey found in Southeast Alaska. The we'll travel to Sitka National Historical Park; this protected area of temperate rain forest stretches out to a peninsula and offers multiple, easily accessible trail loops that contour Indian river and the Eastern Channel waters. Totem poles punctuate these trails. This park is also the site of a battle between the Sheetka Kwan Kiksadi Clan and Russian American troops, during the 19th century. Our guests can choose to walk through the park or a visit to the park’s amazing cultural center, which offers its own onsite interpreters, as well as exhibits and demonstrations for traditional techniques such as carving, working with fur, beading, and metal working. To cap off this tour our final stop will be for refreshments. This locally owned and operated pub is located right in the heart of historic downtown Sitka and offers a variety of beers. Enjoy flavors from all around Alaska on their ever-changing taps. Depending on taste (and age ), non-alcoholic beverages are also available. Enjoy both in this family friendly establishment.

Growing from a backyard, volunteer-run operation, the Alaska Raptor Center has become Alaska's foremost bald eagle hospital and educational center, as well as one of the state's premier visitor attractions.Each year, the Alaska Raptor Center provides medical treatment to 100-200 injured bald eagles and other birds. Our goal is to release our patients back into the wild; some, however, are injured so severely they could not survive in the wild even after rehabilitation. These birds may join our Raptors-in-Residence, providing excitement and education for more than 36,000 annual visitors and for the 15,000 schoolchildren we reach through the Adopt-A-Raptor program and Classroom Presentations around the country.The Alaska Raptor Center's 17-acre campus borders the Tongass National Forest, a temperate coastal rainforest, and the Indian River in Sitka, Alaska, and features award-winning natural habitats for our 19 Raptors-in-Residence.

This center opened in 2007, and now houses 7 bears. More than 20,000 visitors per year come to experience the majesty of these amazing creatures. We’ve sent bears to the Bronx Zoo, Montana Grizzly Encounter and the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Boyd, Texas. Our goal is to work with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game to someday release rehabbed bears back into the wild. As a 501(C)3 not-for-profit organization, The Fortress of the Bears rely solely on admission fees and donations for funding.

On an island amid towering spruce and hemlock, Sitka National Historical Park preserves the site of a battle between invading Russian traders and indigenous Kiks.ádi Tlingit. Park visitors are awed by Tlingit and Haida totem poles standing along the park’s scenic coastal trail, and the restored Russian Bishop’s House speaks of Russia’s little known colonial legacy in North America