ICY STRAIT POINT ALASKA

Icy Strait Point Alaska is a destination that provides adventure, wilderness, wildlife, and Native Tlingit  hospitality.  Located in Alaska’s largest Native Tlingit village of Hoonah Alaska, Icy Strait Point is located on Chichagof Island in Southeast Alaska, sitting 35 miles west of Juneau, 25 miles southeast of Glacier Bay National Park and 18 miles from Point Adolphus, Alaska’s most active feeding grounds for humpback whales.  

Icy Strait Point features a museum, nature trails, restaurants, 100% Alaskan-owned retail shops, and a beach!  It is also home to a restored 1912 Alaska salmon cannery.  In addition, eagles and whales are seen regularly from the shore. 

 

The Huna Tlingit are the original inhabitants of Glacier Bay, where they lived for thousands of years. During the peak of the Little Ice Age, glacier advancement forced the Tlingit people to relocate to present-day Hoonah. Translated, it means “where the north wind doesn’t blow”.  The population of Hoonah Alaska is listed at 931 as of 2020 but swells to 1,300 in the summer. 

 

Icy Strait Point is a cruise destination and is only open when a ship is in port. Cruise partners include Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney, Carnival, Oceania, Cunard, Viking, Windstar, and Hurtigruten.  You can view the cruise schedule for IcyPoint Strait Point here.

 

The cruise ship season begins the first part of May and ends the last week of September, averaging between 75-85 cruise ships  seasonally, typically one ship per day.

 

Click here to listen to a Cruise Maven podcast on Icy Strait Point. Recorded by Sherry Kennedy in August, 2015 the podcast is an interview with TylerHickman, Vice President of Operations at Icy Point Strait.

 

It had been 17 years since I last visited Icy Strait Point and things have dramatically changed.  The Carnival Splendor  docked in Icy Strait Point on July 1, 2022.  Standing on deck 10 of the ship and looking toward Icy Strait Point, the new construction was evident everywhere. 

Carnival Splendor docked at Icy Strait Point

There are two floating docks at Icy Strait Point but typically only one cruise ship docks per day.  The walk from the dock to Adventure Landing will take about 3 minutes via a covered zig-zag three section walkway.  

Walkway from dock to Adventure Landing

The walk from Adventure Landing to the Cannery is also flat via a series of boardwalks, taking you past some quaint local housing and also a cemetery.  

Local housing along the boardwalk

Boardwalk to the cannery museum

I stepped off the boardwalk to walk through the cemetery.  One headstone specifically caught my attention due to the number of coins that covered it.  I watched as a fellow passenger placed a coin on the headstone.  I inquired what it meant.  His response was “Leaving a penny means you knew them, a nickel means you were in boot camp together, a dime signifies you served together in the same unit and a quarter indicates you were there when they lost their life.”

Local cemetery along the boardwalk

 

Inside Cannery Museum

Inside Cannery Museum

Outside Cannery Museum

Outside Cannery Museum

Outside Cannery Museum

 

Note: There are Care Carts available from the ship dock to the SkyGlider Mountaintop Gondola at Adventure Landing. If you take the Gondola up, the mountain top is graveled in most areas.

Adventure Landing is the "hub" and "heartbeat" of Icy Strait Point. Here is where you will find the Adventure Center to purchase tickets for both the SkyGlider Mountaintop Gondola and the ZipRider.  There is also a ‘green’ transporter that moves people between Adventure Landing and Wilderness Landing.  This is a flat arial ride and is provided complimentary.  You will  find public restrooms inside the Adventure Center. 

Heading to the Adventure Center

 

Excursion waiting area inside Adventure Center

Summer worker Jo from Washington DC

Public Restrooms inside Adventure Center

Coffee shop inside Adventure Center

Ticket counter for SkyGlider and ZipRider

As you exit the Adventure Center you will find more restrooms, a restaurant, a bar, and the 'green' transporter boarding station.  

View from the Duck Point Bar

Try the "Smashburger" at the Smokehouse Restaurant

If you purchase a ticket for the ‘red’ SkyGlider Mountaintop Gondola you will first need to board the complimentary ‘green’ transporter gondola to Wilderness Landing.  This is where the ‘red’ SkyGlider Mountaintop Gondola entrance is located. 

Complimentary "Green" people transporter

 

Heading to "Red" SkyGlider for boarding

 

"Red" SkyGlider boarding area

Here’s what you can expect for average walking time from the ship, beginning with the closest:  

• Adventure Center - Ticket/Excursion Hub: 5 minutes
• Historic Cannery where you’ll find dining, shopping and the museum: 7 minutes
• Crab House Restaurant at the Cannery: 8 minutes
• Cultural Theatre:  9 minutes
• Shuttle bus ticket area to Hoonah (1.6 miles):  9 minutes

If you walk into town and don’t want to walk back to the ship, shuttle bus tickets are available to purchase at Huna Outfitters, located next to City Hall in downtown Hoonah. The one way cost will be $3 or you can ride round trip for $5.

SKYGLIDER

As you ascend the 25% grade over the forested slopes, the views will be spectacular in every direction, especially once you reach the summit, which is more than a quarter mile above sea level. Glacier Bay stretches out before you and Tongass National Forest goes on as far as the eye can see. 

Station at the top of the "Red" SkyGlider Mountaintop Gondola

Starting up the mountain aboard the "Red" SkyGlider

Wherever you wander, be sure to keep an eye out for wildlife as bald eagles and deer are abundant. 

On the day of my visit there were “Bear Warning” signs everywhere, thus I was not allowed to wander around by myself.  Chichagof Island is home to over 3,500 coastal brown (grizzly) bears, almost two bears per square mile! 

You won’t have to rush your time at the summit because your all-day gondola pass allows you to descend whenever you wish. It also entitles you to watch a tribal dance performance in the Heritage Center.   

The gondola is both scooter and wheelchair-accessible and can accommodate as many as eight people in one cabin. Here are a few more reasons that make the gondola ride unique:

• The efficient, high-speed gondola offers you one of the most beautiful views of Alaska. You will be able to enjoy the top view of the forests underneath and watch the undisturbed Glacier Bay.  This electric gondola has the capacity to move as many as 22,400 passengers every day.

• Each seat in the gondola can fold up, thus making enough space for wheelchairs to travel comfortably. It won’t affect the gondola speed and you wouldn’t be paying additional charges. 

• You can take one of the walking trails and enjoy the breathtaking scenes of Icy Strait Point from the top. There is also a 340-feet suspension bridge that sways on top of a box canyon. The box canyon has a vertical drop of 900-feet.

    Including tax you will pay just over $53 per person for the round trip "Red" SkyGlider Mountaintop window-walled gondola.  The ride takes approximately 8 minutes each way. I took this video on my way back down the mountain. 

    Check out this video of the entire Mountaintop Gondola ride.

 

ZIPRIDER

Icy Strait Point also features the world's largest ZipRider, with six zip lines dropping almost 1600 feet. After launching, you will travel 5,330 feet and will accelerate to speeds exceeding 60 mph as you literally 'fly' 300 feet above the rainforest.

Boarding entrance for the ZipRider

You can opt to take the SkyGlide Gondola or the 8.5 mile bus ride to the top.   ZipRider is the highest vertical drop of any zipline in the world with 6 cables each over a mile long.

Once on top of the mountain, you will take a short walk through towering old-growth rainforest to the launching area. Upon reaching the tower, you will be given a safety briefing and organized into groups of six. After being seated and secured in a special harness, you will prepare for take-off. 

ZipRider boarding station          Photo: Public Domain

Your ZipRide will conclude with a break-activated landing on the beach back at Icy Strait Point. Participants must weigh between 75 and 275 pounds and be comfortable with heights. Experience the ride by clicking here.  

From the top of the mountain to the Adventure Landing Restaurant, the ZipGlider takes 90 second and has been clocked at speeds over 60 mph.  This is not a typical tree-to-tree zip line.  

 

Things to do in Icy Strait Point:

1. Go whale watching (1 hr boat ride from Icy Strait Point – tour is 2.5 hours in length)
2. Ride the ZipRider
3. Take a birdwatching tour
4. Bear watching at the Wildlife & Bear Search.
5. Take the Ocean Raft Adventure
6. Join a tasting session at Alaska’s Wildest Kitchen. https://icystraitpoint.com/tour/leisurely_journeys/
7. Explore the beach and nature trails
8. Have lunch at the Cookhouse Restaurant
9. Go shopping at the Warehouse Shops
10. Visit the Historical Cannery Museum
11. Watch the Tribal Dance & Cultural Legends Show
12. Walk (or take the shuttle bus) into the town of Hoonah