Is Skagway, Alaska a Frontier Town or a Tourist Attraction?

Depending on the Time of Year, It's Both!

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As we come out of this pandemic, many industries are trying to figure out how to get back to normal, including the cruise industry. The lack of cruise ships is not only hurting that market, but the places around the world that depend on them for their income. Few locations fall into this category more so than Skagway, Alaska.

You may be thinking of Caribbean islands that are hurting because of the lack of cruise ships, but most are accessible by other means. But Skagway, Alaska, is very isolated. You can get there, but it isn't easy. And if the cruise ships aren't docking there, most things would be closed anyway. But for the hardy and determined, you could start your journey on a ferry out of Bellingham, Washington, and with a few connections, arrive in Skagway.

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Imagine for a moment; you live in a small town with about 1,000 residents. The main drag is only a mile long, and everyone knows everyone else. Shops are almost all locally owned, and you do your shopping at the local market because the nearest town is only accessible by boat. Well, that's not entirely true. You can take an hour and a half one-way ferry down to Haines, Alaska, about 20 miles away by boat. But if you want to drive there, it's over 350 miles and will take you all day.

Then, one day in the spring, just as things start to thaw out, 10,000 visitors show up wanting to eat, drink and buy something. Welcome to Skagway, Alaska, a frontier town from October through April, then a major tourist attraction the other five months. At least, that's the way it has been for almost 100 years until 2020 came along.

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The name of the town comes from Skagua, the Tlingit word for "windy place," and being on a branch of the Chilkoot Inlet in southeast Alaska, it certainly earns the name. In the late 1800s, the place boomed for a while due to the Klondike Gold Rush and the city'slocation giving access to the White Pass. Few people know this, but a man named Nordstrom made a fortune of $13,000 in the gold rush and used the money to open his first store in Seattle.

During the boom, the population swelled to 10,000, but by the end of the gold rush, it dwindled to 3,000, and over the years, this number has slowly declined to its present state. In the late 1920s, local promoters convinced passenger ships to dock there to take train rides through White Pass into the Yukon, and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Although there are a couple of small hotels and bed and breakfast inns, almost all tourists arrive by cruise ship from early May through the end of September. The port can accommodate up to five ships simultaneously, each with as many as 2,000 passengers or more. Locals need to make their entire year's income in these five months, so the business is brisk.

Although there is a Diamonds International, almost all businesses are locally owned, and the shop owners and employees are friendly and helpful. Unlike a Caribbean port, you won't feel rushed or hustled. I can only imagine the sense of dread that fell on the town early last year when the residents and shop owners realized their annual meal ticket would not be coming to town.

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If shopping is not your thing, well, you are in the middle of the wilderness. There are plenty of nature-related activities to enjoy. The easiest and most accessible is the ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route Narrow Gauge Railway. This 20-mile route climbs 3,000 feet through the White Pass with breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys. If you like to do things on your own, you are just a few steps away from some of the most fantastic hiking trails in the world. If you can book passage there before the cruise ships come back, you will be in for a treat. Breathtaking views and beautiful weather in some of the last unspoiled wildernesses in the country.

Skagway, Alaska, is one of the most unique places you will ever visit. From isolated frontier town to booming tourist attraction literally, overnight, you won't find a better experience anywhere else in Alaska. I hope the cruise ships, the CDC, and the governments of Alaska, the United States, and Canada can get this figured out soon. Otherwise, Skagway may revert to the way it was after the fall of the gold rush.

Skagway, AlaskaImage by Author

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