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Haines Highway - scenic, natural, historic, recreational

This highway connects the Inside Passage community of Haines with Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory. First used by the Chilkat Indians, the highway became a packhorse trail to the Klondike goldfields in the late 1880's. In 1943, the U.S. Army used the highway as a military access road during World War II.

This byway is encompassed by the lush coastal rain forest as it makes its way up the St. Elias Mountains and into Canada where the forest gives way to alpine tundra and the Haines Highway connects with the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction.

photo Fall color in Haines. © Haines Borough

Highlights image

  • Enjoy a walking tour of Fort William H. Seward
  • Established in 1982, the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is seasonal home to 3,000 bald eagles. They are attracted by fall and winter runs of salmon in the Chilkat River. It is common to view hundreds of these regal birds roosting in the cottonwoods along the Haines Highway between October and January.
  • Watch for fish wheels being used on the Chilkat River in June.
  • To the west is Canada's Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park, home to grizzlies, Dall sheep, rare glacier bears and birds.

Calendar image

January

  • Alcan 200 International Snowmachine Race
    Haines, 907-766-2503

May

  • Alaska Craftbeer & Homebrew Festival
    Haines, 907-766-2476
  • Haines King Salmon Derby Memorial Day weekend
    Haines, 907-766-3885

June

  • Kluane to Chilkat Bike Relay
    Haines, 907-766-2202
  • Summer Solstice Celebration
    Haines, 907-766-2476

July

  • Fourth of July celebrations Regionwide
    Haines, 907-766-2234
  • Southeast Alaska State Fair & Bald Eagle Music Festival
    Haines, 907-766-2234

November

  • Alaska Bald Eagle Festival
    Haines, 907-766-3094
photo
Bald eagles gather in trees at the council grounds in the Bald Eagle Preserve on the Haines Highway.

Visitor Contact Information

photo
View of Haines and Lynn Canal from Mt. Ripinsky in the summer.

 

Questions about the Scenic Byways web site? emaildot.scenic.byways@alaska.gov