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Walking guide

A Walk Through Russian and Tlingit Sitka

One loop from the shuttle stop past the Bishop's House, St. Michael's Cathedral, Castle Hill and Katlian Street, with the totem trail as an add-on.

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By Greg Peters, editor · Updated October 2026

Sitka was Sheet'ká, a Tlingit town on the outer coast of Baranof Island, before it was New Archangel, the informal capital of Russian America from 1808. It stayed the seat of government after the 1867 sale to the United States, until the capital moved to Juneau in 1906. Almost all of that history sits along one street. This loop starts and ends at Harrigan Centennial Hall, where the shuttle stops, and takes in the main sights in under an hour of walking, plus whatever time you spend inside. Times are our estimates from the shuttle stop.

East: the Bishop's House

Start with the Sitka History Museum inside Harrigan Hall, then walk about 4 minutes east on Lincoln Street to the Russian Bishop's House. Finnish carpenters working for the Russian-American Company built it in 1841 to 1843 for Ivan Veniaminov, the first Bishop of Alaska, who was later canonized as St. Innocent. It is one of very few Russian colonial buildings left in North America. The Park Service bought it in 1973 and restored it, and from May to September rangers lead tours of about 30 minutes through the bishop's rooms and chapel upstairs. We could not confirm a 2026 tour price.

The cathedral

Turn back west. St. Michael's Cathedral stands in the middle of Lincoln Street, about 3 minutes from the shuttle stop. The first cathedral, finished in 1848, burned on January 2, 1966. Parishioners carried out more than 95 percent of its icons, and the church was rebuilt to the old design on the same spot. It is still a working Orthodox parish. On ship days from May to September it opens from 9am to 4pm; the rest of the year it is by appointment.

Castle Hill

Keep west to Castle Hill, about 6 minutes from the shuttle stop, up a stair from Lincoln Street or a paved ramp from Harbor Way. The Kiks.ádi Tlingit called the site Noow Tlein. The Russian governors' residence stood here from 1836 until it burned in 1894, and on October 18, 1867, the Russian flag came down and the American flag went up, completing the sale of Alaska. The first 49-star flag flew here in 1959. Sitka still marks Alaska Day every October 18. Entry is free.

Totem Square and Katlian Street

From the hill, drop down to Totem Square and the Sitka Pioneer Home, opened in 1913 as the first of Alaska's state homes for older residents. Its bronze Prospector, by Alonzo Victor Lewis, was dedicated at the 1949 Alaska Day celebration; the building is a residence, so view it from outside. Then follow Katlian Street along the water. The Sitka Tribe of Alaska's community house, Sheet'ká Kwáan Naa Kahídi, about 7 minutes from the shuttle stop, was built in 1997 and holds the largest hand-carved house screen in Southeast Alaska; its dancers perform Tlingit songs and stories on Saturdays, alternate Sundays and cruise-ship days in summer. A little farther on, the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall stands on pilings over the water. Tlingit men founded the Brotherhood here in 1912 to fight discrimination, and the 1914 hall became a National Historic Landmark in 1987. From there, walk back along Lincoln Street to Harrigan Hall.

Add-on: the totem trail

With another hour or two, walk east past the shuttle stop for about 15 to 20 minutes to Sitka National Historical Park. A forest trail of about a mile passes 18 carved poles on the way to the site of Shis'kí Noow, the fort the Tlingit built near the mouth of the Indian River before the 1804 battle with Russian fur hunters and their Aleut allies. The park is free and is Alaska's oldest federally designated cultural and historic park. On the way you pass the Sheldon Jackson Museum, which was closed in 2026 for renovation and due to reopen around December 1, 2026; check before you plan on it.

Sources

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