Start from 20 curated places around Skagway, AK, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Skagway Brewing Company
The town brewery occupies a three-story building on 4th Avenue with a rooftop beer garden, tasting room, and a full food menu that goes well beyond typical pub fare. The kitchen does bison burgers, salmon burgers, and beer-battered halibut alongside pizzas — all with the option to sub Alaskan proteins for whatever you'd normally order. The house ales are brewed on-site and rotate seasonally.
Skagway Fish Co.
A small, focused seafood spot near the cruise dock doing exactly what the name suggests — fresh king crab, halibut, and fish and chips using local product. The fish and chips are particularly noted for texture and freshness, with fluffy batter and fish that hasn't spent time in a freezer. Seating is limited; most people take their order outside.
Trails & outdoors
Lower Dewey Lake Trail
The most popular short hike from downtown Skagway climbs 500 feet in under a mile to Lower Dewey Lake, a small alpine lake surrounded by mountains. The trail continues around the lake perimeter for a 3.6-mile total loop, with views back down over the Skagway River valley. Accessible directly from town without a car.
Upper Dewey Lake Trail
The more demanding extension past Lower Dewey Lake climbs 3,100 feet over six miles round trip to Upper Dewey Lake and its surrounding alpine ridge. The views from the upper basin — across the Lynn Canal, the Skagway valley, and the Boundary Range — are among the most dramatic you can reach on a day hike in Southeast Alaska. Strenuous but highly rewarding.
Things to do
Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith
Skagway's long-running theatrical show dramatizes the gold rush era through the story of con man Soapy Smith and his criminal empire — a story that plays out like a western opera, complete with can-can dancers and a mock gambling parlor where the audience participates. The show has run in various forms since 1927 and is campy in exactly the right way for the setting.
Jewell Gardens
A former farm turned artisan garden and glass-blowing studio on the edge of town, Jewell Gardens features a working hot glass shop where you can watch glass artists at work, a demonstration garden with produce, and a small on-site restaurant. The glassblowing demonstrations are interactive and genuinely skilled — not just a tourist attraction.
Landmarks & sights
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
The park encompasses Skagway's entire six-block historic downtown — 23 preserved buildings from the 1897-98 gold rush era, anchored by the visitor center inside the original 1898 White Pass & Yukon Route train depot. Free ranger programs run throughout the day covering the boomtown era, Soapy Smith's con operations, and the tens of thousands of stampeders who passed through this exact corridor on the way to the Klondike. One of the best-preserved gold rush streetscapes in North America.
White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad
Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the White Pass & Yukon Route climbs 3,000 feet from sea level to the summit in just 20 miles — through tunnels, over trestles above sheer drops, and past the rusted machinery of the original stampede route. The summit excursion takes about 2.5 hours round-trip; longer routes continue to Lake Bennett in British Columbia. Designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark alongside the Eiffel Tower and Panama Canal.