Roadtrippin’ 2024: Ketchikan’s storied Salmon Walk welcomes residents, visitors alike
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A fish-themed, walkable path in Ketchikan just steps away from the cruise ship docks there now boasts additional accessibility and artistry, with new-and-improved features for wanderers — especially those wanting to learn more about one of Alaska’s prime exports.
“It’s a really cool thing to be able to walk in and see a wild salmon run, right off one of the ships,” said Ray Troll, an artist whose work is featured throughout the Ketchikan Salmon Walk, a self-guided tour along 1.5 miles of a salmon spawning river in the Southeast town.
“They call it a creek, but anywhere else, this is a nice, raging river,” Troll laughed. “But, you basically follow the salmon here at the mouth of the creek, and you follow it all the way through town. My art is in there, on the panels here and there, but there are other artists represented; it’s not just my artwork you’ll see. We really wanted this to be representative of the community.”
Ketchikan Mayor Dave Kiffer said the Salmon Walk gives residents and tourists alike another good option for exploring the small town.
“You not only get out of the downtown, but you get up in the woods part of the trail,” he said. “This actually goes through the woods, and if you’re here at the right time, you get to see a lot of fish.”
Troll, who’s been in Alaska for several decades and whose work has been featured across the state, spoke about the various informational — and artistic — panels people will come across when journeying along the short trail. One of the earliest along the walkable pathway talks about the Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida people, who are among the tribes in the Ketchikan area.
“And how important they are in the culture,” Troll said. “There’s also this beautiful story about the creation of salmon that the Tlingit people here have told for centuries. And there’s a totem pole that tells that story right ... There’s Fog Woman, who gave Salmon to Raven, who she married. And there’s another version of that story, in another totem pole in front of the heritage center. And then a 150-year-old totem pole inside, that shows the salmon.
“People are always wondering about the salmon,” he added. “You know, what’s going on? Where are the salmon? So I had this idea, churning in my brain for many years. It just seemed like a natural thing, over the years, to have something that interprets the salmon — that talks about the salmon.”
Kiffer also said there’s a significant importance behind the free walk that is open to the public.
“Anytime that we’re saving, preserving, promoting our local history, it’s a crucial thing,” Kiffer said. “People in Ketchikan — even though the town has only been here 140 years, roughly – the reality is, we’re all very interested in our history. The first thing a Ketchikan person will say is, ‘I’ve been here 20 years,’ or, ‘I’ve been here 30 years,’ or, ‘I’ve been here 10 years.’ It’s a badge of honor.”
Troll said he first came to Alaska in the early 1980s to sell salmon, having already earned a “couple of art degrees.”
“That’s what brought me here,” he said. “They became my muse. And I’ve done all kinds of artwork about salmon over the last 42 years; they’ve kind of fed my career, and my family.”
The Salmon Walk’s dedicated webpage says in part that the walk “takes you into the nature, culture, art, and history of the marvelous fish that return every year to this creek,” and “is dedicated to the importance of salmon and the continuing need to share their stories to encourage stewardship of the fish and their habitat.”
Learn more about the walk and recent updates to the trail — including upgrades to a large section of the path and a special viewing deck along the route, made possibly by Royal Caribbean Group — by visiting the Salmon Walk website.
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