Sitka National Historical Park
On an island amid towering spruce and hemlock, Sitka National Historical Park preserves the site of a battle between invading Russian traders and Indigenous Kiks.ádi Tlingit. Totem poles from Tlingit and Haida areas line the park’s scenic coastal trail, and the restored Russian Bishop’s House is a rare reminder of Russia’s colonial legacy in North America.
No roads connect the city to the mainland; Sitka can be reached only by air or sea. Directions from the Park Service ↗
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Park Trails | Daily · 6:00AM - 10:00PM |
Hours by date. Standard hours apply on every date not listed.
| Dates | Hours |
|---|---|
| Standard hours | 6:00AM - 10:00PM |
| Oct 1, 2026 to Apr 24, 2027NowWinter Day Use Hours | 7:00AM - 8:00PM |
When to go
June draws the most visits here and November the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- Visitor Center ↗
Explore exhibits about traditional Tlingít life and see drums, robes, and other ceremonial objects. A 12-minute film, "The Voices of Sitka," weaves together the stories of Sitkans, past and present.
- Russian Bishop's House
One of only four Russian period buildings left in North America. Explore exhibits about Russian America and the role of the Russian Orthodox Church. Free tours are offered May to September. Hours of operation vary depending on staff availability.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Become a Junior Ranger at Sitka National Historical Park
Become a Junior Ranger! Learn about Tlingit culture, the rainforest, Russian American history, and the coastal environment. You'll earn an official badge so that you will not forget how important you are to the National Park Service.
Opens on the Park Service site - Tour the Russian Bishop's House20-60 Minutes
The Russian Bishop's House is one of only four surviving examples of Russian colonial architecture in North America. Built in 1843, it served as the residence of Orthodox bishops and clergy for over 120 years.
Opens on the Park Service site - Take the Totem Trail30-90 Minutes
A historic trail lined with Haida and Tlingit totem poles passes through classic Southeast Alaska temperate rainforest to the site of the Battle of 1804.
Opens on the Park Service site - Watch An Icon Reborn18-18 Minutes
Watch an 18-minute film for an overview of the Russian Bishop's House and the history of Saint Innocent's efforts to reconcile Tlingit and Russians.
Opens on the Park Service site - Watch Voices of Sitka15-15 Minutes
Watch a 15-minute film for an overview of Tlingit, Russian, and American history in and around the park.
Opens on the Park Service site - Explore Exhibits on Tlingit Life1-4 Hours
Learn about Tlingit culture and way of life through historical and contemporary ceremonial objects. Observe demonstrating artists in the wood, regalia, or metalworking studios or outdoors at the carving shed.
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 12Hide
- Find Sitka's Bedrock10 Minutes
Find evidence of Sitka's distant past in outcrops of bedrock. These large pieces of graywacke are sedimentary rocks formed beneath the ocean, lifted up by tectonic forces, and weathered by ice and water.
Opens on the Park Service site - Explore at Low Tide15 Minutes
The intertidal zone is full of variety, and when the tide is out there are tidepools and wide flats to explore.
Opens on the Park Service site - Search for Pollinators15 Minutes
Search for the usual suspects, such as bumblebees and hummingbirds, among the park's flowers, but don't forget to hunt for less obvious pollinators like hoverflies and slugs. You can find a lot to observe in different habitats.
Opens on the Park Service site - Watch for Salmon15 Minutes
Salmon are easily observed from the bridge over Indian River when they spawn each summer and fall. Strong ties bind them to the people, plants, and animals of Sitka.
Opens on the Park Service site - Get Close to the Forest Floor15 Minutes
When you bend down low and examine the forest floor you find a lot of variety, and even some drama! Low-growing plants, fungi, moss, lichens, insects, banana slugs, cones, and more go about their business beneath the trees.
Opens on the Park Service site - Go Berrying15 Minutes
As berries ripen, they dot Sitka's greenery with bright reds, luminous oranges, and muted blues and grays. Enjoy their colors and shapes as you walk through the park.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
News
- Public History Lecture Announced at Sitka National Historical Park ↗2026-06-11
Sitka National Historical Park invites the public to attend an upcoming lecture at Sitka National Historical Park Visitor Center Theater on Tuesday, June 23, at 7 p.m. featuring distinguished Professor of Church History…
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Historic landmarks nearby
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Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Forest Service trails nearby
These trails are outside the park on National Forest land, within 15 miles of Sitka. Each one opens on Trailhead Atlas.
Distance is measured from the park's reference point to the nearer end of the trail.
Alaska guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Seen this monthHumpback Whale 23× · Sea Otter 16× · Brown Bear 10× · Bald Eagle 9× · Steller Sea Lion 8× · Belted Kingfisher 2× · Fox Sparrow 2× · Harbor Seal 1×Research-grade observations within 25 km, last 30 days, via iNaturalist
Full checklist: 182 birds, 17 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican kestrel · Bald eagle · Boreal Owl · Great horned owl · Merlin · Northern pygmy-owl · Northern saw-whet owl · Osprey · Peregrin falcon · Red-tailed hawk · Sharp-shinned hawk · Snowy Owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican coot · American wigeon · Barrow's goldeneye · Blue-winged teal · Bufflehead · Canada goose · Cattle egret · Cinnamon Teal · Common goldeneye · Common loon · Common merganser · Double-crested cormorant · Emperor goose · Eurasian wigeon · Great blue heron · Great egret · Greater White-fronted Goose · Greater scaup · Green-winged teal · Harlequin duck · Hooded merganser · Horned grebe · Lesser scaup · Northern pintail · Pacific loon · Pelagic cormorant · Pied-billed grebe · Red-breasted merganser · Red-faced cormorant · Red-necked grebe · Red-throated loon · Ring-necked duck · Sandhill crane · Trumpeter swan · Western grebe · Yellow-billed loon
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican golden plover · Arctic tern · Baird's sandpiper · Black oystercatcher · Black turnstone · Black-bellied plover · Bonaparte's gull · California gull · Caspian Tern · Dunlin · Fork-tailed storm-petrel · Glaucous gull · Glaucous-winged gull · Greater yellowlegs · Heermann's Gull · Herring gull · Horned Puffin · Hudsonian Godwit · Killdeer · Leach's storm-petrel · Least sandpiper · Lesser yellowlegs · Long-billed dowitcher · Long-tailed jaeger · Marbled godwit · Mew gull · Pacific Golden Plover · Parasitic jaeger · Pectoral sandpiper · Red-necked phalarope · Rhinoceros Auklet · Rock sandpiper · Ruddy turnstone · Sanderling · Semipalmated plover · Semipalmated sandpiper · Short-billed dowitcher · Spotted Sandpiper · Thayer's gull · Tufted Puffin · Western sandpiper · Wilson's Snipe
Gamebirds & dovesMourning dove · Rock dove · Sooty Grouse
WoodpeckersAmerican Three-toed Woodpecker · Downy woodpecker · Hairy woodpecker · Northern flicker · Red-breasted sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsAnna's hummingbird · Rufous hummingbird
Also on the checklistAmerican Dusky Flycatcher · American Goldfinch · American dipper · American pipit · American robin · American tree sparrow · Barn swallow · Belted kingfisher · Black scoter · Black-billed Magpie · Black-legged kittiwake · Bohemian wagwing · Brambling · Brant · Brewer's blackbird · Brown creeper · Brown-headed Cowbird · Canvasback · Cedar waxwing · Chestnut-backed Chickadee · Common Guillemot · Common raven · Common redpoll · Dark-eyed junco · Dusky thrush · European starling · Fox sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned kinglet · Golden-crowned sparrow · Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch · Great Grey Shrike · Harris' sparrow · Hermit thrush · Lapland Longspur · Lincoln's sparrow · Mallard · Mountain Chickadee · Mountain bluebird · Myrtle warbler · Northern Waterthrush · Northern goshawk · Northern mockingbird · Northern shoveler · Northwestern crow · Oldsquaw · Orange-crowned warbler · Pacific slope flycatcher · Pine grosbeak · Pine siskin · Red crossbill · Red knot · Red-legged kittiwake · Red-winged blackbird · Redhead · Ruby-crowned kinglet · Ruff · Rusty blackbird · Savannah sparrow · Snow Bunting · Song sparrow · Steller's eider · Steller's jay · Surf scoter · Surfbird · Swainson's thrush · Tecolote occidental · Townsend's warbler · Tree swallow · Varied thrush · Violet-green swallow · Wandering Tattler · Western Meadowlark · Western kingbird · Western tanager · Whimbrel · White-crowned sparrow · White-winged crossbill · White-winged scoter · Wilson's warbler · Winter wren · Yellow warbler
Small mammalsDeer mouse · House mouse · Masked shrew · Norway rat · Red squirrel · Tundra vole
Marine mammalsHarbor seal · Humpback whale · Pacific white-sided dolphin · Sea otter
PredatorsBrown bear · Ermine · Marten · Mink · Northern river otter
Hoofed mammalsMule deer
BatsLittle brown bat
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
All 16 activitiesHide
Weather & climate
Sitka experiences a temperate maritime climate, characterized by heavy precipitation and a small temperature range between seasons. Summer temperatures range from high 50s to high 60s F with frequent rain. Winter is rainy and snowy with temperatures from the high teens to the 40s F. Well prepared visitors will have rain gear and layered clothing at any time of year.
Questions people ask
Does Sitka charge an entrance fee?
No. Sitka is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
What are the hours at Sitka?
Standard hours are 6:00AM - 10:00PM, every day. Dated exceptions are listed under Hours.
Source: National Park Service
How busy is Sitka?
332,964 recreation visits in 2025, number 143 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Is there cell service at Sitka?
At the park's reference point, FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE and AT&T 4G LTE. No reported coverage for T-Mobile. Coverage inside the park varies by location.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
What is the weather like at Sitka?
Sitka experiences a temperate maritime climate, characterized by heavy precipitation and a small temperature range between seasons. Summer temperatures range from high 50s to high 60s F with frequent rain.
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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