Haines, Alaska

Haines occupies one of Southeast Alaska's most spectacular settings — a small town of 2,500 wedged between the peaks of the Chilkat Range and the waters of the Lynn Canal, North America's longest and deepest fjord. Unlike many Alaska cruise ports, Haines has resisted the temptation to reinvent itself as a souvenir shopping district, retaining the authentic character of a community that earns its living from fishing, art, and the wilderness that begins at the last paved road.

The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, stretching along the Chilkat River north of town, hosts the world's largest congregation of bald eagles each autumn. Between October and February, up to four thousand eagles gather along a five-mile stretch of river where warm upwellings prevent the water from freezing, creating open-water feeding grounds that support late-running chum salmon. The sight of hundreds of eagles in a single tree — their white heads creating a constellation against dark spruce — defies the endangered-species imagery that most visitors bring to Alaska.

Haines' arts community, disproportionately large for a town its size, produces work that draws from the surrounding landscape and the Tlingit cultural heritage of the region. The Alaska Indian Arts center, housed in the former Fort William H. Seward parade grounds, preserves and teaches Tlingit carving, weaving, and other traditional arts. The Hammer Museum — yes, a museum dedicated entirely to hammers — demonstrates the eccentric charm that small Alaskan towns cultivate with particular conviction.

Azamara, Cunard, HX Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions, and Windstar Cruises call at Haines, which serves as a departure point for excursions including helicopter glacier landings, rafting on the Chilkat River, and guided hikes through the Chilkat State Park's coastal trails where bears, mountain goats, and moose are regular encounters.

June through August provides the warmest weather for outdoor activities, though the autumn eagle congregation (October through February) represents a wildlife spectacle that justifies cold-weather visiting. Haines is Alaska's best-kept secret — a town that offers the Inside Passage's finest wildlife, most authentic community, and most dramatic mountain scenery without the cruise-port commercialism that has compromised larger Alaskan ports.