Port of Skagway

Skagway puts its ships alongside docks, and the visitor bureau describes no tender operation. Its docking space holds 4 large ships and one small vessel, 3/4 mile from the downtown historic district. The National Park Service says ships dock in Skagway daily in summer and typically stay 8 hours. It also calls the town a very busy cruise port that provides most of the visitors to Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, so a short day here is shared with a lot of people.

RRA, RRF, BRD, AMH or ORE

The visitor bureau's calendar page names five dock assignments. RRA is Railroad Aft, RRF is Railroad Forward, BRD is the Broadway dock, AMH is the Alaska Marine Highway dock and ORE is the Ore dock. The page is undated and says assignments may change during the season, so check your berth against your cruise documents. Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska keeps the current arrival schedule, including upcoming years.

Level streets to Broadway

The visitor bureau says Skagway's level streets make the walk from the ship to downtown a pleasant one. The park's Visitor Center sits at 2nd and Broadway in the old White Pass & Yukon Route Depot, and the park puts it less than 1/2 mile from all of the docks. Its programs and facilities are wheelchair accessible, service animals are welcome, and every film in the park is open-captioned, with assistive listening devices on request.

The SMART bus and the on-demand shuttle

The municipal SMART bus runs from the docks to downtown from 7 am to 9 pm daily when ships are in port. Pay the driver: $5 a person for an all-day pass or $3 a person each way. The park adds that the Municipality offers the SMART bus to anyone who needs mobility assistance, for a small fare.

SMART also runs an on-demand shuttle from 8 am to 1 am year round. Call (907) 612-0902 for a pickup. From the dock the fare is $5 a person to the Skagway River Bridge, $10 to the end of the pavement on Dyea Road or Liarsville Road, and $15 to Dyea. Service outside regular hours needs 24 hours notice. These fares come from an undated visitor bureau page.

Dyea and the Chilkoot Trail

The start of the Chilkoot Trail is about 9 miles from Skagway and the Dyea Townsite is 10 miles. The park provides no transportation to either, so the on-demand shuttle or a rental car is the way to reach them. Dyea Road is primarily dirt, graded each summer.

Cars and parking

The visitor bureau lists two local rental companies. Affordable Car Rentals is at 648 Broadway and Drive About Car Rental is at 202 9th Avenue. The park says parking in Skagway can be difficult in summer and asks drivers to read street signs carefully. It names a free all-day unpaved lot at Spring St and 2nd Ave, one block from the Visitor Center. On busy days it can fill.

White Pass, Whitehorse and the border

The White Pass & Yukon Route lists a White Pass Summit Excursion of 2.5 to 2.75 hours and 40 miles round trip, at $155 for an adult and $77.50 for a child under its 2026 excursions. Its Whitehorse-Skagway One Day Combo includes a 1.75-hour stop in Skagway and lists $175 for an adult.

Whitehorse is 110 miles from Skagway by land, along the South Klondike Highway, which is open year round. The railroad also runs a motorcoach from late May through early September, booked by phone. To cross into Canada you need a passport, NEXUS card, FAST card, EDL or EIC. The US post at Skagway keeps hours of 7 am to 11 pm Alaska Time, and the Canadian post at Fraser, British Columbia, keeps 8 am to midnight Yukon Time, both year round.

Haines, Juneau and the small boat harbor

The small boat harbor lies between the Railroad dock and the ferry terminal dock. The fast ferries to Haines and Juneau leave from it. The visitor bureau lists seasonal daily trips between downtown Haines and Skagway on the Haines-Skagway Fast Ferry, and seasonal high speed service among Haines, Skagway and Juneau from Alaska Fjordlines. Its mileage chart puts Juneau at 6.5 hours by ferry or 45 minutes by air. Alaska Seaplanes is the one airline at the local airport, 3/4 mile from the Visitor Center, and flies to Juneau and other Southeast Alaska towns several times a day.

Skagway call counts and the docks

Skagway's AIS call count for the date range shown above is 53, about 4.1 a week, as tracked by WakeRadar. Princess Cruises led the call count. Wednesday turned out to be the busiest day of the week. Ships reach the docks around 6:00 am to 9:00 am. The municipal SMART bus runs from the docks to downtown from 7 am to 9 pm daily when ships are in port.

How this page is made

Ship calls come from WakeRadar's AIS tracking (date range shown above). Facts were checked on 2026-10-26 against the sources below. Several visitor bureau pages are undated, so confirm fares and hours with the operator before you rely on them. The text is reviewed by the WakeRadar editor.

Sources

• https://www.skagway.com/cruises-and-ferries/
• https://www.skagway.com/cruises-and-ferries/cruise-ship-calendar/
• https://www.skagway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-transportation/getting-around/
• https://www.skagway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-transportation/getting-here/
• https://www.skagway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-transportation/mileage-chart/
• https://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/directions.htm
• https://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm
• https://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm
• https://www.wpyr.com/excursions/