A Local's Guide to Wrangell

Angie Flickinger is a small business owner who has lived in Wrangell for 14 years. She has owned a retail shop, a skincare manufacturing business, and works as a freelance marketer and copywriter. She landed in Wrangell in 2010 after falling in love with the charm and beauty of Southeast Alaska during her traveling days as a field biologist.

For me, Wrangell’s charm lies in its authenticity and character – a close-knit community of gritty, good-hearted people building their lives together in a place that’s unlike any other. With access to a backyard of beautiful wilderness brimming with recreation opportunities, a slower, simpler pace of life, and a unique cast of local characters; I feel so lucky to call this island town home. These are a few of my favorite things to do and see around town, and what I recommend to anyone who comes to visit!

Spend a Day About Town

The beauty of our small town is that it’s so easily walkable! I love spending a Saturday bopping through town to see what’s new, grab a coffee with friends, and pick up a few treats for myself. Our downtown is made up of locally-owned shops that offer a unique selection of goods and gifts including locally made art, candles, body care, jewelry, and more.

As you work up an appetite, stop into one of Wrangell’s many cafes or restaurants to grab lunch. 
From cocktails and calamari on the sunny outdoor patio of the Stikine Inn to a tasty burger and fries at the Wolf Shack, Wrangell has a surprisingly diverse offering of delicious eats for a small town.

And no town day is complete without a visit to the Post Office. Because locals don’t have at-home mailboxes, Wrangellites flock into town to pick up letters and packages, making the daily Post Office trip a social event where you can catch up on the life happenings of friends and neighbors. The historic building that houses the Post Office features a whimsical mural of town and the surrounding area painted in the New Deal era of the 1940s that’s worth popping in to see, even if you don’t have a package to pick up.

A walk through town from City Dock to Reliance Harbor can take you through Totem Park and by Chief Shakes Island and Tribal House to check out hand-carved totems and learn more about Wrangell’s Tlingit culture and history, before winding up at the harbor dock to watch all manner of boats and float planes cruising in and out of town.

Image

Explore on an E-Bike

E-bikes are a blast to cruise through town, and with several outfitters renting them out by the hour, it’s an easy way to explore some of Wrangell’s gems that are a bit more difficult to reach on foot.

Petroglyph Beach is a short cruise from town, where you can pack your lunch and enjoy a beach picnic from the viewing deck before climbing down to explore the thousands-of-years-old rock carvings scattered across the beach’s low tide zone.

From there, take your e-bike on a tour to check out Wrangell’s golf course, hike the Mt. Dewey or Nature Trail, or cruise down to nearby City Park to walk the beach and get a feel for Wrangell’s local vibe along the way. A paved bike path runs along our main Highway 5 miles out of town, making for an accessible coastal afternoon cruise.

Image

Take a hike

Our coastal rainforest is a magical place, and stepping into Wrangell’s old-growth forests can feel like stepping into another world. Beneath the towering spruce, cedar, and hemlock trees, thick carpets of moss coat the forest floor alongside massive ferns and skunk cabbage leaves. Blueberry and huckleberry bushes hang heavy with tart berries for snacking in late summer, and the forest floor bursts with all sorts of mushrooms come fall.

Wrangell offers several trails of varying slope, terrain, difficulty, and distance from town; making it easy to get lost in nature for a little while. The Mt. Dewey trail takes you up a half mile of steps to a viewing platform in the trees with picturesque views of Wrangell town and the oceans and islands beyond. Also proximate to downtown, Wrangell’s popular dog-walking venue Volunteer Park (locally known as the ‘Nature Trail’) loops through forest and muskeg, across streams, and past wild blueberry bushes ripe for the picking in July and August.

The Rainbow Falls trail, about 5 miles out from town, offers a more strenuous 1-mile hike up boardwalk steps to a beautiful waterfall overlook. Beyond the falls, the trail continues 3 miles up through the old-growth forest and into the alpine with three rustic shelters stationed at different points atop the mountain to stop and enjoy a summit lunch with a view or an overnight campout.

Image

Visit the Museum

Wrangell truly has one of the nicest museums I’ve visited, with a beautifully curated collection of artifacts, photos, and stories of Wrangell’s past. It’s a perfect spot to tuck out of the rain on a typically wet day, and well worth stopping by to walk through our town’s storied history from early Tlingit culture through European settlement and into modern fishing and timber influence. Our museum also features a fabulous gift shop with an amazing selection of books and an artist gallery stocked with one-of-a-kind local art, and staffed by the artists themselves! 

Image