The Paradise Cove House is just over 6 miles from downtown Haines. Haines is a small community at the head of the Inside Passage. The town is surrounded by mountains rising up to 7,000 feet above the fjord.
In town there is an amazingly good library that was named the Best Small Library in America by the Library Journal in 2005. Free Internet service and an extensive collection of books, magazines and DVDs are available at the library.
Haines has an excellent small museum that provides the visitor with a good sense of the history of the area, and offers shows of work by local artists.
The Chilkat Center for the Arts in the historic Port Chilkoot area of town offers a variety of performances sponsored by the Haines Arts Council.
The town of Haines affords all the facilities needed for a stay in the area: grocery stores, including Mountain Market, an organic food store and cafe; restaurants; a laundromat; a bank with an ATM; medical services at the clinic; and shops selling outdoor equipment and local arts and crafts.
The Extreme Dreams gallery is a short walk from the Paradise Cove House and displays for view and purchase the work of a diverse group of local artists.
The Chilkat State Park is a five minute drive from the Paradise Cove House, and offers some of the area's best hiking trails as well as a boat launch ramp.
There are lakes in the area where you can go canoeing or kayaking, gliding silently by the banks where you may see moose or even bears. The valley's rivers offer rafting and river kayaking opportunities. And you can launch your sea kayak from the beach at the Paradise Cove House.
Fishing for salmon or Dolly Varden Arctic char in season is readily accessible on the fjords, the Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers, and the lakes. Fishing charters are available.
The quiet roads with little traffic are perfect for carefree bicycling, and there are many routes on rougher tracks where mountain biking can be enjoyed.
Local tour guides offer biking, hiking, sea-kayaking, river rafting and wildlife-viewing tours.
Whether you like hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, or just relaxing in a comfortable chair and enjoying the long, late light, summer is a perfect time to visit. The meadows and shorelines are blooming with a riot of wildflowers.
Haines hosts the Southeast Alaska State Fair in late July, with live music, displays of regional garden produce and animals, programs and rides for kids. Year-round the fairgrounds are home to galleries, a restaurant and the award winning Haines Brewing Company micro-brewery.
In the fall months, Haines is home to the largest gathering of bald eagles anywhere in the world. Photographers, birdwatchers and naturalists come from many countries to view the large numbers of these magnificent birds in their beautiful setting, along the pristine Chilkat River. The fall Bald Eagle festival features talks and programs about the eagles.
