Juneau–Haines ferry: up Lynn Canal on sailings that change by the date

With more than 31,000 people, Juneau is, as the state transportation department puts it, the biggest town anywhere in North America that no road links to the continent's highway network, and the state ferry is its only public surface transportation. Haines, at the top of Lynn Canal, is the nearest port where a driver can rejoin that highway system; AMHS puts it 90 nautical miles north of Juneau.

Two kinds of ship make the trip. The day boat — the LeConte this fall, the newer Hubbard from January — leaves Auke Bay at 07:00, reaches Haines at 11:45 and returns from Haines in the afternoon. The mainline ships, the Columbia in October and November and the Kennicott in December, call at both ports on their way to and from Skagway at hours that differ every week.

On this site, Stehekin, at the head of Washington's Lake Chelan, is the other community that no road reaches and where most people arrive by boat; the Keller Ferry shows a different side of state ferry service, a free crossing that WSDOT runs as part of a highway.

Day-boat dates, mainline calls and a winter hand-over

AMHS winter 2026–2027 sailing calendar for Juneau/Auke Bay and Haines, read October 7, 2026 and checked against AMHS's colored schedule grids; dated sailings from October 7, 2026 to March 30, 2027   AMHS — Sailing Calendar · 2026-10-07

Fares come from the booking engine, not a table

AMHS no longer prints fare tables. Each price is quoted inside its Sailing Search, which works as a fare calculator and an availability check for a specific sailing, so the cost of a Juneau–Haines trip depends on the date, the passengers and whatever vehicle you bring. We do not reproduce those quotes here.

Changing a booking is free more than 28 days before departure. Between 28 and 3 days before, AMHS charges a fee of 3 percent, and inside three days 6 percent. Reservation agents answer weekdays from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Alaska Time on 1-800-642-0066.

AMHS fares page and travel policies, read October 7, 2026   AMHS — Fares · 2026-10-07

Two terminals, neither of them downtown

Both terminals sit well outside town: 13 miles out at Auke Bay, four miles out on Lutak Road in Haines. Plan the ride to and from the boat as part of the trip.

Ninety nautical miles up Lynn Canal

From Auke Bay the route runs north up Lynn Canal, a fjord that AMHS ranks as the deepest and longest in North America, with glaciers above its shores. Haines sits near its head; the day boat goes on to Skagway and returns through Haines the same afternoon.

Haines is where the Inside Passage meets a road again, the surface highway that runs on to Haines Junction. In autumn the Chilkat River near town draws the largest gathering of bald eagles in the world, feeding on spawning salmon.

Planning a car crossing to Haines

• Pick the date first

  Check the dated tables above, then book that sailing. Before April the day boat never sails on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday; some Mondays and Tuesdays get a mainline call instead.

• Read the service notices

  AMHS posts breakdowns and weather cancellations on its Service Notices page; the October 5 notice concerned the LeConte's steering.

• Two hours at Auke Bay

  Vehicles check in two hours ahead at both terminals, and so do walk-ons in Juneau. Late arrivals can lose their space to standby passengers.

• Mind the night sailings

  Some mainline departures leave Auke Bay at 01:00, 01:15 or 03:15. They are dated by the day they leave, not the evening before.

• Food and warmth on board

  Both day boats have a cafeteria and a covered, heated solarium for a run of almost five hours.

The ships that share the northern run

The LeConte was built in 1974 at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and named for the LeConte Glacier near Petersburg. She is 235 feet long, carries 225 passengers and about 33 twenty-foot vehicles, and was made small on purpose so she could reach Southeast Alaska's smaller communities. The Hubbard, which takes over in January, is one of two Alaska Class ferries built in Ketchikan; she is 280 feet long and carries up to 300 passengers and 53 standard vehicles.

A road was studied instead. The state's Juneau Access project weighed a highway up the east side of Lynn Canal with shuttle ferries to Haines and Skagway; in June 2018 the Federal Highway Administration approved the final decision with the no-action alternative selected, which leaves the ferry as the link. For the coming months the published calendar runs to April 2027. The mainline calls continue weekly through the winter, but the dated tables on this page stop where AMHS's two schedule products agree: one Kennicott departure in early February appears at 06:45 in the calendar and 07:15 in the grid, so it is left out.

Auke Bay to Haines, sailing by sailing