Southeast tourism highlights.

• Author: Bowers, Barbara
• Position: Alaska

Tourism means big business to residents of Southeast. Here's a sample of how the region's entrepreneurs are entertaining today's travelers.

Ferrytales

Passengers lucky enough to hop a ferry traveling Southeast's 1,000-mile Inside Passage can now catch entertainers in the observation lounge. These acts are part of "Arts on the Ferries," a barter program of talent for transportation introduced by Alaska Marine Highway systems director, Jim Ayers.

You may watch performances like the poet who gives the ballad of the Lorax and Tarboolah Trees, a witty mix of fantasy and ecology in a land of sheer mystery. On other days there may be singers, dancers, storytellers and almost always, interpreters from the U.S. Forest Service offering informative audio/visual programs about the Tongass National Forest, marine life and other natural wonders of the Southeast.

Write PO Box 25535, Juneau, AK 99802, for a summer schedule.

Chill Out on the Chilkoot

Hikers from all over the world -- and all over Alaska -- test their mettle on the historic 32-mile Chilkoot Trail that starts 9 miles out of Skagway. Some of the hikers stay at the Skagway Inn, (907) 983-2289.

This gold rush landmark was purchased in May 1992 by Don and Sioux Plummer, who offer a cross-country ski package during the Buckwheat Ski Classic, an annual 50-kilometer race that draws more than 200 entries in late March. Double rooms go for $60 per night, breakfast included. Summer rates are $66 per night, and the Plummer's will throw in a lift to the Chilkoot trail head.

Tool Around Tenakee; Catch a Cabin.

"This is a real different place to visit," says Jan Eagle, city clerk in Tenakee Hot Springs, a tiny coastal community of about 100. "Mostly, people just relax."

Barb Scanlon, who works for Snyder Mercantile, (907) 736-2205, a business that runs the liquor store, the grocery store, the fuel dock, rental cabins and arranges Wings Alaska charter flights to and from the island, says there has been an increase in private yachts visiting Tenakee...