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Trip from Metlakatla, AK to Sitka, AK

Compiled and reviewed by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 17, 2026 · Editorial standards

Drive Time

22h 10m

Distance

364.7 mi

587 km

Drive Score

8/10

Great drive

Same Day?

3-day trip

Fuel Cost

$79

one way

EV Charging

Unknown

Best Time to Leave

Save up to 59 min
4 AM
21h 51m ★
6 AM
22h 10m
8 AM
22h 50m
10 AM
22h 24m
12 PM
22h 20m
3 PM
22h 26m
5 PM
22h 48m
8 PM
21h 59m

Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.

Downtown Metlakatla, AK, AK

Metlakatla, AK

Wikimedia Commons

Downtown Sitka, AK, AK

Sitka, AK

Wikimedia Commons

Trip Overview

The drive from Metlakatla, AK to Sitka, AK covers 364.7 miles and takes about 22h 10m behind the wheel. It usually feels better as a 3-day road trip than as one long push.

The route leans on Tait Street, Walden Point Road, Ferry Terminal Roas for much of the mileage, and the overall profile is turn-heavy local drive. At current regular gas prices, budget about $79.04 one way before food or hotel costs.

Trip Pace

Best split across 3 days

Treat the return leg as its own travel day rather than an afterthought.

Break Rhythm

6 planned breaks

Plan on a short reset every 3 to 4 hours to stay fresh behind the wheel.

Midpoint

182.4 miles from Metlakatla, AK

A natural place for your longest stop of the day , about 11h 5m into the drive .

Who Is This Route For?

Family Friendly

Moderate complexity with 6 natural rest stops along the way.

Solo Traveler

22h 10m drive, plan rest stops for pacing.

First-Time Driver

Mostly highway driving (0%). Straightforward navigation.

Scenic Drive

Turn-heavy local drive route profile.

Drive Character

Expect a 22h 10m drive with frequent turns across 364.7 miles of local and secondary roads.

This route has more turning and local-road decision points than a simple highway run.
There are about 16 navigation steps in the underlying route data, so the final approach matters more than the middle miles.
Tait Street is one of the defining roads on this drive.

How Hard Is This Drive?

Expect a hands-on drive with frequent turns and local roads rather than long highway stretches. Navigation is simple, but the total wheel time makes endurance and break timing the real challenge.

Driving Effort 3/10

Easy - simple navigation with a manageable amount of wheel time

Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.

Navigation is easy, but the length (22h 10m) means fatigue is the real challenge. The route is 0% highway with very few tricky spots, so this is more about pacing than navigation skill.

Where does it get tricky?

This route does not have any notably tricky sections. Most of the drive from Metlakatla, AK to Sitka, AK is straightforward, with well-signed roads and simple exits.

Main Roads

Road Distance Duration
Tait Street
Walden Point Road
Ferry Terminal Roas
Alaska Marine Highway - Ketchikan ↔ Metlakatla
Berth 3 Apron
Ketchikan Ferry Terminal Road
Alaska Marine Highway - Ketchikan ↔ Juneau
Alaska Marine Highway - Sitka-Juneau

Some road-level metrics are being recalculated.

Longest stretch: Tait Street — detailed segment metrics are refreshing.

Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions

Step-by-step road directions between Metlakatla, AK and Sitka, AK.

1

Start on 4th Avenue

174 ft · 8 sec · 4th Avenue
2

Continue on Tait Street

0.3 mi · 1 min · Tait Street
3

Continue on Walden Point Road

1.1 mi · 4 min · Walden Point Road
4

Turn left onto Ferry Terminal Roas

459 ft · 34 sec · Ferry Terminal Roas
5

Continue on Alaska Marine Highway - Ketchikan ↔ Metlakatla

19 mi · 44 min · Alaska Marine Highway - Ketchikan ↔ Metlakatla
6

Continue on Berth 3 Apron

335 ft · 37 sec · Berth 3 Apron
7

Turn left

0.1 mi · 42 sec
8

Turn left onto Ketchikan Ferry Terminal Road

469 ft · 41 sec · Ketchikan Ferry Terminal Road
9

Turn straight onto Alaska Marine Highway - Ketchikan ↔ Juneau

277 mi · 8 hr · Alaska Marine Highway - Ketchikan ↔ Juneau
10

Turn sharp left onto Alaska Marine Highway - Sitka-Juneau

154 mi · 9 hr 29 min · Alaska Marine Highway - Sitka-Juneau
11

Continue straight

0.1 mi · 50 sec
12

At the end of the road, turn right onto Halibut Point Road

6.6 mi · 11 min · Halibut Point Road
13

Enter the roundabout and take exit 2 toward Sawmill Creek Road

118 ft · 2 sec · Sawmill Creek Road
14

Exit the roundabout onto Sawmill Creek Road

0.1 mi · 17 sec · Sawmill Creek Road
15

Turn right onto Baranof Street

220 ft · 10 sec · Baranof Street
16

Arrive at your destination

Trip Plan

Morning Departure

Start early — leave by 6-7 AM to arrive at a reasonable hour.

Evening Departure

This is a long drive — plan for a morning departure or consider splitting it into two days.

This drive is better paced as a 3-day trip.
Plan roughly 6 meaningful breaks for fuel, food, and rest.
The halfway point lands around 182.4 miles from Metlakatla, AK, or about 11h 5m into the drive.

Consider an overnight stop or starting very early.

Departure

Before you leave

Start with fuel, water, and navigation already sorted so the first hour feels easy.

First stop

Around 80 miles or 4h 51m in

Use this first pause for coffee, a restroom break, and a quick traffic check ahead.

Halfway reset

Around 182.4 miles or 11h 5m in

This is the best place for your longest stop, a real meal, and a full fuel check.

Overnight split

Day 1 wrap after about 121.6 miles or 7h 23m

Stop before fatigue turns the last few hours into a grind. You want day two to start fresh, not just resumed.

Final approach

Final hour starts around 18h 31m

Traffic, exits, and arrival timing usually matter more near Sitka, AK than in the middle of the route.

Before You Leave

+

Open the route before leaving Metlakatla, AK so your first major turns are already loaded.

+

Leave with enough water and a charging cable within reach, not packed away.

+

Check your fuel range against the first long segment, especially if you are starting outside city service areas.

+

Pick one backup stop option before the midpoint in case traffic changes your pacing.

+

Treat this as a 3-day road trip and book the overnight stop before the busiest arrival window.

Day 1

Settle into the route from Metlakatla, AK

Aim for roughly 122 miles and 7.4 hours of wheel time on this day.

Day 2

Keep the middle miles efficient

Aim for roughly 122 miles and 7.4 hours of wheel time on this day.

Day 3

Finish the approach into Sitka, AK

Aim for roughly 122 miles and 7.4 hours of wheel time on this day.

Your first comfortable stop window is around 80 miles from Metlakatla, AK.
This route usually feels better as a 3-day drive than as one long push.
Plan about 6 real breaks rather than only quick fuel stops.

Where to Stop

Rest stops, refuel points, and overnight suggestions along this route.

Halfway Point

Midpoint

About 182.4 mi from Metlakatla, AK · 11h 5m into the drive

Downtown Port Alexander, AK, AK

Mid-route town

Overnight candidate

Port Alexander, AK

182 mi into the route

Best for: Hotel check-in, dinner, and a fresh start

This lines up well with a realistic day-end stop if you are breaking the drive into stages.

Find hotels in Port Alexander, AK

Overnight Options

Night 1

Juneau, AK

122 mi · about 7.4h in

A practical overnight split lands near Juneau, AK after about 122 miles or 7.4 hours of driving.

Find hotels

Night 2

Port Alexander, AK

243 mi · about 14.8h in

A practical overnight split lands near Port Alexander, AK after about 243 miles or 14.8 hours of driving.

Find hotels

Pacing Suggestions

Petersburg, AK

Fuel and coffee

A short stop after about 80 miles helps settle the day before fatigue starts building.

Port Alexander, AK

Meal break

The midpoint is around 182.4 miles from Metlakatla, AK, which is a good place for a longer meal and fuel stop.

Overnight split

Hotel stop

For a steadier pace, wrap day one after about 122 miles or 7.4 hours on the road.

Final-third reset

Rest stop

Plan one more short stretch-and-water break in the final third of the drive so the last arrival window feels easier.

Arriving in Sitka, AK

The final approach into Sitka, AK usually feels slower than the middle of the drive, so avoid planning your tightest schedule at the very end.

Try to arrive with enough fuel left to skip an immediate station stop unless you already know the area around Sitka, AK.

On a multi-day trip, keep the last day a little lighter so you reach Sitka, AK with some flexibility left in the schedule.

These stop ideas are pacing suggestions — the exact town or exit can change with traffic, hotel plans, and fuel range.

Fuel & Cost

Regular Gas

$79.04 one way

$158.08 round trip

$5.51/gal 25.4 MPG avg 128 kg CO2
Fuel Type $/gal One Way Round Trip
midgrade $5.79 $83.12 $166.24
premium $5.98 $85.86 $171.72
diesel $5.61 $80.52 $161.04

No toll roads detected on this route.

Estimated Trip Cost (one way, 1 person)

Fuel

$79

Hotel (2n)

$160–$280

Meals

$75–$150

Total

$314–$509

Rough estimate based on US averages. Hotel $80–$140/night, meals $25–$50/day.

Estimated CO2 emission: 127.6 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.

Driving Electric?

About $38 in charging · 1 stop · 66% less CO2

Vehicle Type kWh Stops DC Fast Home Charge
Average EV 109.4 1 $38.29 $17.51
Efficient EV 91.2 1 $31.91 $14.59
EV Truck/SUV 145.9 1 $51.06 $23.34

Gas CO2

128 kg

EV CO2

43 kg (66% less)

Plan for 1 charging stop. A 30-minute DC fast charge mid-route should be enough to complete the trip comfortably.

DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.

Travel Intel

Current conditions at both ends of the drive.

Forecast as of Apr 16, 2026

Origin

Metlakatla, AK

Late night in Metlakatla on Friday

Local time

12:17 AM

AKDT

Current temp

41°F

Unavailable

Live forecast

Destination

Sitka, AK

Late night in Sitka on Friday

Local time

12:17 AM

AKDT

Current temp

38°F

Unavailable

Live forecast

Seasonal Notes

Summer travel usually means heavier construction, hotter rest stops, and busier weekend traffic around major cities.

Winter travel shortens daylight, so a route that looks manageable on paper can feel much longer after dark.

Holiday weekends tend to make both departure and arrival windows slower than the raw route time suggests.

For long drives, weather on day two can matter just as much as conditions at departure, so check the whole travel window rather than only the first day.

Time zone

Same local time

Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.

Temperature spread

3 degrees cooler at arrival

A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.

Road read

22h 10m on the road

This is long enough that the arrival forecast matters almost as much as departure conditions. Recheck both ends before you roll.

Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.

Frequently Asked Questions

The drive from Metlakatla, AK to Sitka, AK covers 364.7 miles and takes about 22h 10m without stops. Add 15-30 minutes for a fuel or rest stop on longer drives.

The main roads are Tait Street, Walden Point Road, Ferry Terminal Roas. Expect a mix of highway and local road driving.

Consider an overnight stop or starting very early.

Yes. This route is usually more comfortable as a 3-day drive. A sensible stopping point is after roughly 122 miles on day one.

The midpoint is about 182.4 miles from Metlakatla, AK. Look for rest areas, gas stations, or food options near the halfway mark.

At current regular gas prices, expect to spend about $79.04 one way. This estimate uses 25.4 MPG — your actual cost will vary with your vehicle's fuel efficiency and current gas prices.

Start early — leave by 6-7 AM to arrive at a reasonable hour. This is a long drive — plan for a morning departure or consider splitting it into two days.

Plan about 6 meaningful breaks for fuel, food, or rest. Plan on a short reset every 3 to 4 hours to stay fresh behind the wheel.

Navigation is easy, but the length (22h 10m) means fatigue is the real challenge. The route is 0% highway with very few tricky spots, so this is more about pacing than navigation skill.

This route does not have any notably tricky sections. Most of the drive from Metlakatla, AK to Sitka, AK is straightforward, with well-signed roads and simple exits.

The route from Metlakatla, AK to Sitka, AK does not surface many named destination signs beyond the main corridor.

How this page is built

Compiled and maintained by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy (Helsinki). Each route is built from authoritative open government and mapping datasets rather than crowdsourced reviews. Distances and geometry come from OSRM over OpenStreetMap. Fuel cost uses EIA weekly regional averages. Pages are published only after passing our data-quality checks; our methodology page documents refresh cadence, editorial standards, and known limitations.

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