A KLONDIKE NUGGET ALASKAN COASTAL TOWN OF SKAGWAY RETAINS VESTIGES OF GOLD RUSH PAST.

Byline: Audrey Ramsay Prest Staff Writer

SKAGWAY, Alaska - The charming and colorful storefronts of this little Alaska town draw oohs and ahhs from visitors on a daily basis all summer long. And with good reason.

Skagway not only has preserved many of its charming Gold Rush-era buildings, but it also works hard to provide a sense of stepping back in time. You can't help but feel a connection with the past while strolling the wooden boardwalks and learning of the hardy (and a few foolhardy) folks who passed through this once-wild boom town on their way to the Klondike in 1898.

Compared with the other standard stops along the Inside Passage, Skagway wins the cute-and-quaint title hands down. It's smaller than state capital Juneau, less commercial than Ketchikan, more picturesque than Haines.

The other towns are worth a visit, of course: Each has a range of activities to offer. All have souvenir and T-shirt and jewelry shops to lure the tourists, but somehow it's just more fun to spend your money in a place like Skagway's Purple Moose with its silly sign and log-cabin siding.

Even the Starbucks coffee store makes its home in a yellow-and-white Victorian-like shop. Prefering some local flavor, however, I opted to lunch at the Sweet Tooth Cafe, an inexpensive breakfast-lunch-and-ice cream spot one guidebook calls ``comfy.''

Skagway captured my heart on my first visit to Alaska in 1989. During my three-day stay then, I found the town and its people sweetly unpretentious. Returning last June during an Inside Passage cruise, I was delighted to find that spirit intact, in spite of the boom in cruise business.

The local residents I encountered are casual, friendly folks, proud of their little town. One store clerk I talked with on this trip had summered here for a couple of years and was finally ready to take the big step and become a year-round resident. She was a wee bit apprehensive of Alaska's winter cold but willing to give it a go ``because it's so beautiful here.''

And Skagway is beautiful: Snow-capped peaks loom directly behind the downtown shops; the trees are big and green; the air is clear.

With more and larger cruise ships visiting pretty much daily from May to September, there's no denying that tourism is big business, but this town of only about 700 residents seems to be accommodating the growing influx of here-for-only-a-day visitors with little change in style. It also has motels, bed-and-breakfasts and campgrounds to encourage longer stays.

Back in 1989, the Skagway Street Car Co. consisted of one vintage limo driven by company owner Steve Hites wearing a touring-car cap and driving coat. Now this provider of city tours has blossomed into a whole fleet of old luxury cars in the same distinctive bright yellow.

Horse-drawn carriages, my choice for seeing the sights, still roll through the streets at a leisurely pace. With their costumed drivers spinning yarns about the old days, they feel so romantic and old-fashioned - but admittedly lose a little of their charm if the day is chilly or rainy.

Skagway, protected by its location at the top of the Lynn Canal, claims to offer better weather than other coastal towns, though it can get windy. Summer high temperatures are in the 50s and 60s, similar to other Inside Passage locales, though with less rain.

Historic Skagway, the well-preserved downtown section, is easily walked in an afternoon with time left over for shopping. It's only five blocks long by three blocks wide and begins about half a mile from the cruise ship dock.

One reason these picturesque buildings are in such good shape is that a portion of the historic area is managed by the National Park Service as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. That's helped assure faithful restoration and maintenance.

An appropriate first stop is the park service's visitor center at Broadway and Second Street, where you can pick up a map and a quick history lesson from the multimedia presentation.

You'll learn that this was the port where an estimated 100,000 fortune- seekers piled off steamships to begin their arduous, uphill trek to the gold fields of Canada's Yukon Territory. Some prospectors did find great wealth, a few thousand brought out some gold, but most of the stampeders met discouragement or even death.

Other towns may boast of their place in history, but Skagway positively savors its past and wants its guests to know and appreciate it. You can't help learning that turn-of-the-century Skagway was a brawling and lawless place, home to some 80 saloons.

And probably more than once you'll hear the tale of the notorious con man Jefferson ``Soapy'' Smith and how he met his end in a gunfight on a Skagway street. You can find his name, along with many others from the '98 (that's 1898) era, on tombstones in the Gold Rush Cemetery at the far end of town. The site is a bit overgrown and a few of the stones starting to crumble - but that just adds to the old-time atmosphere.

A can't-miss-it sight is the Arctic Brotherhood Hall on Broadway, whose exterior is faced with driftwood, supposedly more than 10,000 pieces of it. (I didn't take time to count!) It's a one-of-a-kind photo-op location. The two-story building houses the Skagway City Museum, which includes photos, documents and Gold Rush relics.

As you stroll through town, be sure to look up occasionally at the second floor. Here and there you'll spot a red light glowing or a mannequin dressed as a ``painted lady'' perched in a window - further indication that the town really is proud of even the less savory parts of its colorful past.

An entertaining way to get your history lesson is the rollicking ``Days of '98'' show at the Fraternal Order of Eagles hall, complete with music and chorus girls. The evening show includes mock gambling games.

Some visitors like to soak up their history at saloons like the Mascot and the Red Onion, which is known for its honky-tonk piano music. There's also Southeast Alaska's first microbrewery, the Skagway Brewing Co., housed in the Golden North Hotel, a gold-domed Victorian that dates back to 1898. Furnished with antiques, the hotel is still operating and is even reputed to have a resident ghost.

Perhaps my favorite attraction here is the White Pass & Yukon Route narrow-gauge railroad, which takes tourists up the steep and winding canyon behind the town.

It was built in 1898-1900 to carry the gold-seekers through some of the most treacherous terrain on their way to the Yukon. Prior to the railroad, the prospectors climbed the Chilkoot Pass on foot, some with pack mules or horses, thousands of others carrying their gear on their own backs.

The scenery is spectacular as the little train chugs past tumbling waterfalls and delicate mountain flowers, over lacy-looking trestles, around tight curves and along the very edge of sheer granite cliffs. It climbs from sea level to 2,865 feet. Even in June, there was snow on the ground.

The windows are wide and clear, but passengers also are permitted to stand on the platforms at the ends of each car to shoot photos or just take in the clean air and glorious views.

Travelers' tip: When you board the train, try to take a seat on the left-hand side as that is where the best views are. But if all those seats are filled, don't despair. Once the train reaches the summit there will be a short rest period while the engines are moved to the other end - and passengers are instructed to flip the seat backs to face the opposite direction and trade places with those across the aisle from them.

A variety of narrated train excursions is now offered, including one in which you ride the train up, then bicycle or take a van back down from the summit. I chose the round-trip train ride, which took about three hours and included complimentary sodas and a colorful brochure. Booked through my cruise ship, Celebrity Cruises' Galaxy, the train ride cost $89 per person.

A fellow passenger on the ship, Chuck West of San Diego, told me later that he'd taken the bicycle option and thought the views were even better from that side of the canyon. His wife, Joann, and his two teen daughters contended that they'd made a better sightseeing choice by going horseback riding a short way into the hills.

Adventurous hikers desirous of experiencing the route of the prospectors can tackle the rugged Chilkoot Trail, 33 miles up to Lake Bennett in the Yukon. The three- to six-day trip retraces the actual route taken by the gold-seekers.

The trail is part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, and hikers must register with the park service before setting out. You can also pick up maps and information about the Canadian border crossing. Guidebooks caution that Canada charges hikers a fee, while the U.S. side only charges for advance reservations. They also caution that this hike is only for experienced and properly outfitted hikers.

Other outdoors options range from the 2.5-mile Lower Dewey Lake hike to guided bicycle trips, rock climbing and helicopter tours of the mountains and/or glaciers. On the water, you can arrange kayaking, whale watching or a boat ride to Glacier Bay. Some of these guided adventures include a stop at a gold-panning exhibit.

IF YOU GO

Activities in Skagway can be arranged through its convention and visitors bureau. Phone: [phone]. Web: www.skagway.org.

Other key organizations or companies:

--Skagway Chamber of Commerce: [phone]; www.skagchmbr.org.

--National Park Service Visitor Center: [phone].

--White Pass & Yukon Route railroad: [phone]; www.whitepassrailroad.com.

CAPTION(S):

7 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) Skagway's main street is punctuated by the golden dome of the Golden North Hotel, the oldest operating hotel in Alaska.

(2 -- 3 -- color) Skagway's Gold Rush ambience is felt in such buildings as teh Arctic Brotherhood Hall, above, and the News Depot, below.

(4 -- color) The boardwalk along Broadway in Skagway gives visitors a sense of the rough-and-tumble Gold Rush days. The Red Onion Saloon celebrates it's heritage as a former brothel.

(5 -- 7) Four deisel engines, above, lug a tourist train up the mountains on the White Pass and Yukon Route's narrow-gauge railroad. Well-preserved Gold Rush-era buildings, left, add to Skagway's charm. Visitors walking up from the cruise-ship dock, below, pause to check out the railroad's rotary snowplow, parked on a siding during fair weather.

Audrey Ramsey Prest/Staff Photographer

Box: If You Go (see text)