Tongass Highlights

Hubbard Glacier & Russell Fiord

More than 70 miles long, the Hubbard Glacier near Yakutat has been advancing since 1900. In 1986, Hubbard Glacier closed the entrance to Russell Fiord, blocking the flow of the fiord into Disenchantment Bay. The water level in Russell Lake rose to an elevation of 83 feet over sea level to create the world’s largest glacier-formed lake. A few weeks later, the ice dam abruptly broke, and the lake disappeared.

In June 2002, Hubbard Glacier again closed the entrance to Russell Fiord, but this time, only moraine blocked the fiord. The water level in Russell Lake rose to 61 feet above sea level. The dam broke in August.

Glaciologists believe that Hubbard Glacier will block Russell Fiord again, but they cannot predict when this event may happen. Should a stable ice dam form, and if the lake level rises to an elevation of 131 feet, water would overflow the southern end of the lake into the headwaters of the Situk River, a world-renowned steelhead and salmon stream. The Situk River is the main sport, commercial, and subsistence fishery in Yakutat. Impact on the Situk River would most certainly affect the livelihood of the people of Yakutat. The fish, wildlife, archeological and other cultural resources would be affected, along with the area’s transportation facilities, ground water and vegetation.

Because of the potential consequences, the glacier’s behavior is being watched by citizens as well as government agencies.

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Stikine–LeConte Wilderness

Among the wildernesses of the Tongass National Forest, the Stikine-LeConte is unique because it crosses the Alaskan panhandle and goes to the British Columbia border along the navigable waters of the Stikine River.

This feature has made the Stikine River historically important to both countries. The value of maintaining the river’s navigability is recognized through long-standing international treaties.

The Stikine River delta is a major stopover on the migration route of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds traveling the Pacific Flyway. A run of eulachon (sea-run smelt) draws a large concentration of eagles, Steller’s sea lions and other wildlife to the lower reaches of the river each spring. The Stikine River valley, north of Wrangell, is easily reached by small boat. However, the river’s delta requires local knowledge for safe navigation.

The rest of the 448,926-acre wilderness is seen primarily by flying in small planes. Occasionally, goat hunters or rock and ice climbers venture beyond the main river valley and go to the alpine environment of Horn Cliffs and the LeConte icefield.

LeConte Glacier, the southernmost tidewater glacier on the continent, calves into a narrow fiord. The spectacular scenery, numerous seals and fantastic shapes and colors of the icebergs draw visitors to the LeConte Bay portion of the wilderness by boat or plane.

The area is rich in wildlife and fisheries. Fishing, hunting, subsistence and sightseeing are the primary uses. The river supports commercial traffic such as freight hauling into British Columbia. Tidal areas, the main river channel, and other waterways are within the jurisdiction of Alaska.

Facilities along the Stikine River include twelve Forest Service recreation cabins which all receive moderate to heavy seasonal use. Also, the Forest Service has developed one of the river valley’s hot springs and has built enclosed bathhouse facilities.

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Bear Viewing on the Tongass

Alaska is the only place in the United States that has all three species of North American bears. Although visitors won’t be treated to seeing a polar bear in Alaska’s national forests, there are many outstanding opportunities to view both brown (grizzly) and black bears.

Throughout the Tongass National Forest, the agency has developed special recreation facilities that safely provide visitors the opportunity to view bears. Spawning salmon draw large concentrations of bears to special areas. At these sites, the Forest Service has constructed viewing platforms, board-walks, and viewing towers. During the viewing season, knowledgeable forest guides staff the sites. The goal at these sites is to provide for both the safety of visitors and the bears.

Located in Admiralty National Monument, west of Juneau, Pack Creek offers visitors an exceptional opportunity to view brown bears. Visitation is limited and bear watchers must first obtain a viewing permit from the Juneau Ranger District.

Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory, southeast of Wrangell, offers a premier opportunity to view black and brown bears in their native habitat. As the salmon return each year, Anan’s estuary becomes a stunning setting for eagles, seals and brown bears.

Spawning chum salmon draw brown and black bears to the Hyder Bear Viewing Observatory. The only area located on the road system, the small town of Hyder is in the very southern tip of the Tongass National Forest next to Stewart, British Columbia.

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Prince of Wales Island

Located in the southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle, Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the United States. Much of the northern portion of the island is underlain by limestone rock formations. In fact, nearly eight percent of the Tongass National Forest is characterized by this geology. Composed of calcium carbonate, the bedrock is extremely soluble in water. In the wet, rain forest climate of Southeast Alaska, the bedrock is transformed into a series of sinkholes, disappearing streams, and caves. This type of topography is called karst.

The karst topography of northern Prince of Wales Island has produced some of the most remarkable cave systems in the world. It holds the distinction of having the longest cave (over two miles of mapped passage) in Alaska and several of the deepest vertical pits in the Americas.

Over the last decade, Prince of Wales Island caves have been the focus of an international, multi-disciplinary effort to study the Ice Age and post-Ice Age environment and earliest occupation of the island. Research includes archaeological and paleontological excavation as well as studies of fossil pollen and glacial history.

On Your Knees Cave is one of 500 inventoried caves on Prince of Wales and its outlying westerly islands. In addition to a human skeleton discovered at the cave, black bear bones dating back to over 41,000 years were excavated at the cave. The age of the bones reveals that an ecological niche that supported bears during the last Ice Age could have also supported humans as long as 14,000 to 15,000 years ago—these data support changing ideas of how humans may have entered the Americas. Since the turn of the century, it was thought that the Bering Land Bridge had provided the only possible migration corridor for animals and humans throughout the last Ice Age. Now, based upon research at Prince of Wales Island, a coastal migration theory must also be considered.

Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness

The Forest Service established Tracy Arm–Fords Terror Scenic Area in 1960. With the enactment of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, the area became the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness.

Encompassing 653,179 acres, Tracy Arm–Fords Terror is the third largest designated wilderness in the Tongass National Forest.

John Muir visited in 1879 and described this special place as "shut in by sublime Yosemite cliffs, nobly sculptured, and adorned with waterfalls and fringes of trees, bushes and patches of flowers." Today, Tracy Arm-Fords Terror is the same scenic land that John Muir saw more than 100 years ago.

Tracy Arm Fiord wends its ways for 25 miles through Southeast Alaska’s coastal range and empties into Holkham Bay adjacent to Stephen’s Passage. Along most of its length, the fiord is less than a mile wide, and sheer cliffs reach 2,000 feet or more above the icy waters. The maximum charted depth is 1,242 feet. Two tidewater glaciers are found at the head of the arm, often surrounded with hundreds of seals in the spring.

Traveling south of Holkham Bay on the Endicott Arm Fiord, visitors reach Dawes Glacier. This tidewater glacier has been receding since its location was first recorded in the 1800s. Fords Terror, a side fiord of Endicott Arm, was named for Harry L. Ford in 1889 when he was trapped by surging tides at the entrance into this fiord. These tidewater surges, with standing five foot waves, have reached 17 mph.

The tidal flats in Tracy Arm–Fords Terror are frequented by many species of waterfowl. In spring and summer, black and brown bears are commonly spotted. Wolves and wolverines inhabit timbered areas, as do mink, weasels, and river otters.

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Admiralty Island National Monument–Kootznoowoo Wilderness

Located just west of Juneau, Admiralty Island is internationally known for its brown bears and bald eagles. Each year, visitors go to Pack Creek to watch bears in their natural habitat. The site is co-managed with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and is managed as a Recreation Fee Demonstration area. Pack Creek permits, issued by Admiralty National Monument in Juneau, regulate the number and timing of visits.

Admiralty is one of two national monuments managed by the Forest Service in Alaska. It consists of about 1 million acres and encompasses nearly the entire island except the northernmost tip, Mansfield Peninsula. The Kootznoowoo Wilderness, within the monument, is the most visited of any Tongass wilderness. Its use has increased dramatically in recent years.

Public recreation facilities include 15 public cabins, 10 recreation shelters and the Pack Creek Bear Observation Tower. The Forest Service maintains 16 trails for a total of about 28 miles of trail. Most are part of the portage system of the Cross Island Canoe Route, which was originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

While much of the monument is designated wilderness, the monument has a very active land use program, with about 40 private land uses and 23 outfitter guides under permit.

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Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

The Mendenhall Glacier is born in the Juneau Ice Field. It slowly flows down into the Mendenhall Valley, home to the majority of Juneau’s residents. The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and surrounding area have long been a scenic attraction for residents and visitors of Alaska’s capital city. Its location affords visitors a unique opportunity to view a glacier at close range and to study the effects of glaciation on the landscape.

The center was built in 1962, the first visitor center in the National Forest System. The original structure was primarily a large observatory where people could get out of the rain and look at the glacier. It was designed to accommodate 23,000 people a year. Over the years a few exhibits were added. Thirty-five years after it first opened, the center was hosting over 250,000 people a year. Between 1997 and 1999 the building was renovated and enlarged. Workers dug a tunnel into the rock under the visitors’ center and installed an elevator to make the center accessible to everyone. A new theater, lobby area and exhibits were constructed. Trail reconstruction improved hiking access to the surrounding area. The newly enlarged facility was reopened and dedicated in 1999.

Today, Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area is operated as a fee site with the majority of collected funds being returned to operate the program. The Alaska Geographic is a partner in interpretive sales and services, offering a range of products that includes publications and videos on glaciation and natural resources.

The Forest Service hosts the popular Fireside Series of lectures at the center on Friday evenings in winter.

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Southeast Alaska Discovery Center

Located in the bustling waterfront of downtown Ketchikan, the impressive Southeast Alaska Discovery Center serves as a gateway to the natural and cultural wonders of the Alaska Panhandle. Each year, more than 700,000 cruise ship visitors ply the calm waters of Alaska’s inland passage and experience the Tongass National Forest.

The center was opened in 1995. It is one of four Alaska Public Lands Information Centers (APLICs), that were mandated by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. These visitor centers, managed under the guidance of eight state and federal agencies, provide information about recreation opportunities on all of Alaska’s public lands. The Forest Service is the lead agency for the Discovery Center, while other agencies lead the operation of the other APLICs.

As visitors enter the spacious lobby, they are surrounded by authentic totem poles, natural wood, and scenes of Alaska. The center contains an information desk, an auditorium, a store, a trip planning room, and exhibits. A life-sized diorama of the temperate rainforest ecosystem is a highlight of the center. Fascinating displays on the cultural history of Southeast Alaska and its dependence on resources round out the center. Visitors also can enjoy the award-winning twelve projector slide program in the center’s comfortable auditorium.

The Discovery Center is operated as a fee site and a nominal entrance fee is charged.

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Misty Fiords is an unspoiled coastal ecosystem containing extraordinary geological features of scientific importance. These features include fiords, steep sea cliffs, active glaciers, natural channels and a lava flow. The fiords are contained within Misty Fiords National Monument east of Ketchikan at the southern end of the Alaska panhandle.

The wildlife in the area is representative of nearly every ecosystem in Southeast Alaska. The purpose of the monument is to protect wilderness values and objects of ecological, cultural, geological, historical, prehistorical and scientific interests. Because of the dramatic and scenic fiords, the Rudyerd Bay area of Misty National Monument has become a major tourist attraction.

This national monument was established Dec. 1, 1978, by presidential proclamation. Today, visitors are met by kayak rangers who share safety tips, and talk about the flora and fauna found in the monument.

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