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Tongass Home » Districts and Offices » Prince of Wales Island » Recreation » El Capitan Cave
The Trail
As
the trail rises, the thick undergrowth gives way and and you see the
stairs winding up through the towering trees. The impressive staircase
to El Capitan Cave was built by the Forest Service in 1994. The steepest
portion 
of the trail has a 60% gradient. As you make your way to the
cave platform, you climb 367 stairs and gain over 300 feet in elevation
before reaching the cave entrance.
While climbing the stairs, you can look up and see patches of sky between
the branches of the old growth Sitka spruce, western hemlock, western
red cedar, and Alaska yellow cedar. The staircase is constructed of locally
milled, untreated Alaska yellow cedar. Yellow cedar was used because
it has a heavy oil content and is naturally resistant to insects and
rot.
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USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest Accessibility Statement
Last Modified: July 11, 2007