Tongass National Forest

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Recreation in Misty Fiords

Trails
3-sided Adirondack shelters
Recreation areas

Trails

Bakewell Lake Trail - 1.0 miles from Bakewell Arm to Bakewell Lake. The trail is an easy hike. The first 0.5 miles of the trail follows an overgrown abandoned road. Road was used in mid-1950's for construction of a fish ladder located at the mid-point of the trail. The fish ladder allows salmon to get over a spectacular 40 foot waterfall. Fishing is excellent year round. A skiff where the trail intersects the lake allows exploration of the lake. There is no mooring buoy in Bakewell Arm.

Checats Cove Trail - 1.1 miles from Behm Canal to Lower Checats Lake. The trail is an easy hike. Checats Cove offers numerous discoveries for the amateur explorer. The trail runs the entire length of Checats Creek. The stream has a strong salmon run in August thus providing an excellent opportunity to watch salmon spawning. This is a true wilderness trail. Low visitor use results in a very serene setting. (Map, 39KB)

Ella Lake Trail (707) - 2.5 miles from Ella Bay to Lower Ella Lake. The trail is an easy hike. It travels through old growth spruce, hemlock, and cedar forest, muskegs and grass meadows. The upper stretches follow Ella Creek closely. Most of the trail is improved with puncheon boardwalks or woodchip tread making walking relatively easy. There is a mooring buoy in Ella Bay. (Map, 45KB)

Hugh Smith Trail (709) - 0.5 miles from Mink Bay to Hugh Smith Lake. The trail is an easy hike with one steep hill traversed by a series of switchbacks located at about the midpoint of the trail. At the lake a hiker can observe Alaska Department of Fish & Game biologists working at a fish weir conducting a sockeye salmon population study. Trout and salmon fishing in this system is considered to be excellent. No skiff is provided on this lake.

Lake Grace Trail (712) - 2.3 miles from Grace Cove to Lake Grace. This trail is rated most difficult. Be prepared for some hard hiking, but the beauty and excellent trout fishing make it all worth while. Except for the trail, there are no recreation facilities present on site.

Humpback Creek Trail (715) - 3.0 miles from Mink Bay to Humpback Lake. This trail is rated most difficult and includes a steep climb to the top of Humpback Hill. The route takes a hiker through scenic old growth forests, beautiful muskegs, several small ponds, and sounds of waterfalls seem to come from every direction. The trail ends at Humpback Lake near a small logjam that provides excellent cover for trout. (Map, 40KB)

Manzanita Lake Trail - 3.5 miles from Manzanita Bay to Manzanita Lake. This trail is rated moderately difficult. This trail passes through large expanses of muskegs with many beaver ponds. A ridge also allows a panoramic view of the area. The trail includes a unique opportunity to hike on boardwalk across the top of a log jam. This is an excellent place for birding as there is open muskeg as well as dense timber. Wolves are seen frequently in this area. Manzanita Bay Shelter (M20) is located near the trailhead. (Map, 50KB)

Nooya Lake Trail - 1 mile from Rudyerd Bay to Nooya Lake-one of Misty Fjord's glacially formed lakes with high granite walls. This trail is rated moderately difficult. Recreational facilities at Nooya Lake include a shelter that can be accessed by the skiff found at the end of the trail. (Map, 49KB)

Punchbowl Lake Trail - 0.9 miles from Punchbowl Cove to shelter at Punchbowl Lake (M23). This is considered Misty Fjord's most popular trail. It begins as a combination of boardwalk and natural tread. As the route starts to gain elevation, stairs are notched out of old fallen trees and switchbacks lead up the slope. While the climb is quite steep, there are many vantage points where you can stop to catch your breath, only to have it taken away again by the beauty of the landscape. At the 0.5 mile point, the trail appears to dead end at a spectacular waterfall. The last section of trail follows the stream to the corner of Punchbowl Lake where soaring granite cliffs fringe the lake. Punchbowl Lake has an island in the center of it, on which there is a small lake. From above, it was thought to resemble a ring of ice floating in a punchbowl - hence the name. (Map, 43KB)

Winstanley Lake Trail - 2.3 miles from the mooring buoy in Shoalwater Cove past Lower Winstanley Lake to the shelter (M22) at Winstanley Lake. This trail is rated moderately difficult. After the first mile, the trail crosses Winstanley Creek on a bridge built using traditional hand tools. Take a few minutes to observe the details in construction of this 65 foot bridge. The trail continues on past muskegs, beaver ponds, and old growth timber. The second crossing of Winstanley Creek must be accomplished by wading as the bridge has recently washed out. Panoramic views and excellent birding opportunities abound. A skiff is provided at the Winstanley Lake Shelter. (Map, 34KB)

Titan Trail (755) - 4.8 miles from trailhead parking up the Fish Creek drainage to an old mine site and cabin remains located below the summit of Mt. Welker. The trailhead is located 6 miles north of Hyder on the Fish Creek Road. Hyder is the only community in Southern Southeast Alaska accessible by road. Titan Trail provides beautiful panoramas of the Fish Creek and Salmon River valley. At the top of the trail there is a spectacular view of the surrounding glacial ice fields. 1/4 mile south of the trailhead is the Hyder Bear Observatory (See Recreation Site 22, below). (Map, 21KB)
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Adirondack Shelters

Manzanita Bay Shelter (M20) - Located 32 air miles northeast of Ketchikan on saltwater near Manzanita Lake Trailhead (#721). (Map, 50KB)

Nooya Lake Shelter (M21) - Located 42 air miles northeast of Ketchikan on the mainland at Nooya Lake. Access by floatplane or the 1.0 mile Nooya Lake Trail from saltwater at Rudyerd Bay. Skiff and oars are provided.

Punchbowl Lake Shelter (M23) - Located 38 air miles east of Ketchikan on mainland south of Rudyerd Bay. Accessed by floatplane or 0.9 mile trail from Punchbowl Cove (#729). Mooring buoy provided. This shelter is newly constructed and is not a CCC shelter. Skiff and oars and a canoe are provided.

Winstanley Lake Shelter (M22) - Located 32 air miles east of Ketchikan on mainland east of Winstanley Island. Accessed by floatplane or the 2.3 mile Winstanley Lake Trail (#743). Skiff and oars are provided. (Map, 34KB)
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Recreation Areas Near Misty Fiords

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site (22) - The Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site is a day-use recreation area in the Salmon River valley near Hyder, Alaska. It is operated by the U.S. Forest Service. Both brown (grizzly) and black bears are easily observed or photographed at the site as they fish for chum and pink salmon in the clear shallow waters of Fish Creek and Marx Creek. Enjoy the thrill of seeing wild bears in their natural habitat in this beautiful glacial river valley. Other wildlife frequently seen include nesting Canada geese, harlequin ducks, common mergansers, mink, beaver, bald eagles, and a wide variety of songbirds. (Map, 21 KB; Photo, 78 KB)

Bears use the site from mid-July through early September, following the arrival of salmon which return to the fresh waters of the creeks to spawn. (Photo 64 KB) The site is open from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm daily. Forest Service employees are at the site during these hours to provide information about the bears and salmon, enforce site rules, and answer questions from visitors. Facilities include a small parking area and an elevated viewing platform set in a grove of trees along the bank of Fish Creek. Bears and salmon can also be seen from the shoulders of the Salmon River Road and from a dike that separates Fish Creek and Marx Creek.

Visitors to the site should be aware that bears frequently walk on the road, through the parking lot, and along the dike. They are often very close to people. Remember that these are wild bears! Please respect their need for space in which to move between feeding areas and to avoid confrontations with more dominant bears. Move back and give them room to pass by if they approach, and follow the directions of on-site staff who help direct visitors to appropriate viewing areas.

Bear Postures: What Are They Trying To Tell You?

Bears sometimes communicate to other animals and to humans through body postures:

Standing in profile to you, head lowered, and passively looking toward the distance may be a bear's way of showing you his size, a polite way of telling you to move out of his space. Aggression is signaled by salivation, teeth chatter, hair raised on the hump back, and ears laid back along the sides of the head.

Standing erect on hind legs is usually not an aggressive posture. When the bear's head and nose are raised with ears forward, the animal may only be trying to identify noises and smells.

Getting To The Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site:

This is the only bear-viewing site in Alaska that is accessible by highway. A 41-mile detour off the Cassiar Highway at Meziadin Lake Junction (on Highway 37A) brings you to the neighboring towns of Stewart, British Columbia, and Hyder, Alaska at the head of Portland Canal. Follow the gravel-surfaced Salmon River Road through Hyder and continue three miles north. A sign marks the Observation Site, and the parking area is on the left just past the Fish Creek bridge.

Shuttle vans from Hyder and Stewart provide another way to get to the Observation Site for those who do not want to drive or park large RVs or trailers. These shuttle services are currently provided by Seaport Limosine in Stewart (ph: 250-636-2622) and by the Grandview Inn in Hyder (ph: 250-636-9174). Visitors are encouraged to use the shuttles to help minimize traffic congestion at the Observation Site .

Other Recreation Opportunities In The Area:

Fishing: There are several access points for fishing the waters of lower Fish Creek, Moose Pond Creek, and the Salmon River. All of these are south of the Observation Site. Pink and chum salmon and Dolly Varden char are frequently caught. Contact the Forest Service Office in Hyder for information on fishing areas.

Titan Trail: This 5-mile trail begins 1/4 mile north of the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site on the Salmon River Road. It crosses Fish Creek (no bridge - hikers must ford the creek) and climbs through old-growth forest and open avalanche slopes to the alpine ridges that form the US/Canada border. Excellent views of the Salmon River valley and the ice cap and glaciers are visible from several points along the trail.

Salmon Glacier: The Salmon River Road climbs steeply out of the valley to end at the abandoned Grand Duc Mine past the Salmon Glacier. (Photo 56 KB) The road winds high above the glacier and provides spectacular views of mountains, alpine meadows, wildflowers, and the large T-shaped glacier which forms the headwaters of the Salmon River.

USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest
Last Modified: April 05, 2006