Tongass National Forest - Harris River Trail - Member Hike
| Hike Name: | Tongass National Forest - Harris River Trail |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Alaska |
| Nearby Town: | Ketchikan, AK |
| Rating: |  |
| Directions: | From Ketchikan, Alaska, take the Alaska Marine Highway ferry boat to Hollis on the east coast of Prince of Wales Island. It is a 3-hour ferry ride. From Hollis, drive the only paved highway toward Craig 11.5 miles to the Harris River Trailhead (the trailhead is 2 miles east of the junction with the Hydaburg Road). |
| Total Hike Distance: | 6.50 miles |
| Hike Difficulty: | Easy |
| Permit Required: | No |
| Hike Type: | In & Out, Backtrack Hike |
| Hike Starts/Ends: | Harris River Trailhead |
| Trails Used: | Harris River Trail (#775) |
| Backcountry Campsites: | No |
| Backcountry Water Sources: | Streams, Rivers, Lakes |
| Management: | U.S. Forest Service |
| Contact Information: | Tongass National Forest Craig Ranger District PO Box 500 Craig, AK 99921 907-826-3271 |
| Best Season: | Spring, Summer, Fall |
| Users: | Hikers |
| Road Conditions: | Primary Paved Roads |
| Hike Summary: | The Harris River runs a scant ten miles or so and empties into Twelvemile Arm, a bay off of Kasaan Bay, the largest bay on the east coast of Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. It is only five miles south of the pristine Karta River Wilderness but is much more accessible. This is a land of water – bays, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, muskeg, and rain, lots of rain. The average annual rainfall in this area is over 200 inches. No surprise then, that this forest is a boreal rain forest. Wandering off the trail can be dangerous as there are large areas of muskeg, especially near almost all lakes and streams. Muskeg looks like mossy or even grassy ground cover, but is in fact a thin layer of vegetation growing over water. It will not support the weight of a human body of any age. Even in areas where there is no muskeg, the hemlock and cedar forest is a dense tangle of interwoven roots, usually with high knees that are difficult to climb over in the constant wet and muck. From the trailhead, the trail is a well-maintained path with wooden bridges over the streams. In many places it is turnpiked (gravel fill between wooden curbs), and in a few places it is outright boardwalk. The entire trail is a very gentle grade, gaining only about 150’ total. The first mile is largely through a dense stand of birch and alder trees in a mile-wide river valley. The next mile is similar, only a lot wetter. Consequently, this part of the trail has a lot of boardwalk. At the end of mile 2, the trail crosses the paved Hydaburg Road and continues another 1.25 miles up an increasingly narrow valley into the spruce-hemlock-cedar rainforest dripping with water and moss. Again, this is not the country to bushwhack in – stay on the trail! The trail deadends against one of the many streams feeding into the Harris River. Turn around and retrace your steps back to the trailhead. An alternate route for this trail – 1.6 miles east of the trailhead is another trailhead. This trail is less well-maintained. It crosses the Harris River and climbs the mountainside across the valley about 400’. One can take either the right or the left branch of the trail at the “T” and they both end about two miles from the junction, although the left branch ends at a road. |
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