Sitka is a great hiking area, with trails threading all over the mountains behind the town. There are a dozen U.S. Forest Service hiking trails accessible from the roads around Sitka and another 20 rough trails you can get to by plane or boat. A beautifully made little book, Sitka Trails (Alaska Natural History Association, $8), covers each trail with a detailed description and fine-scale color topographic map. If you need further advice, contact the ranger district office.
From downtown, the 4-mile (one-way) Indian River Trail is a relaxing rainforest walk rising gradually up the river valley to a small waterfall. Take Indian River Road off Sawmill Creek Road just east of the downtown. For a steeper mountain-climbing trail to alpine terrain and great views, the Gavan Hill-Harbor Mountain Trail is near the end of Baranof Street, which starts near the Russian Bishop's House. It gains 2,500 feet over 3 miles to the peak of Gavan Hill, then continues another 3 miles along a ridge to meet Harbor Mountain Road. The Sitka Cross Trail connects these trails and neighborhood streets, allowing you to start almost anywhere.
At the north end of Halibut Point Road, 7 1/2 miles from downtown, several wonderful trails loop through the Starrigavan Recreation Area. On the right, the Estuary Life Trail and Forest Muskeg Trail, totaling about a mile, are exquisitely developed and accessible to anyone, circling a grassy estuary rich with birds and fish. The well-built Mosquito Cove Trail, starting from the far end of the bayside loop camping area on the left, circles 1.25 miles along the shore to the secluded gravel beach of the cove, returning over boardwalk steps through the old-growth forest.
