Active Pursuits

On The Island

Wrangell Island's network of gravel roads, maintained by the Forest Service, leads to places of awesome beauty rarely visited by non-Alaskans. There are a few day-hike trails, some lovely campsites, and paths to remote shelters and fishing lakes you can have to yourself. There are also a couple of calm and scenic places to start a kayak paddle.

There's only one way out of town: south on the Zimovia Highway along narrow Zimovia Strait. The Forest Service map is helpful for anything you might want to do along this route. The first potential stop is City Park, just south of town. Besides having a picnic area on the shore among big trees, it's a fine tide pooling spot. Go a couple of hours before a good low tide.

Five miles out Zimovia Highway you reach the Shoemaker Bay Recreation Area, with a small-boat harbor, campground, and picnic sites. Continuing south, Eight Mile Beach is a good stop for a ramble, and don't miss Nemo Point, a high, oceanside overlook from which you can see more than 13 miles along Zimovia Strait all the way back to town. There are eight gorgeous campsites, and a plank walk trail along the road leads down to the beach.

All the way across the island, about 45 minutes from town, Earl West Cove gives access to the protected wilderness waters on the Eastern Passage. There's a campsite there, too.

Off The Island

Wrangell provides a stepping-off point for vast, rich wild lands and remote fishing, rafting, sea kayaking, or wildlife-watching. I've described two of the main off-island destinations below -- the Stikine River and the Anan Wildlife Observatory -- but there are many more, too many to mention. The guides I've listed can give ideas, or look into the Forest Service cabins for rent to the public, many of which provide exclusive access to exceptional fishing. To get beyond the island, you need a boat or floatplane. You can go independently, hiring a water taxi for $200 to $260 an hour; it costs over $500, one-way, to get to a remote Forest Service cabin by boat. That service is offered by various operators. If you prefer to go by air, Sunrise Aviation (tel. 800/874-2311 or 907/874-2319) is a Wrangell-based operator.

Gearing Up

For a lift over the water, a guide, or rental equipment, there are several long-established businesses. Alaska Waters, with a desk in the Stikine Inn, 107 Stikine Ave. (tel. 800/347-4462 or 907/874-2378; www.alaskawaters.com) rents equipment and offers various marine services, including fishing and tours. Check the impressive website for monthly specials and other useful information. Alaska Vistas, at the city dock where the cruise ships land, (tel. 866/874-3006 or 907/874-3006; www.alaskavistas.com) started as a sea-kayaking business, but now offers water taxis, guided hiking, and other services. You can stop in at their office on the dock for advice, books and maps, gear, and espresso. Both companies are listed below under the appropriate headings.

Marie Oboczky's Rainwalker Expeditions (tel. 888/276-2549 or 907/874-2549; www.rainwalkerexpeditions.com) rents bikes ($20 a day) and sea kayaks ($40-$60). She also leads guided activities and offers accommodations on a houseboat in Wrangell or afield (all covered below). Among her choices, Oboczky takes clients for a full day of guided hiking, biking, and sea kayaking for $99 per person, a bargain. Her van tour of the island is $75, including lunch. She also has teamed up with other outdoor businesses in town to offer joint booking and trip planning. Check her website for advice or stop in at the office near the city dock (the sign says TOUR RESERVATIONS & INFORMATION), next-door to the Stikine Inn. Oboczky also organizes unique escorted tours -- "Alaskan Lifestyle Programs" -- that see the Southeast as locals do.

Near Wrangell

Biking -- A paved 6-mile bike trail along the water next to the Zimovia Highway leads all the way from town to the Shoemaker Bay Loop Road. There's nothing to block the ocean views and a good destination at the end, the Shoemaker Bay Recreation Area, is a well-developed picnic site and the starting point of a hiking trail to a waterfall. There are many more miles of appealing mountain-bike routes on Forest Service roads all over the island.

Fishing -- Anglers can dip a line in various streams and lakes on Wrangell Island reachable by car or a drive and short hike. The Forest Service provides a list, and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (tel. 907/874-3822; www.adfg.state.ak.us, click on "Sport Fisheries" then the Southeast region) publishes an extensive Petersburg/Wrangell Sport Fishing Guide. May and June are the prime months for king salmon fishing, silvers start in July, and halibut are available all summer.

The well-run Alaska Waters offers a long day of saltwater fishing for $250 per person; they're professional and knowledgeable. They also rent skiffs with outboard motors for self-guided fishing. Many other charter boats are available at the harbor; ask at the visitor center. You can often arrange to use part of the day on the boat for sightseeing and wildlife-watching, too.

Hiking -- Across the road from the Shoemaker Bay Recreation Area, the Rainbow Falls Trail climbs steeply for just under a mile (and 500 ft. in elevation gain) on a boardwalk with steps, up a ridge between two creeks, forested with big, mossy Sitka spruce and western hemlock. The falls seem to tumble down between the branches. From that point, you can continue another 2.7 miles and another 1,100 feet higher into open alpine terrain on the Institute Creek Trail to the Shoemaker Overlook, where there are great views, a picnic area, and a shelter. An additional section of the trail continues from there another 8 miles across the island. Rainwalker Expeditions leads nature walks on the lower part of the trail, and longer hikes all over the island. The advantage of going with guide Marie Oboczky is that she is a skilled naturalist and teacher and knows all the best places to go.

The Rainbow Falls Trail is sometimes visited by groups from cruise ships. If you want to be sure you won't see anyone, take one of the less-developed walks you can reach along the logging roads -- the Forest Service can point the way. The new Nemo Saltwater Access Trail is a well-built .5-mile plank walk leading to the beach near Turn Island, near a wonderful stand of red cedar and the Turn Island Campsite, with two wooden platforms, picnic tables, and dry firewood. Another good choice is the Salamander Ridge Trail, which leads a mile to subalpine terrain, where you can go off-trail hiking. The trail begins 27 miles from Wrangell on Salamander Road, also known as Forest Road 50050. The Long Lake Trail leads over a half-mile boardwalk to a public shelter and rowboat on the lake, on Forest Road 6271 (you'll need a map).

Sea Kayaking -- Alaska Vistas offers kayaking day-trip paddles starting from the boat harbor, longer day tours to lovely Earl West Cove on the east side of the island, or guided trips of many days. A 5-day trip starts with a jet-boat trip on the Stikine River to Shakes Lake, and then paddles back to Wrangell with stops at the natural hot springs and other sites along the way.

The Stikine River

The Stikine's gray, glacial waters rush all the way from the dry Interior of British Columbia to a broad, shallow delta in the rainforest a few miles from Wrangell. It's among the fastest free-flowing navigable rivers in North America, and in early gold-rush years was a route through the Coastal Range. Tours that sometimes go as far as Telegraph Creek, B.C., speed against the current with the roar of high-powered engines that send a jet of water out from under their shallow, metal bottoms. On still water, the jet boats can go as fast as a car on the highway.

The shallow delta is an exceptionally rich wildlife-viewing area, a habitat of grasslands, braided channels, and marshes populated by sea lions, eagles, and many other species of birds. In late April and early May, when the hooligans run, more than 1,500 bald eagles congregate, and some two million other birds rest on their West Coast migration. Later in the year, when summer's salmon are running, you can see them thrashing in their spawning pools. Farther upriver, tours encounter Sitka black-tailed deer, moose, brown and black bears, mountain goats, river otters, and beavers.

Traveling upriver, tours usually stop at the Shakes Glacier and Shakes Lake, where there are 3,000-foot cliffs and some 50 waterfalls. Bring a swimsuit for a dip in the Forest Service-owned Chief Shakes Hot Springs, where there's an indoor and an outdoor tub for public bathing. The temperature is adjustable up to 120°F (49°C). Alaska Waters and Alaska Vistas offer these tours. Alaska Waters goes all the way to Telegraph, B.C., 160 miles upriver, bringing travelers to a remote homestead lodge. Commentary on all their trips includes natural history and Tlingit cultural traditions and legends. A 3-day, 2-night package is $1,399. The going rate for a 6-hour jet boat tour from Wrangell to the glacier, delta, and hot springs is $150 to $180.

Rafting the Stikine offers fast water, expansive scenery, and the potential for a remote, many-day journey. Alaska Vistas offers these guided trips, lasting about 10 days to 2 weeks, for an inclusive price of around $2,500 per person. Alaska Vistas also rents rafts and other gear for floating the Stikine. A raft rents for about $100 a day.

Anan Wildlife Observatory

When the pink salmon are running in July and August (peak is mid-July to Aug 20), a population of more than 40 black bears and a few brown bears gather near a waterfall on Anan Creek, on the mainland southeast of Wrangell Island, often walking close to a platform where visitors stand watching. Don't visit outside the time of this salmon run, however, unless you have it on good authority that bears are actively using the creek. Forest Service interpreters are on duty during the bear months; visitors must also follow safe bear behavior (they'll brief you when you arrive). Most visitors will enjoy a guided day trip from Wrangell more than going on their own. Both Alaska Waters and Alaska Vistas go by boat. Expect to pay $200 to $250 per person for the hour-long run from Wrangell and a few hours with the bears. It's also possible to go without a guide, but you will need a pass issued by the Forest Service Wrangell Ranger District Office, at 525 Bennett St. (P.O. Box 51), Wrangell, AK 99929 (tel. 907/874-2323; fax 907/874-7595; www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/wrangell). Check the website for an explanation of the system, a calendar showing the number of permits available each day, and application forms. A total of 60 passes are allocated for each day of the period from July 5 through August 25, with 12 held back until 3 days before the visit. Passes are given out first-come, first-served by mail, fax, e-mail, or in person and cost $10. There's a Forest Service cabin for rent, too, in very high demand during the bear viewing season. The walk to the observatory is a half mile from the shore where you land, on a good trail. Sunrise Aviation (tel. 800/874-2311 or 907/874-2319) offers charters to Anan for prices competitive with going by boat.