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Petersburg Creek-Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness

Photograph taken in the Petersburg Creek-Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness

Credit:
Chris Smith (USFS) in 1995.

Introduction

The United States Congress designated the Petersburg Creek-Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness (map) in 1980 and it now has a total of 46,849 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Alaska and is managed by the Forest Service.

Description

Petersburg Creek spills down a typical U-shaped glacier-cut valley with mountain peaks overlooking the valley. The mountains reach their highest point at 3,577 feet and slope down to sea-level grass flats. The Duncan Salt Chuck, a large, tidally influenced salt marsh, has rocky rapids constricting its opening on the sea, making slack high-tide periods the safest time to enter by small boat.

Typical of southeastern Alaska, spruce and hemlock fill most of the forest. Wind and rain are common in summer, and wind and snow in winter, with snow accumulations reaching 200 inches on the area's mountaintops.

A 14-inch-wide plank walkway covers part of the 6.5-mile Petersburg Lake from the saltwater Wilderness boundary up Petersburg Creek to a USFS cabin on Petersburg Lake. A much more primitive trail, with beaver ponds to wade, runs from Petersburg Lake to a cabin on the Duncan Salt Chuck.

The wilderness area lies on northeastern Kupreanof Island, near the small village of Kupreanof, just across the Wrangell Narrows from the town of Petersburg.

Planning to Visit the Petersburg Creek-Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness?

Leave No Trace

How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Petersburg Creek-Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness.

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.