| The Tongass National Forest is a forest of islands and trees and rain. It also abounds in animals and birds and fish. It's a place where eagles are commonplace, most every road is a deer crossing, and bears use the trails, too.The Tongass is the largest forest in the National Forest System, covering a land area the size of New Jersey. It is a glimmering rainforest full of glaciers, scenery, mountains, waterways, and thousands of islands separated by straits and channels. Over 400 species of terrestrial and marine wildlife, fish, and shellfish abound. Some species, such as the bald eagle and the brown bear, endangered in other parts of the United States, thrive on the Forest. Almost one third of the Tongass (5.7 million acres) is designated Wilderness.The Mendenhall Glacier is 13 miles from downtown Juneau along a paved road. A visitor center there offers views of both the glacier and the fantastic ice fields feeding it. A boat ride from Petersburg or Wrangell may bring visitors near the face of LeConte or Shakes Glaciers. Flightseeing the Stikine Ice Field, which includes both LeConte and Shakes Glaciers, is popular from both Petersburg and Wrangell. There are air taxi operators in both towns. Some ice fields of mainland Southeast Alaska offer exhilarating experiences for the adventurous souls who enjoy skiing and hiking in the ice, snow, and thin air atop the Alaska Coast Range. |
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