Tongass National Forest Hiking

America's largest national forest, beginning at the edge of downtown Juneau

The Tongass National Forest begins almost at the edge of downtown Juneau and covers essentially all of the land visible from the city. It is the largest national forest in the United States, a vast temperate rainforest of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and red cedar threading between glaciers, fjords, and islands. For hikers, it offers everything from flat forest walks to multi-day routes through serious alpine terrain.

Several trailheads are accessible from Juneau without a car. The Dan Moller Trail starts in Douglas Island and climbs to alpine meadows. The Perseverance Trail follows Gold Creek into the mountains above town. The Rainforest Trail near the Mendenhall Glacier is a gentle loop through old-growth forest. For more remote experiences, the U.S. Forest Service maintains over 150 cabins in the Tongass, accessible by floatplane or boat, that can be reserved in advance through recreation.gov.

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A story
The Tongass National Forest covers 17 million acres — an area larger than West Virginia — making it the largest national forest in the United States. It contains more than a third of the world's remaining old-growth temperate rainforest. The trees that grow in the Tongass are some of the oldest living organisms in North America: Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and red cedar that were old when the first European ships entered the Inside Passage.