Soda Bay

The Soda Bay Inventoried Roadless Area covers 78,091 acres within the Tongass National Forest, Alaska, occupying a complex of islands, bays, narrows, and headlands along the outer western coast of Prince of Wales Island in the Alexander Archipelago. Named coastal features include Canoe Point, Meares Island, Point Saint Sebastian, Point San Antonio, Natalia Point, and Block Island. The area's hydrology is rated major in significance and encompasses an extensive network of tidal features: Soda Bay, Trocadero Bay headwaters, Soda Creek, Waterfall Reservoir, Lake Saint Nicholas, Port Bagial, Big Bay, Port Caldera, Doyle Bay, Shelter Cove, Sukkwan Narrows, and Tlevak Narrows. The stream G̱andláay Háanaa — a Haida place name — drains into this coastal network. The result is a continuous marine-freshwater interface spanning multiple protected bays, narrows, and tidal passages.

The inland slopes support maritime old-growth forest dominated by Sitka spruce, western red-cedar (Thuja plicata), Alaska-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis), and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana). Western red-cedar and Alaska-cedar reach large dimensions in the mild maritime climate of outer Prince of Wales Island. Devil's club (Oplopanax horridus) and yellow skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) dominate the wet forest understory and stream margins. Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and deer fern (Struthiopteris spicant) occupy the middle story in moist forest gaps. On flat poorly drained terrain, bog communities hold common Labrador-tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), roundleaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), and tall white bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata, IUCN Vulnerable). Along the rocky shorelines above the tide line, salal (Gaultheria shallon) and Nootka lupine (Lupinus nootkatensis) stabilize the coastal fringe.

The intertidal and subtidal habitats of the Soda Bay complex are among the most species-rich on Prince of Wales Island. Sea otter (Enhydra lutris, IUCN Endangered) forages in kelp beds and shallow subtidal zones throughout the bay complex. Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus, IUCN Vulnerable) uses the nearshore waters, and humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) moves through the outer coastal passages. The rocky intertidal supports pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana, IUCN Endangered), whose populations have declined significantly throughout Southeast Alaska, and sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides, IUCN Critically Endangered), a keystone predator reduced by sea star wasting disease. Coho, pink, and chum salmon ascend Soda Creek and the Trocadero Bay drainages. Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) concentrates along the bay shorelines; black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) forages on the exposed rocky intertidal; rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) and pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) use the offshore waters. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

The Canoe Point Trail (Trail 51720, 0.2 miles) and the Trocadero Trail (Trail 51737, 0.2 miles) are the two maintained hiking paths, both native-material surface routes that access the coastal fringe and adjacent old-growth forest. Harris River Campground provides the primary camping in the vicinity. Moving from the campground toward the tidal zone, a visitor steps from old-growth cedar and spruce through a fringe of salal and Nootka lupine to the shoreline, where bald eagles perch on drift logs and sea otters can be observed among kelp offshore.

The Soda Bay Inventoried Roadless Area encompasses 78,091 acres on the southern end of Prince of Wales Island, within the Craig Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest. This stretch of island — bordered by Trocadero Bay, Lake Saint Nicholas, Port Bagial, and the tidal narrows of Sukkwan Strait — lies within the homeland of the Kaigani Haida, the Alaskan branch of the Haida nation. The Kaigani Haida migrated to the southern Prince of Wales Island archipelago from Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands) in British Columbia in the early 1700s [2]. At least five distinct Haida villages once occupied the island's southern reaches, but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, epidemic disease prompted the consolidation of surviving families into fewer, larger communities; Hydaburg and Kasaan became the primary Haida villages on the island [1]. The sea and forest remained central to subsistence practices that the Kaigani Haida maintained through and beyond the colonial period [1].

The American period brought commercial fishing, mining, and eventually industrial timber extraction to Prince of Wales Island. Salmon canneries spread through Southeast Alaska beginning in the 1870s, establishing processing operations at sheltered bays throughout the Alexander Archipelago. The fishing industry relied on Haida and Tlingit labor, and cannery sites used timber from surrounding forests for fish trap construction, dock pilings, and building material [4]. Until 1907, timber harvesting on federal lands throughout Southeast Alaska proceeded without organized federal oversight; handlogging supplied local needs in mining and fishing operations with no sustained-yield management in place [4].

The Tongass National Forest was established by presidential proclamation on September 10, 1907, bringing Prince of Wales Island's forests under federal management for the first time [5]. On July 1, 1908, the adjacent Alexander Archipelago National Forest was consolidated into the Tongass, creating a single unit of 6,756,362 acres [5]. Following the establishment of the Forest Service, the agency pursued long-term commercial timber contracts for Southeast Alaska. In 1951, the Ketchikan Pulp Company (KPC) signed a fifty-year contract for 8.25 billion board feet of timber on the north half of Prince of Wales Island and portions of Revillagigedo Island [3]. The KPC mill began operating in 1954, integrating the island's old-growth forests into a regional timber economy. The company's pulp mill closed permanently in March 1997 following contract disputes and market changes [4]. Subsequent provisions of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule protected areas including Soda Bay from road-accessed logging.

The Soda Bay Inventoried Roadless Area encompasses the drainages and coastal features of the Trocadero Bay watershed — including Soda Bay, Soda Creek, Lake Saint Nicholas, and the waters of Sukkwan Narrows — ensuring these lands remain outside the road network that industrial-scale timber operations require.

Vital Resources

Cold-Water Stream and Salmon Habitat

Soda Bay's streams and estuary margins rank among the area's most ecologically significant features. Soda Creek, G̱andláay Háanaa, and the headwater drainages feeding Trocadero Bay sustain runs of coho, pink, and chum salmon alongside Dolly Varden and rainbow trout. These cold, clear waterways depend on unobstructed riparian corridors—streamside old-growth whose root systems stabilize banks, shade the water column, and deliver large woody debris that creates deep pools and complex spawning gravels. The undivided forest canopy presently buffers Soda Bay's anadromous streams from thermal stress, elevated sediment loads, and the peak-flow surges that follow large-scale vegetation removal. Maintaining that buffer is directly tied to the productivity of salmon runs that in turn feed brown bears, bald eagles, and the broader marine food web in Soda Bay and Trocadero Bay.

Intertidal and Subtidal Habitat for IUCN-Listed Species

The exposed and semi-protected shorelines of Soda Bay, Trocadero Bay, Sukkwan Narrows, and Tlevak Narrows support a community of species whose global status reflects ocean-wide pressures. Pinto abalone (IUCN Endangered) occupies the low-intertidal and shallow subtidal, grazing on encrusting algae and depending on clean, sedimentation-free rock surfaces. Sunflower sea stars (IUCN Critically Endangered), once keystone predators of sea urchin populations, remain vulnerable to sea star wasting disease and require undisturbed benthic habitat for any recovery. Northern sea otters (IUCN Endangered) forage across the kelp and reef complex; their ecological role—suppressing urchin grazing pressure—supports the macroalgae that shelters juvenile rockfish. Steller sea lions (IUCN Vulnerable) haul out along outer-coast rocks and rely on unimpeded access to forage fish. These nearshore systems function as an integrated unit: degradation of one component propagates through the others.

Old-Growth Forest and Alaska-Cedar Habitat

The interior of the Soda Bay roadless area retains old-growth stands dominated by western red-cedar, Alaska-cedar, and Sitka spruce. Alaska-cedar, subject to regional climate-driven mortality as snowpack declines, persists at cooler, wetter exposures within the area. Old-growth structure—large-diameter snags, multi-layered canopy, extensive fallen logs—provides nesting cavities and foraging substrate for species including brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, and the marbled murrelet, a Species of Conservation Concern that nests on broad old-growth limbs. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists the short-tailed albatross (Endangered) as a species with potential presence in Tongass coastal waters; old-growth retention on adjacent land supports the overall integrity of coastal ecosystems on which that species depends during its North Pacific foraging range.

Road Construction Effects

Sedimentation and Anadromous Stream Degradation

Road construction on the steep, rain-saturated slopes surrounding Soda Bay's stream drainages would generate sediment loads that could smother spawning gravels, fill pools, and raise water temperatures in anadromous reaches of Soda Creek and tributary systems. Fine sediment deposition in spawning habitat reduces egg survival and forces adult fish to expend additional energy locating clean substrate. Culverts placed at road crossings—even properly sized ones—create velocity barriers or perching hazards that restrict salmon access to upstream rearing habitat during critical migration windows.

Intertidal Water Quality and IUCN Species

Road drainage directed toward the shoreline or discharged into estuarine mixing zones can deliver fine sediment, fuel residues, and altered freshwater pulses to the intertidal habitats used by pinto abalone, sunflower sea stars, and juvenile rockfish. Abalone are particularly sensitive to sedimentation events that bury food resources or clog respiratory surfaces. The already precarious recovery trajectory of the sunflower sea star offers no buffer against additional stressors introduced by land disturbance at the watershed scale.

Old-Growth Fragmentation and Alaska-Cedar Harvest

Road access has historically enabled selective harvest of large-diameter Alaska-cedar and western red-cedar, tree species that require centuries to develop the structural complexity that defines old-growth function. Fragmentation of interior forest by road corridors increases wind throw along newly exposed edges, reduces effective interior forest area, and creates entry routes for invasive plant species. For the marbled murrelet and other area-dependent species, forest patch size matters: even partial fragmentation can make otherwise suitable stands functionally unavailable as nesting habitat.

Soda Bay occupies the outer western coast of Prince of Wales Island, where freshwater stream systems, old-growth forest, and exposed marine shoreline converge in an area accessible primarily by water. The absence of a road network within the roadless area means that most visitors arrive by boat from Craig or Hydaburg, or by floatplane into one of the sheltered bays. That access pattern keeps visitor density low and distributes use across a broad coastal geography rather than concentrating it at trailheads.

Trails

Two short trails provide access to distinct habitats within the area. The Canoe Point Trail (Trail 51720, 0.2 miles) begins at Trocadero Bay and traverses a mixed old-growth stand to a point offering views across the bay toward outer coastal islands. The Trocadero Trail (Trail 51737, 0.2 miles) provides a second short route through mature Sitka spruce and western red-cedar adjacent to tidal habitat. Both trails are maintained by the Tongass National Forest Craig Ranger District and are suitable for day use; neither requires advanced route-finding skills. Harris River Campground, located along the Harris River system on the eastern edge of the larger Prince of Wales Island road network, provides an established base for visitors exploring the area by small boat or kayak.

Fishing

The streams draining into Soda Bay and Trocadero Bay support anadromous runs of coho, pink, and chum salmon along with resident Dolly Varden and rainbow trout. Soda Creek and the Trocadero Bay headwaters are the primary freshwater fishing destinations; access is on foot along stream corridors or by skiff into tidal reaches during high water. Coho salmon typically enter these streams from late August through October; pink salmon runs peak in odd-numbered years in late July and August. Dolly Varden are present year-round in many reaches.

The nearshore reef systems along the outer coast hold lingcod, yelloweye rockfish, copper rockfish, and quillback rockfish. Rockfish concentrate around kelp-edge structure and submerged rock outcrops accessible by small skiff or kayak in calm conditions. Visitors should carry current Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations, as rockfish bag limits and yelloweye quotas are subject to annual adjustment.

Wildlife Observation

The marine corridor running through Sukkwan Narrows and Tlevak Narrows provides some of the best wildlife viewing on the outer coast. Northern sea otters are commonly seen rafting in kelp beds and foraging over rocky reefs throughout Soda Bay and Trocadero Bay; the local population has expanded in recent decades following the species' regional recovery. Steller sea lions use exposed outer-coast rocks as haul-out sites and are visible from skiffs or kayaks at respectful distances. Humpback whales are seasonal visitors to the outer bays, feeding on herring concentrations during summer months.

The shorelines support a productive seabird assemblage. Black oystercatchers breed on rocky islets throughout the area; rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, and common murres are regular in nearshore waters. Bald eagles nest in large-diameter conifers adjacent to the coast, and great blue herons forage along tidal flats at low water. The Craig eBird hotspot aggregates observations for the broader Prince of Wales Island coast and records 135 species; the Lower Wadleigh Island hotspot documents 109 species for the outer island chain immediately adjacent to Soda Bay.

Sea Kayaking

Sukkwan Narrows, Tlevak Narrows, and North Pass form a connected tidal channel system navigable by sea kayak in favorable conditions. The narrows produce strong tidal currents during large exchanges—kayakers should time transits to slack water and carry current tide tables. The outer coast west of Trocadero Bay is exposed to North Pacific swell; conditions there should be assessed against current weather forecasts and attempted only by paddlers with open-water coastal experience. The enclosed waters of Trocadero Bay itself provide more protected paddling and allow access to stream mouths and intertidal zones at varying tide stages.

Cold water temperatures in this region require drysuits or wetsuit immersion protection regardless of air temperature. Prince of Wales Island coastal weather can change rapidly; visitors should carry communication equipment and file float plans before departing Craig or Hydaburg.