Experience the best of Hoonah

Hoonah lies on the north-east shore of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago, on Icy Strait, roughly 60 kilometres west of Juneau across the water. The Huna Tlingit, who left their homeland in Glacier Bay when the ice advanced, settled here, and it is still a largely Tlingit town, with a small harbour and a historic salmon cannery just outside town. Totem poles, dance and story are part of the community's life.

The waters of Icy Strait are rich in life: humpback whales feed off Point Adolphus in summer, with orcas, sea lions, sea otters and bald eagles also present. Chichagof Island has a dense population of brown bears, and the Tongass National Forest, a vast temperate rainforest of spruce and hemlock, covers most of the island. Glacier Bay National Park, with its tidewater glaciers, lies to the north across the strait.

Wild salmon, halibut, Dungeness and king crab come from the cold waters, along with smoked salmon and berries gathered in the woods. A traditional Tlingit delicacy is herring roe collected on hemlock branches in spring. The climate is cool and rainy, with long summer days and wet, mild winters.