How to explore Thomas Bay, Alaska
Home to a glacier, waterfalls, forest service cabins, foraging, fishing and hunting opportunities, and endless beautiful views. Thomas Bay is an incredible place to spend a few days exploring Alaska’s wild.
Thomas Bay is a T shaped bay located northeast of Petersburg, Alaska. It is a beautiful area, with two forest service cabins available to rent, a dock that gives access to logging roads near Point Aggassiz, waterfalls, a fantastic hiking trail, and home of the Baird Glacier drainage. It is a fantastic area to spend a few days exploring. Beyond just its natural beauty, Thomas Bay is a historically interesting and significant place in Southeat Alaska. Thomas Bay is known as the Bay of Death because a massive landslide wiped out an entireTlingit village there in the 1700’s. It is also the area of legends of Kushtaka, or otter people (something similar to big foot). If you love a great big foot story pick up a copy of “The Strangest Story Ever Told” which is available online or can be picked up at the local book store in Petersburg, which shares one man’s experience encountering the Kushtaka’s in Thomas Bay.
Boat is the most common way to reach Thomas Bay. You can rent a boat in Petersburg and navigate there yourself. If you do not have access to your own boat, you can also set up a water taxi to deliver you to one of the forest service cabins in the area from Petersburg. Many small cruise and charter yachts stop here as well while traveling through Southeast. There are two forest service cabins for rent with boat access, the trail to the Swan Lake Cabin is also accessed in Thomas Bay. My favorite cabin is Cascade Creek Cabin located on the east side of the bay with walking access cascade creek/swan lake trailhead it can be rented on recreation.gov here for $45 per night. On the opposite side of the bay is the Spurt Cove cabin, which is also owned by the forest service and available for rent here, for $40 per night. There is a very over grown trail to the Spurt Lake behind this cabin, but it is not maintained and difficult to follow. Forest Service Cabins are a great way to explore Alaska because they keep a roof over your head even in the rain, but they are very basic, so make sure you bring everything you need for a camping trip; sleeping pad & bag, food, camp kitchen, head lamps. cleaning supplies, personal items, and the right fuel for the stove type.
The Swan Lake trailhead will take you past Cascade Creek Waterfalls, Falls Lake, and finally to Swan Lake. If you go all the way to Swan Lake, it would be quite a long day hike, however there are many great viewpoints along the way, so even doing a short portion of the trail is a great way to see waterfalls, the Tongass National Forest and an impressive river gorge. A short portion at the start of the trail is gravel and very well maintained. It will take you past the impressive Cascade Creek Falls and along the gorge through the trees. If you aren’t up for a big hike stop here, but if you’re up for more on continue on the Falls Lake where you can row across or hike to the far side of Falls Lake to another very impressive waterfall. Or if you are feeling very bold, continue the rest of the way to Swan Lake.
Thomas Bay is also very plentiful if you are interesting in fishing, crabbing, hunting or just foraging for foods. The bay is a great place to set crab pots, you can also fish for salmon and halibut. If it is the right time of the year you can also gather wild berries and mushrooms if you wander through the woods. Make sure you are familiar with fishing and crabbing regulations and have the proper licenses, permits, and follow requirements on size and bag limits. As with any foraging make sure you are sure what your eating is not poisonous. There are many great guidebooks and apps for your phone that can help you identify edible berries, plants and mushrooms or try and learn from someone directly. Never eat something unless you are sure you know it is safe!
Near the Cascade Creek cabin is a small dock on the side of the bay opposite Cascade Creek, which will give you access to logging roads on the Point Agassiz road system. They are not super well maintained, but if you bring a bike or electric bike you can explore more of the mainland or even just wander the roads and grasslands of Aggasiz by foot. There are private cabins as well as some families who live out here full time, so be mindful when exploring.
In the northwest corner of the bay you can access the Baird Glacier by carefully taking a small boat up the creek channel, the surroundings are mudflats, so it is very important to stay in the channel or your boat can go dry. Go on a rising tide just to be sure if you get stuck, you won’t be stuck for too long. Find a good place to tie the boat up along the side of the creek or even better leave it to the experts to show you around. Then wander the moraine, check out the icebergs and views of the glacier. It is a fun place to spend an hour or two walking around and enjoying a picnic. Be mindful of the tides, otherwise you could get stuck here for a whole tide cycle. If you are unable to get your boat all the way up to access the glacier don’t worry you can still find icebergs in the bay and maybe grab a couple to keep your drinks and food cold while exploring. Near the Baird is also Scenery Cove, a small narrow cove with impressive mountain views and deep water, so easy to explore on a larger boat.
