Baranof Warm Springs & the Tongass National Forest

Baranof Warm Springs lies about as far from a highway as American travel gets. The small community sits on the east side of Baranof Island, roughly 20 air miles east of Sitka, hemmed in by the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the country. There are no roads here, only water and sky, which is exactly why it draws those willing to fly or boat in to a genuinely remote corner of Southeast Alaska.

The U.S. Forest Service anchors public access to the surrounding country with the rustic Baranof Lake Cabin, a 12-by-14-foot Pan Abode-style structure that sleeps up to six and is reservable through Recreation.gov. The Forest Service notes the cabin is reached by floatplane from Sitka and that potable water is not available on site, a reminder that this is a self-sufficient wilderness setting rather than a developed resort.

Because there is no road, the right vehicle for this trip is a boat, not an RV. Travelers commonly base in Sitka and head out across the protected waters of the inside passage toward Warm Springs Bay and the cabins, inlets, and fishing grounds of eastern Baranof Island. It is a fitting bookend to a Southeast Alaska itinerary, a roadless wilderness where the Tongass meets the sea and the only traffic is the occasional floatplane or fishing boat.