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In 1775, the first of the European explorers, Don Juan
Francisco Bodega y Quadra, from Spain arrived in the area and in
1778 The British explorer, Captain James Cook stopped in on his
quest to find the fabled Northwest Passage. In 1790 Captain George
Vancouver began documenting the area with journals and detailed
charts of the coastline but it wasn't until the early 1900's that
commercial development of the island began. One of the very first
canneries was built in Klawock in 1878.
Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the US, following
Hawaii and Kodiak. It is 135 miles long, 45 miles wide. It is a
45-minute ride to Ketchikan by air or a three-hour ferry ride on
the M/V Prince of Wales. There's more than 2,600 square miles with
about 990 miles of coastline. This is about the size of the state
of Delaware. There are countless bays, coves and inlets to be explored.
You can hike on the many trails found on the Island or check out
several caves in the area. There are many charter fishing or hunting
guides and you can even go flight seeing, rent a boating, kayak
or diving equipment.
This is home to a wide variety of wildlife and waterfowl that make
their homes here such as whales, seals, porpoises, bear, deer, wolves,
minks and sea otter.
Prince of Wales Island offers some of the best sport fishing in
Alaska where quiet bays and rivers filled with trout and salmon
await you.
The streams feature fly-fishing at its best. A variety of Trout,
Steelhead, and five species of Salmon give fisherman the fight of
their life.
Most of the roads on the island were initially built to haul the
logs to ports for commercial sale, then on to Japan. Thus the timber
industry became an integral connection to many smaller island communities.
Presently there are about 1500 miles of roads, half of which are
maintained. The most traveled roadway is between Craig and Hollis.
Roads lead to Hollis, Hydaburg, Thorne Bay, and Naukati.
Alaska Airlines provides service to Ketchikan International Airport
where float or wheel plane service is available to Hollis, Klawock
or Craig.
The Inter-Island Ferry service(www.interislandferry.com) is just a three-hour ride from Ketchikan
to Hollis.
However you choose to get there will provide unbelivable photo opportunities. |
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