Tongass National Forest

Tongass National Forest sits in that useful middle ground between “too obscure to bother with” and “too famous to enjoy.”

Access is the first thing to plan: entry points, permits, and the time of day the road is drivable.

On a strong day in the right season you can work your way through the temperate rainforest and fjords and tick off most of the headliners before lunch.

My default advice is to go may through september. Outside that window there are still good days here, but the baseline quality drops.

On crowds: expect company on weekends and in golden hour. On weekdays outside golden hour the place is close to yours.

My most memorable morning there was mid-season, soft fog, two dozen birds in a thirty-minute window, and I remember about three of them.

Anyone who tells you Tongass National Forest is an easy place hasn’t been on a day where the wind picked up by nine.

Corrections on anything here, especially access updates, are welcome.