Hang ten, dude! Alaska has more coastline than any other state in the country, but the last thing most people associate with it is surfing. Not any more. As a result of a Surfer magazine cover story on surfing in Alaska, the state’s first surf shop opened in Yakutat in 1999. That caught the attention of other national media and suddenly this small, isolated town, up to that point known only for big steelhead and a big glacier, was ‘Surf City Alaska.’
Isolated on the strand that connects the Inside Passage to the rest of Alaska, Yakutat is now something of a tourist destination. Hubbard Glacier, the longest tidewater glacier in the world, is a mere is 30 miles away. The 76-mile-long glacier captured national attention by galloping across Russell Fjord in the mid-1980s, turning the long inlet into a lake. Eventually Hubbard receded to reopen the fjord, but the glacier did it again in 2002 and came close in 2008. The eight-mile-wide glacier is easily Alaska's most active. The entire area, part of the 545-square-mile Russell Fjord Wilderness, is one of the most interesting places in Alaska and usually visited through flightseeing or boat tours.
Life in Yakutat is rich with the culture of the Native people of the area. Here the elders share their knowledge and wisdom through storytelling in the local community gathering place. Hear their story and see the traditional dress regalia of the Tlingit people.
For fishermen, there are 12 U.S. Forest Service cabins. Many are near rivers and lakes that are renowned, even by Alaska standards, among sport fishers for their trophy salmon, steelhead trout and Dolly Varden. The Situk River, 12 miles south of town by road, is often rated as one of Alaska's top fishing spots. The U.S. Forest Service Yakutat Ranger District Office (907-784-3359) can provide information on seasons, rivers, cabin rentals and local fishing guides.