Endicott River Wilderness

Endicott River Wilderness is a 98,729-acre property in Tongass National Forest in the Alaska Panhandle. The western border of the wilderness abuts Glacier Bay National Park Wilderness. Centerpiece of the wilderness, the Endicott River flows easterly down a deep U-shaped canyon in the Chilkat Mountains. The upper drainage of the river is in the high country: a zone of active glaciers that drop south and west into short alpine trees and thick brush. The lower country is heavily forested in cedar, hemlock and spruce with sphagnum muskegs dotting the bottoms of the valleys.

There are no trails. No facilities. No human comforts of any sort. Except for during fall moose hunting season, the wilderness tends to be empty of human presence. Some folks do try to cross Endicott River Wilderness by hiking along the river to reach the back side of Glacier Bay Wilderness but the journey is extremely unpleasant in some areas due to the thickness of the forest and its understory.