Karta River Wilderness

Karta River Wilderness is a protected area in the Tongass National Forest on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska, established by Congress in 1990 through the Tongass Timber Reform Act. Centered on the Karta River, which flows from the Klawock Mountains through Salmon and Karta Lakes to the sea, it forms the main waterway of the Karta Valley. Rich salmon runs shaped the area’s history, drawing the Kaigani Haida of Kasaan to fish and hunt there. Later settlers also came for those resources, building cabins, roads, and mines, but today only a few cabins remain in a largely undeveloped landscape focused on preservation.

Hollis, Alaska · United States