Eagles Nest Campground

USDA Forest Service campground, 12 sites

Overview

Eagles Nest Campground is located on Prince of Wales Island in a temperate rainforest surrounded by muskeg and Balls Lake. Visitors enjoy viewing wildlife, hiking, fishing, canoeing and kayaking.

This campground is situated on Prince of Wales Island, the third largest island in the U.S., on the shores of Balls Lake, eighteen miles west of Thorne Bay.

Recreation

An interpretive trail parallels the lake for approximately 1,800 feet, offering scenic views of the Thorne Mountains and surrounding foothills. Canoeing, kayaking and fishing are popular activities at Balls Lake. A canoe ramp is located on the lakeshore. Sockeye salmon, wildflowers and industrious beavers are common sights in and around the lake.

The 2.5-mile Balls Lake Trail lets visitors hike around the lake, where swans, kingfisher and ducks are often seen, along with an array of riparian areas.

Facilities

The campground offers single and double-family sites. Picnic tables and campfire rings are provided, as are vault toilets.

Natural Features

The campground is situated near Control Creek and Balls Lake, within the Tongass National Forest, which covers nearly 17 million acres in southeast Alaska and is the largest forest in the national forest system.

The Tongass surrounds the Inside Passage, the network of waterways that buffers the jagged Alaskan Coast and a cluster of coastal islands. The Tongass offers visitors a chance to view wildlife, including eagles, bears and spawning salmon. Expansive vistas of fjords, glaciers and mountain peaks abound. Much of the forest is a temperate rainforest.

Nearby Attractions

A number of hiking trails and recreation sites are in the area.