Harbor Mountain and Gavan Hill Trail

Sitka, AK 99835

The trail begins at the end of Harbor Mountain Road. The trailhead is marked by a bulletin board and handrailings, and proceeds up the hillside in a series of switchbacks, gaining 300 feet in elevation. At the ridge, a short spur trail leads to the left to an overlook. The main trail turns to the right and follows the ridge toward the summit of a knob where WWII lookout ruins are located. Before reaching the summit, however, the trail turns east and runs along the sidehill of an immense north-facing sub-alpine meadow. The trail then follows along a ridge toward the peaks of Harbor Mountain. The view from this ridge is spectacular - mountains, deep valleys, alpine rock fields, high meadows, twisted trees and wildflowers. As the trail, which is not maintained, continues on toward the rocky peaks of Harbor Mountain, it forks off to the right and skirts the hillside, circling around to Gavan Hill, then drops steeply down to town. The other fork of the trail continues up the steep shoulder slope of the peaks, and ends as it reaches the steep rocky alpine at about 2,500 feet.
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