Baranof Warm Springs is a small, primarily seasonally-occupied community located in the city and borough of

Sitka, Alaska Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...

, on the eastern side of

Baranof Island Baranof Island is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name "Baranof" was given to the island in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain Yuri Lisyansky, U. F. Lisianski in honor of Alexander Andrey ...

, from which it likely derives its name, in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago () is a archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep ...

. It is occasionally referred to simply as Baranof. Baranof Warm Springs is located at .

Geography

Baranof Warm Springs is located on Warm Springs Bay which is just off of

Chatham Strait Chatham Strait, or Shee ya xhaak in the Tlingit language, is a narrow passage of the Alexander Archipelago in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It separates Chichagof Island and Baranof Island to its west from Admiralty Islan ...

. Just about a half mile up from the settlement is Baranof Lake, a large glacially-fed freshwater lake. Baranof Lake is fed from small unnamed glacial run-off streams as well as the relatively large Baranof River. Between the half mile outlet between Baranof Lake and Warm Springs Bay there are a series of rapids and waterfalls that have proven to be lethal when run. Baranof Warm Springs is located on the southern part of a , exposure of a biotite-quartz diorite

batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate ...

that crosses northern Baranof Island.

Community

Baranof Warm Springs is a very small community, having only caretakers in the winter and intermittent visitors in the summer. There are around 15 seasonal homes. The community lies inside the jurisdiction of the City and Borough of Sitka. Other than property taxes and any dock fees from the new dock (2016) there is only one tax-paying commercial enterprise, the Baranof Wilderness Lodge and Resort. The city, in return, funds maintenance of a boardwalk which serves as the main thoroughfare as well as the dock for transient vessels. The community of property owners (BPOA- Baranof Property Owners Association) pools money together to pay for a seasonal (winter) caretaker for seasonally-inhabited residences, the city-owned picnic shelter (possible shelter for those needing it), the public bath house (which features three separate tubs), and the communal warm springs pools. Another caretaker is hired to tend to the Baranof Lodge from October 1 to May 1 when the owners of the Lodge return.

History

Baranof Warm Springs was used frequently by the

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

Angoon Angoon (sometimes formerly spelled Angun, ) is a city on Admiralty Island, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 572; by the 2010 census the population had declined to 459. For statistical purposes, it is in the Hoonah- ...

. People of western descent did not find the springs until 1891. It was serviced by a post office from 1907 through 1912, under the name of Baranoff.

Demographics

Baranof Warm Springs appeared on the U.S. Census twice as an unincorporated village. First in 1930 as Baranof with 25 residents and as "Baronof" in 1940 with 10 residents. It was later annexed into the City and Borough of Sitka.

Transportation

Baranof Warm Springs is accessible via floatplane with regularly scheduled flights leaving Sitka. The trans-island flight is 30 minutes on a clear day and an hour on an overcast one. The

Alaska Marine Highway The Alaska Marine Highway (AMH) or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska. The Alaska Marine Highway System operates along the south-central ...

does not service Baranof Warm Springs and there is no scheduled ferry/marine passenger services to the community. Baranof Warm Springs itself does not feature any roads, and the boardwalk does not accommodate

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Attractions

The primary attraction is the warm springs. There are a total of nine separate hot springs with temperatures from lukewarm to 120 degrees F. Only one is developed in a natural state and is located right up against the white water of the Baranof River. The community built a public bathhouse at the waterfront to provide an option for visitors not wanting to bathe communally and/or make the 1/4 mile hike up the trail to the natural springs. Small tour boats come in frequently in the summer, but also fishermen, and employees of the Hidden Falls Hatchery visit as well. On the northern end of Baranof Lake there is also a Forest Service cabin that is quite popular. The cabin can only be reached by boat or float plane. The terrain is too steep to hike. Baranof Warm Springs is home to the Coastal Research and Education Center, a research base and educational facility operated seasonally by the Alaska Whale Foundation.

References

{{Sitka Borough, Alaska Geography of Sitka, Alaska Hot springs of Alaska Bodies of water of Sitka, Alaska