The Slate Islands are a group of four small uninhabited islands in

Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska Ketchikan Gateway Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census its population was 13,948, up from 13,477 in 2010. The borough seat is Ketchikan. The borough is the second most populous borough in Southeast ...

, in the

Inside Passage The Inside Passage () is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific Northwest coast of the North American Fjordland. The route extends from southeastern Alaska in the United St ...

near the south end of the

Alaska Panhandle Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian provi ...

, at the mouth of the Boca de Quadra, in Revillagigedo Channel (directly south of

Revillagigedo Island Revillagigedo Island (, , , locally Revilla, ) is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km (50 mi) north-south and 48 km (35 ...

), which connects to

Dixon Entrance The Dixon Entrance () is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part of the Inside Passage sh ...

) and about a mile offshore of the Alaskan mainland. They are part of

Misty Fjords National Monument Misty Fjords National Monument (or Misty Fiords National Monument) is a National monument (United States), national monument and National Wilderness Preservation System, wilderness area administered by the United States Forest Service, U.S. For ...

. The nearest inhabited place, Metlakatla, is 21 miles distant. The largest island of the group is about long. The islands were named (as "Slate Islet" at the time) in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver, who described them as being entirely composed of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

. The islands are completely forested, and there are no docks, trails, or any other amenities. The three smaller islets are almost connected at low tide, and various rocks also break the surface in the area. Slate Islands Light, at the southern end of the southern, larger island, stands above the water.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://alaska.guide/island/slate-islands , title=Information About Slate Islands , publisher=Alaska Guide Company , accessdate=July 21, 2024 {{cite web , url=https://www.topozone.com/alaska/ketchikan-gateway-ak/island/slate-islands/ , title=Slate Islands Topo Map in Ketchikan Gateway County AK , work=TopoZone , accessdate=July 21, 2024 {{cite book , last= , first= , title=United States Coast Pilot 8, Alaska: Dixon Entrance to Cape Spencer , url=https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/coast-pilot/xml2html.html?book=8 , accessdate=July 21, 2024 , year=2023 , edition=45 , publisher=Office of Coast Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce , chapter=Chapter 4, Dixon Entrance to Ketchikan , page=128 Islands of Alaska