Southeast Alaska Birding Trail Juneau

Auke Village Recreation Area

Bird watching from the beach will yield a diversity of waterfowl and seabirds.

The Auke Village Recreation Area is on a beach on the northern shoreline of Auke Bay and was once a village site for the Aak'w Tlingit Peoples. Bird watching from the beach will yield a diversity of waterfowl and seabirds including Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Horned and Red-necked Grebe, Black Oystercatcher, Pigeon Guillemot, and Marbled Murrelet. Several short trails through the forest are good for local forest denizens such as Hermit Thrush and Red-breasted Sapsucker. There are multiple Bald Eagle nest trees in the recreation area, even one within the campground.

Look for harbor porpoises foraging in the cove and there is often good humpback whale viewing toward Lynn Canal.

The Auk Village Campground is close to the ferry terminal. The recreation site has 11 picnic sites and five of the sites have shelters that are widely spaced through the area. One of the shelters is available for reservation. There are six vault toilets and several potable drinking water faucets dispersed throughout the area. 

Directions:

The site is a 14-mile drive from downtown Juneau north along Glacier Highway, 1.5 miles north of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal.

White-winged Scoter.
White-winged Scoter. Photo: Milo Burcham

Trail Information:

  •  A continuous pathway stretches from one end of the area to the other, connecting the picnic areas.

Birding Resources:

Bird Species Checklist:

Other Resources:

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