Chief Shakes Hot Springs
- Location
- Alaska, United States
- Water type
- sodium chloride
- Temperature
- 35 °C
- pH
- 7.1
Water profile
Soothing — neither hot nor cold, perfect balance.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Dense, salty water — you float without effort.
Deep in the Stikine River country of southeastern Alaska, Chief Shakes Hot Springs can only be reached by float-plane, boat, or a serious backcountry commitment — which is precisely what makes it so prized. The springs sit in the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness, surrounded by old-growth temperate rainforest, glaciers, and a river valley used for millennia by the Tlingit people, including the Chief Shakes dynasty for whom the site is named.
The water emerges at 35 °C into Forest Service-maintained soaking tubs, warm enough to provide genuine relief after days on the water or trail. Its sodium-chloride mineral profile gives a clean, softening quality to the soak, and the near-neutral pH of 7.1 ensures a gentle experience. Soaking at Chief Shakes at dusk, with black bears occasionally visible on the riverbanks and eagles overhead, represents one of Alaska's most singular backcountry experiences — a thermal reward at the end of a journey through genuinely wild country.