Tongass National Forest · Alaska
Winstanley Lake
2.1 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 55743 · trail class 2 · typical grade 5-8% · hiking · seasonal: hiking 05/15-09/15
Trailhead Winstanley Lake Trailhead Drive there
Winstanley Lake Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up
The Winstanley Lake trail is 2.5 miles long. The trail follows a gentle grade through the forest to the outlet of Lower Winstanley Lake. The trail then skirts the shore of the lower lake before leading through muskegs and forest to the upper lake. The trail offers many scenic views of the creek and of Lower Winstanley Lake. There are two bridge crossings -- both these bridges were built entirely using non-motorized hand tools. Take a minute to observe the details of construction. There is a mooring buoy near the mouth of Winstanley Creek. At the lake there is a three-sided shelter and a cabin, each with a skiff.
This trailhead on fs.usda.gov
Every trail in Tongass National Forest
About this trail's facts
The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.
