United StatesAlexander ArchipelagoIsland
Baranof Island
4,065 km² rising to 1,643 m out of the Pacific Ocean.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
4,065km²
Area
611km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
1,643m
Highest point
Peak 5390
8,532
People
13°C
Warmest sea
August
57km
To the mainland
When to go to Baranof Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (13 °C) and coolest in March (6 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in Sitka City and Borough, Alaska, United States
Baranof Island is an island in United States. It belongs to Alexander Archipelago. It covers 4,065 km², with 611 km of coastline. Its highest point, Peak 5390, rises to 1,643 m. About 8,532 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 57 km away.
Getting there
- Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 27 km in a straight lineCar hire in SitkaDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesAlaska Marine Highway - Sitka-Juneau, Alaska Marine Highway - Petersburg-Sitka
- 57 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Baranof Island.
- 8beachesKornoelje's Beach, Range Light Beach, Big Beach and 5 more
- 4viewpointsGavan Viewpoint, Gavan Lookout and 2 more
- 1ferry terminalsAlaska Marine Highway Terminal - Sitka
- 58named peaks5390, Ante Peak, Mount Bassie and 55 more
- 3waterfallsBear Mountain Waterfall, Indian River Falls
- 1ruins and archaeological sitesOld Sitka Historical Park
- 6waymarked walking routesTotem Park Trail, Harbor Mountain / Gavan Hill Trail, Indian River Trail and 3 more
- 2campsitesFalls Lake Camp, Gut Bay Field Camp
- 1hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 2restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Baranof Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Baranof Island, each with its own numbers.
1beachCoastya
26lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
12.9km²
Redoubt Lake
according to Lakeyas
Deepest lake
92m
Baranof Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
18.4°C
Ludvik Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
13.0°C
Dog Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
26 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Redoubt Lake12.9km²
- Benzeman Lake6.7km²
- Blue Lake4.9km²
- Green Lake4.1km²
- Rezanof Lake3.5km²
- Baranof Lake92 m deep2.9km²
- Indigo Lake0.79km²
- Medvejie Lake0.26km²
18 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 411 m above the sea. 30 % of it is below 200 m.
- 11 %0–50 m
- 18 %50–200 m
- 35 %200–500 m
- 32 %500–1,000 m
- 4 %1,000–2,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
100 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Sitka8,863 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Night low (°C) | -2 | -2 | -2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 1 | -1 |
| Sea (°C) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 292 | 195 | 189 | 160 | 143 | 132 | 165 | 221 | 311 | 339 | 307 | 311 |
| Wet days | 23 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 25 |
| Sun h/day | 0.4 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| Wind (km/h) | 20 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | −0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +1.0 | −0.1 | +0.1 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.2 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | −0.5 |
| 2022 | −0.8 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +1.2 | ±0.0 | −0.9 |
| 2023 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.5 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.8 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 |
| 2025 | +0.9 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +1.0 | ±0.0 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Kupreanof IslandUnited States2,813 km²1,117 m90 km away
Admiralty IslandUnited States4,362 km²1,477 m88 km away
Chichagof IslandUnited States5,388 km²1,192 m114 km away
Wrangell IslandUnited States542 km²961 m185 km away
Prince of Wales IslandUnited States6,675 km²1,058 m193 km away
Revillagigedo IslandUnited States2,913 km²1,321 m269 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q807267) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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