Tongass National Forest · Alaska
Ward Lake Nature Trail
1.4 mi of trail, end to end · imported compacted material surface · trail No. 52739 · trail class 4 · typical grade 0-5% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, bike · seasonal: hiking 05/15-09/15
CampgroundsPicnic areas
Along the way Signal Creek Campground Grassy Point Picnic Site
Trailhead Ward Lake Nature Trailhead Drive there
Ward Lake Nature Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up
The Ward Lake Nature Trail is 1.5 miles long. The trail is gravel surfaced, flat and easy to hike. The most popular trail in the Ketchikan area, this nature path skirts the shore of Ward Lake. The trail offers a variety of stops, traveling through Signal Creek campground and the Ward Lake Day Use area. It is wide enough in most places to accommodate two people walking side by side.
This trailhead on fs.usda.gov
Every trail in Tongass National Forest
Other trails from the Ward Lake Nature Trailhead
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.
