Sheep Creek

Sheep Creek is located southeast of Juneau, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Juneau community of Thane was originally called Sheep Creek. Draining an area of about, it empties into Gastineau Channel. The valley formed by the river has a flat, gravel, trekking trail of, south of Mount Roberts. The Snettisham hydroelectric dam substation is situated on a trail spur. Sheep Creek Hatchery is located at the outflow.GeographySheep Creek raises from the Sheep Mountain at an elevation of. Flowing from the water parting next to Grindstone Creek, the course of the main valley runs from southeast to northwest. About from its head, the stream makes a broad turn and in the lower, flows toward the southwest. The total length of the river valley is about. The upper and lower thirds of its course have steep grades, but the middle course is over a gravel flat sloping from 700- elevation. Below the gravel flat, the tributary slopes are very narrow and there are no side gulches. Practically all of the drainage comes into the upper basin, where the walls of the valley are steep, though up to an elevation of about, they are covered with alder brush and grass, and are generally sodded nearly to the summit of the surrounding ridges. The latter are nowhere more than distant from the stream, though they rise to elevations of from 2500-. The generally smooth, but somewhat corrugated character of the slopes points to the molding action of ice, and the recency of glaciation is indicated by the shallowness of the rills, which collect the drainage from the mountain sides.