Windham Bay

Windham Bay is located southeast of Juneau, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Windham Bay is listed as site 6 within Southeast Alaska's Zone 3 of the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation's Geographic Response Strategy oil spill response plan. Part of the bay is a protected wilderness area; the Chuck River Wilderness, established in 1990 by the United States Congress, covers an area of 74,506acres. The Chuck River flows into Windham Bay, which has a protected anchorage north of Port Houghton, where the historic Chuck Mining Camp once operated.HistoryThe earliest gold production in Alaska occurred in Windham Bay and Sumdum Bay in 1870-71 subsequent to an 1869 gold placer deposit discovery at the two locations. The Windham Bay Gold Mining Company was located from the bay, on the south slopes of Spruce Creek. It consisted of nine claims known as the "Red Wing" group.GeographyThe bay is at the mouth of the Chuck River, a stream in length, which flows into the Windham Bay north of Port Houghton at. A sheltered tidal flat, the bay habitat consists of marshy land and estuaries. While the bay is a protected anchorage for use by boaters from Stephens Passage, the valley formed upstream of the bay by Chuck River has elevations varying from sea level to about on its eastern extremity. A narrow inlet, in length, has an entrance above Cape Fanshaw. From its entrance, which is wide, the bay narrows rapidly to a neck wide connecting with a deep inner basin nearly in length and wide. At the head of the bay is an extensive tide flat.