Yakutat is a vast Alaskan borough where a massive glacier acts as a dam.

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Spanning an area six times the size of Rhode Island, Yakutat is one of the largest county-level entities in the United States. Despite its immense scale, this isolated coastal community is home to fewer than 700 people and remains defined by its rugged landscape, Tlingit heritage, and a volatile glacial neighbor.

Located at the mouth of Yakutat Bay, the borough of Yakutat is a remote region characterized by its subarctic climate and extreme precipitation. It is one of the wettest places in the United States, receiving about 140 inches of annual rainfall. The area is defined by its geography, bordering the Gulf of Alaska and containing significant portions of protected wilderness, including the Tongass National Forest and Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve.

A defining feature of the region is Hubbard Glacier, North America's largest tidewater glacier. The glacier has periodically blocked the entrance to Russell Fjord, creating a temporary lake that rises significantly before the glacial dam eventually fails. While this process has occurred in recent history, such as in 1986 and 2002, experts suggest that a catastrophic spillover into the Situk River—which would threaten a world-class fishery—is not an immediate danger to the townsite, as glacial advancement toward the community could take a thousand years.

The human history of the area is equally complex. Originally settled by Eyak-speaking people, the region saw the arrival of Tlingit migrants who eventually assimilated the Eyak. European interest began in the 18th century, leading to the establishment of a Russian fort in 1795, which was destroyed by a Tlingit war party in 1805. Modern Yakutat was shaped by the 20th-century fishing and timber industries, though today the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe is actively working to revitalize the Tlingit language through modern communicative teaching methods.

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