Dry Strait is a tidal channel in the Stikine Flats, part of the Stikine River delta separating Mitkof Island to the west from Dry Island to the east in the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness, about 21 miles (34 km) southeast of Petersburg and 11 miles (18 km) north-northwest of Wrangell, Alaska. The strait is named for being unnavigable at low tide, particularly the section between Mitkof Island and Little Dry Island. The river delta is a prograding accumulation of sediment deposited by the Stikine River. Originating from glaciers in the Stikine Icefield of Southeast Alaska and the Spatsizi Plateau in British Columbia, the river flows southwest for 379 miles (610 kilometers), draining a watershed of 12,608,000 acres (5,102,277 hectares). The Stikine River forms one of the few natural passages through the Coast Mountains. For thousands of years, it has served as a trade route for indigenous peoples. The Pacific coastal region of the Stikine basin is the traditional land of the Stikine band of Tlingit, known as the Shtax’héen Kwáan.

The bedrock geology of Southeast Alaska consists of a complex assemblage of microterranes accreted onto North America during the late Mesozoic. These terranes are bounded by strike-slip faults and intruded by granitic plutons. The Stikine River flows west, cutting through the mountains to reach the Pacific, suggesting it developed before the uplift of the Coast Mountains. The ancestral Stikine River may be as much as 50 million years old, while the present uplift of the Coast Mountains began about 7 million years ago. During the Pleistocene, Southeast Alaska was repeatedly covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. At the last glacial maximum, between 21,000 and 17,000 years ago, the ice sheet extended to the edge of the continental shelf. As it retreated, glacial marine sediments were deposited and later isostatically uplifted by as much as 660 feet (200 meters) above sea level. During the Holocene, bedrock was covered by a veneer of Neoglacial drift, including glacial lacustrine and glaciomarine deposits, till, and outwash. Today, the delta area is covered by grass flats, tidal marshes, and shifting sandbars. The Stikine Delta spans 16 miles (26 kilometers) and encompasses more than 27,000 acres (10,926 hectares) of ecologically important freshwater and tidal wetlands within the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness.

The Stikine-LeConte Wilderness encompasses approximately 448,841 acres (181,640 hectares) on the mainland, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of Petersburg and 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of Wrangell. Its boundary extends from Frederick Sound in the west to the Alaska-Canada border in the east and includes the Stikine Flats, a critical habitat for migrating birds. An estimated 1 to 3 million shorebirds stop here between late April and early May. The Western Sandpiper is the most abundant species, but at least 21 other shorebird species also stop to feed on the Stikine Flats, including the Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Greater Yellowlegs, Red Knot, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, Least Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Common Snipe. The river provides access to interior deciduous forest habitats where migratory songbirds breed. Species not typically seen near the coast, such as Western Tanagers, Northern Waterthrushes, Warbling Vireos, and Black Swifts, can be found here. Read more here and here. Explore more of Dry Strait and Stikine River here: