Auke Creek lies on the west coast of the Mendenhall Peninsula at the head of Auke Bay—a three‐mile (5 km) inlet at the northern end of Stephens Passage, about 66 miles (106 km) south‐southeast of Haines and 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Juneau, Alaska. The creek takes its name from the Auk Tlingit, whose word for ‘little lake’ once described today’s Auke Lake, which drains into the bay. Early miners named the stream Aylward Creek in honor of Edward Aylward, who staked claims in 1884. The peninsula itself honors Thomas C. Mendenhall, an American physicist, meteorologist and superintendent of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey (1889–94). Auke Lake, a key sockeye salmon spawning ground, measures roughly 1 mile by 0.75 mile (1.6 km by 1.2 km) and is 103 feet (31 m) deep. The National Marine Fisheries Service has examined its physical, chemical and biological properties since 1962, informing regional fisheries management and conservation. Geologically, the area comprises Mesozoic metamorphic bedrock and unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Glacial scouring exposed an impervious foundation of slate, graywacke, sandstone, argillite, thin limestone lenses and volcanics altered into greenstone, schist, and phyllite, dating from 70 to 225 million years ago. These rocks reveal a complex history of tectonic and volcanic events. The adjacent Mendenhall Valley was carved by Pleistocene glaciation. Around 18,000 years ago the Last Glacial Maximum’s ice sheet reached 4,000–5,000 feet (1,200-1,500 m) in thickness. Melting began about 17,000 years ago, clearing the valley by 11,000–7,500 years ago as sediments deposited by glacial, tidal and stream action filled it. During the glaciation the Juneau area subsided 700 feet (213 m) while sea levels fell 360 feet (110 m). After the maximum, melting raised sea levels as the land rebounded. Cooling resumed about 3,000 years ago, prompting the Mendenhall Glacier to advance to its maximum by 1750 before retreating rapidly. Together, these features illustrate the region’s dynamic natural history.

These lands form the traditional territory of the Tlingit Áakʼw Ḵwáan, who fished for salmon in Auke Lake for millennia. Archaeologists divide Southeast Alaska’s prehistoric occupation into three periods. The earliest, the Paleomarine Tradition, began around 10,000 years ago and lasted some 3,000–3,500 years. Its peoples lived in small groups, traveled by boat and subsisted on coastal resources such as clams, mussels and sea mammals. A Transitional Period followed, marked by changes in tool types and manufacturing techniques from roughly 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. This phase yielded the Developmental Northwest Coast Traditions, during which tool complexity increased, settlements grew and, by 3,500 years ago, specialized subsistence camps emerged. Large-scale salmon harvesting using fish traps and extensive shell middens became common. Some archaeologists suggest that a greater reliance on salmon spurred the development of complex social structures and permanent villages featuring larger wooden houses with carved posts and wooden floors. This stage lasted from about 5,000 years ago until European explorers arrived 250 years ago. Some Tlingit clans trace their origins to interior British Columbia. For example, the Gaanax.a’di and Kaagwaantaan recount journeys along the Nass and Skeena rivers, while the Dakl’aweidi and the Wooshkeetan claim descent via the Stikine and Taku rivers. Others, such as the Kaach.a’di, assert local origins in central Southeast Alaska. At first European contact, the Auk Tlingit inhabited Auke Bay. The earliest written reference appears in 1794 when Captain George Vancouver’s crew reported campfire smoke near the bay. By 1880, three Auk villages existed—on Admiralty Island at Young Bay, on Douglas Island (possibly at Fish Creek) and on the mainland at present‑day Auke Village, the primary winter settlement. Following the Juneau gold discovery that year, most Auk migrated to Gold Creek to work as diggers, carriers and woodcutters for the miners.

In 1959, the US Congress appropriated funds to construct the Auke Bay Laboratory, overlooking Auke Bay with Auke Lake and Auke Creek nearby to provide freshwater and natural experimental settings. At its inception, the laboratories extended their reach through field stations at King Salmon and Brooks Lake near Bristol Bay; Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island; Kasitsna Bay in lower Cook Inlet; Olsen Bay in Prince William Sound; and Traitors Cove and Little Port Walter in Southeast Alaska. Research focus shifted from watershed studies to estuarine environments. By the 1970s, investigators concentrated on salmon ocean ranching, petroleum impacts on fish habitat and populations, and assessments of herring and shrimp stocks. In 1976, the laboratories became part of the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center—now the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Two years later, the facility began probing recruitment variability in marine ecosystems, examining early life stages of pink and coho salmon, herring, walleye pollock, and rockfish. It also provided statistical support for salmon research and established the foreign salmon fishery observer program. In 2007, the laboratories moved to the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute at Lena Point, where scientists study commercially important species such as rockfish, sablefish, and salmon. Meanwhile, the Auke Creek facility operated as the Auke Bay Laboratories Salmon Ocean Ecology Study Program in cooperation with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In 2017, the federally owned property was transferred to the City and Borough of Juneau and the University of Alaska Southeast and was subdivided. In 2024, the University of Alaska Southeast completed a new facility dedicated to environmental science research and education. Read more here and here. Explore more of Auke Creek and Mendenhall Peninsula here: