Claybluff Point is a low headland at the base of the Robinson Mountains, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Icy Cape, about 34 miles (55 km) east-southeast of Yakataga and 69 miles (111 km) northwest of Yakutat, Alaska. Icy Cape is a point of land at the northwest entrance to Icy Bay. The name is a translation from the Russian “Ledyanoi” published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1868. The cape was first called “Punta Olavide” by Captain Alessandro Malaspina in 1791.

Icy Cape and 45,000 acres (18,210 ha) of surrounding land are owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. Revenue generated from the Trust lands is used to support programs that serve Alaska’s most vulnerable populations. Approximately 30 miles (48 km) of the Icy Cape forelands contain significant timber and prospects of gold and industrial heavy minerals such as garnet, rutile, zircon, magnetite, epidotes, and platinum group metals. The Trust is developing plans to extract the minerals and timber cutting operations are on-going.

Icy Cape is one of the most isolated areas in Alaska that timber operations occur. This makes operational logistics extremely challenging. There are no roads to the area but it is accessible by sea and air. The area is closed to public access and no recreational activities are allowed. Existing infrastructure includes logging roads, log transfer facilities, an airstrip, and maintenance buildings. Read more here and here. Explore more of Icy Cape and Claybluff Point here: