Petroglyph Beach State Historical Site

Some of the best surviving examples of native artistic expression are petroglyphs found in southeast Alaska. Petroglyph is a word derived from the Greek "petra" and "glyphe" for rock and carving. They are designs or symbols pecked into rocks and are found on boulders and bedrock outcrops on the shore just above or below mean high tide, usually near important salmon streams and habitation sites. In Wrangell, the rock is metamorphic and tends to be dark gray, fine grained, moderately hard and durable, and highly fractured. Petroglyph Beach in Wrangell has the highest concentration of petroglyphs in Southeast and was designated a State Historic Park in 2000. There is an accessible boardwalk to a deck overlooking Petroglyph Beach, the Stikine River and Zimovia Straits. Replicas of several designs are displayed on the deck for visitors to make rubbings on. Access to the beach is provided directly from the deck overlook. During construction of the interpretive facility, two new petroglyphs were unearthed, buried in the sand. One of these petroglyphs was long thought lost and its rediscovery was a delight to the local Tlingit natives and Wrangell residents.