Portland Canal
From the Causeway to the Dock at Hyder, Alaska
Portland Canal, despite its name, is a fiord, a glacial valley dug down below present sea level during the Ice Age. It is a steep-sided trough that cuts inland almost a hundred miles through the Coast Mountains, connecting the Inside Passage at its mouth with the two small ports of Stewart and Hyder at its head.
The Bear and Salmon Rivers run into Portland Canal, steadily filling it with glacial debris. The result is that, though fiords are usually deep, the Hyder area is not. In pioneer days a long wharf ran out to deeper water, and much of the town was built on pilings over the water. There is still a long causeway out to the boat harbor and ferry dock.