Just How Remote Is Remote? The History and Location of Pybus Point Lodge

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For many of us, Alaska is a place where we can escape the stress of modern life and reconnect with nature, our loved ones, and ourselves. It’s hard to feel anything but peaceful when you’re surrounded by so much natural beauty.

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It’s also a great place to visit just because there’s so much to see and do! Between the towering glaciers, impressive wildlife, and the phenomenal opportunities for outdoor sports, Alaska offers something for everyone. And over recent years, more and more vacationers are looking to experience the wild side of Alaska and skip over the tourist traps by staying at a remote fishing lodge. 

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At Pybus Point Lodge, remote travel is our specialty. Thanks to our lodge's unique location on the Admiralty Island National Monumen in Alaska, we can offer our guests an unrivaled outdoor experience. Whether you’re an avid fisherman or a casual sightseer, we can guarantee you’ll have a thrilling adventure at Pybus Point Lodge.

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But what does “remote” really mean? Does it mean that Pybus is on the side of a remote highway? Does it mean that we’re on a lone island far out in the north pacific? In this article, we’ll teach you all about our remote location so you know exactly what to expect before your big Alaskan adventure!

Where Is Pybus Point Lodge Located?

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So, where exactly is Pybus Point Lodge? Located in the always beautiful southeastern region of Alaska, Pybus Point Lodge is quietly tucked away into the scenic Pybus Bay of Admiralty Island–about 80 miles from Alaska’s capital city by boat. Depending on the weather, that means that it typically takes 3-4 hours to make it to Juneau from our dock in one of our boats. And these aren’t your average fishing boats either. These are high-performing vessels that were custom-built just for this unique region. To put it simply, our lodge is way out in the middle of nowhere. It’s so remote that we try to always fly our guests to our lodge via seaplane. Even then it still takes about 45 minutes to reach the lodge!

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As you can see on the map, the island is just off the coast of continental Alaska and it’s perfectly protected from the open ocean by another large island to the west making for nice, calm waters. And once you see that terrific view of the snow capped mountains in the back of Pybus Bay, you’ll understand why it’s become a world famous yachting destination in recent years.

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Our part of the state is famous for its lush rainforest, mild summer weather, and shockingly robust ecology. Three out of many reasons why southeastern Alaska has been an undisputed Mecca for nature lovers for over a century.

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To make things even better, there are very few human settlements in the entire region. Pybus Point Lodge is one of two human occupied areas on all of Admiralty Island’s 1,600 square miles. The rest of the island, and most of the surrounding islands, are all federally protected land free of nearly all human interference–but more on that later.

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What’s important is that Admiralty Island and the surrounding area offer visitors an incredible chance to experience the true Alaskan wilderness with very limited contact from the outside world.

The History of Admiralty Island, Alaska

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To understand why this area has been left a pristine, natural wonderland it’s important to understand the unique history of Southeast Alaska. 

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While we don’t know exactly when people first made it to Admiralty Island, we know that people have lived within the area for at least 10,000 years. What we know for certain is that the indigenous Tlingit people (who still live in the area today) have thrived here for a very long time. For generations, Admiralty Island was–and still is–home to the Kootznoowoo Tlingit who settled in Angoon, a small town on the northwest coast of the Admiralty. 

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For thousands of years the Tlingit had little to no contact with the outside world. Once Europeans made their way to the Admiralty Island region in the late 1700s they found the area to be a great untapped resource for fur trapping and whaling, two highly profitable industries at the time. Roughly 100 years later, the United States purchased Alaska and it wasn’t too long before American outdoorsmen made their way to the state to see the infamous region for themselves.

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In the early 1900s the passionate outdoorsmen and U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt decided that Southeast Alaska’s real value lay in its sheer natural beauty. Shortly after he created the National Park system, Roosevelt made it a priority to protect southeastern Alaska by creating the Tongass National Forest (TNF), an incredible 16.7 million acres of federally protected wilderness. To this day the TNF is the largest national forest in the entire United States of America. This National Forest includes not only Admiralty Island but most of the surrounding islands and a massive section of the continental Alaskan region.

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In an effort to further protect the natural beauty of Admiralty Island specifically, President Jimmy Carter created the Admiralty Island National Monument in 1978 to protect Admiralty from the logging and mining. 

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After all of these Federal distinctions, nearly any form of human development on the island became illegal with the island primarily only being visited by fisherman, brown bear hunters, biologists, and national geographic camera crews. For many years the only people who lived on the island were the indigenous Kootznoowoo Tlingit, the employees of a small fish cannery, and a few eccentric homesteaders living alone in the bush.

The Story of Pybus Point Lodge

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Now that you know a bit of the history of the region, you can see why it’s so remarkable that a luxury, all-inclusive resort is located right on the beach of this important ecological oasis. In fact, it’s really a stroke of luck that the lodge can even exist at all. 

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Remember that fishing cannery we mentioned? Well that cannery opened up in the late 1800s before Teddy Roosevelt created the National Forest. When the federal government took over the management of the area, the cannery and the land it was on was allowed to remain privately held.

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By 1928, the cannery closed down for good yet the property remained privately owned–even after President Carter designated Admiralty as a national monument. For decades this incredible parcel of land remained untouched, undeveloped, and unused. It wasn’t until 1987 that the parcel was split in  two and sold with the western section going to a young family and the eastern section going to a new business, Pybus Point Lodge. 

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While the lodge has changed hands a few times since then, the mission of showing people the unrivaled beauty of Alaska has always remained the same. 

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Long story short, when it comes to Alaska remote fishing lodges, nobody has a location as remarkable as Pybus Point Lodge.

Remote Fishing At Pybus Point Lodge

Saltwater Fishing

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The saltwater fishing around Pybus Point Lodge is nothing short of spectacular. With so many native of species of fish to catch, you can easily spend your whole vacation out on the boat. When you arrive at the lodge, we’ll introduce you to your full-time guide who’s always available to take you out and help you catch anything you want! 

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And it’s not all guided fishing! In addition to our custom-built fleet of guided vessels we also have a fleet of self-guided jet skiffs and covered cab boats available throughout the entire fishing day. If you ever want to take a boat out, just let our dock team know and they’ll give you everything you need! Our self-guided fishing program is yours to enjoy!

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At the end of your vacation we’ll even give you a mylar insulated box of all the fish you caught throughout your entire trip! Each day when you step off the boat, our dock team gets to work fileting, cleaning, packing, vacuum sealing, and freezing everything you catch! All you have to do is check your fish in at the airport when you leave. We’ll do the rest!

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The best part is, it’s all included! When you book a vacation at Pybus you’re getting a full-time guide, fishing gear, rain gear, full access to our fleet of self-guided boats, and a whole lot more! 

Freshwater Fishing

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Of course, we just wouldn't be an Alaska fishing lodge if we didn’t offer freshwater fishing. We have a full-time freshwater guide who’s always available to take you to one of our local streams to hook some salmon and Dolly Varden Trout! No matter your skill level, our guide can give you all the pointers you need for a successful freshwater fishing experience.

But What If I Don’t Fish? The Benefits Of Staying At An Alaska Remote Fishing Lodge

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Now that you have a better idea of just how remote we really are, it’s time to talk about why our remoteness is so exciting! Even if you don’t fish, there are many reasons why Pybus Point Lodge offers up an unforgettable vacation experience for all different types of travelers. 

Remember, wherever there’s good fishing, there’s also great wildlife viewing–people aren’t the only animals that like to eat fish after all! Everything from humpback and killer whales to brown bears can be seen all around Pybus Point Lodge gorging themselves on Alaska’s natural seafood buffet!

Unbelievable Wildlife!

Brown Bears

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One of the most popular reasons to visit Admiralty is for the chance to see wild animals up close and personal in their natural habitat. Anyone who knows anything about Admiralty Island will quickly tell you all about the numerous brown bears that call the island home. Admiralty Island boasts the highest density of brown bears in all of North America with an incredible 1,600 brown bears packed into 1,600 square miles. A staggering number, especially when you consider that Admiralty Island only has about 400 people on it at any given time–and that number includes the guests of Pybus Point Lodge. For more information on Admiralty Island’s amazing brown bear population, check out this article!

Bald Eagles

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But don’t let the brown bears take all the glory, one of the most exciting–and often overlooked–features of Admiralty Island is the unbelievable number of bald eagles. We share our little island with roughly 2,500 bald eagles! To put things into perspective, there are more bald eagles on Admiralty Island than there are in the rest of the entire United States combined! If you want to see a bald eagle, make sure to plan your trip in the early to mid summer months. Once the salmon run begins, the eagles leave the shoreline and head to the rivers to enjoy the free meal.

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Whales

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Of course, no trip to Alaska would be complete without whale watching, and Admiralty Island is the perfect home base for any whale watching enthusiast. While there’s no exact figure for the number of whales that live around Admiralty Island (whales are migratory animals that travel unfathomable distances) we know that there are over 20,000 humpback whales that visit Alaska every year with an additional thousand orcas living in the southeastern region of the state. 

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We can tell you from years of personal experience, that humpback whales are not hard to find around Admiralty Island. In fact, we regularly see this magnificent species right off of our very own dock. On a few truly special occasions, we’ve even had whales swim beneath our dock and surface right next to our boats as our staff and guests all stood by to watch!

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If you want to see some whales ask your captain to take you out whale watching! Each and every one of our guides is an expert in navigating the local waters and has an intimate knowledge of the local animals. They know just where the local whales, along with other creatures like seals and sea lions, like to hangout!

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So Many Excursions!

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Unlike many other lodges, we’ve spent a lot of time and money to make sure that our guests can have the complete Alaskan experience. Want to go kayaking through a cluster of remote islands? No problem. Want to go on a boat ride up a majestic, glacially carved canyon and then see a massive glacier? Be our guest! Want to fly in a small seaplane, land on a remote glacial lake, hike through a federally protected rainforest, then lounge in a serene natural warm spring in the middle of nowhere Alaska? Just let us know when you’re ready to go!

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You see, at Pybus, we’re much more than your average fishing lodge. We’re a full blown, all-inclusive, adventure resort. Think of us as your tour guides who are here to give your own, personalized, remote Alaskan experience–and we’re not just saying that! When you arrive at our lodge you’ll be introduced to your own boat captain who will spend your entire vacation with you showing you whatever you’d like to see. When you add in our full-time adventure guide who’s always ready to take you on one of our exciting excursions, you can see that we’re fully prepared to take you and your family on the adventure of a lifetime! 

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For a complete list of all the incredible excursions we offer at Pybus Point Lodge, click here!

Book Your Trip!

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Are you ready for the vacation of your life? Thanks to our phenomenal remote location on Admiralty Island Alaska, Pybus Point Lodge has everything you need to get the most out of your Alaskan experience! 

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World-class fishing, unbelievable wildlife viewing, and so much more are yours to enjoy when you book an all-inclusive vacation at Pybus Point Lodge. 

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But don’t take our word for it, experience it for yourself! Click here to book your Alaskan vacation! If you have any questions about our location, our guided fishing program, or anything else feel free to give us a call anytime!

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