Hetta Inlet is a deep

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

in the southwestern coast of Prince of Wales Island in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. It connects with the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

through

Cordova Bay Cordova Bay is a bay in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska. It opens onto Dixon Entrance to the south, between Cape Muzon on Dall Island and Point Marsh (a group of small islets just off Prince of Wales Island (Alaska), Prince of Wales ...

. The head of the inlet is separated by a divide from the West Arm of

Cholmondeley Sound Cholmondeley Sound is a deep bay or inlet on the southeast side of Prince of Wales Island, in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska, in Tongass National Forest and connecting to Clarence Strait. The sound's entrance lies between Chasina P ...

. The shores are abrupt from the water's edge, and the channels and inlets are deep. The precipitation is probably a little greater than at Ketchikan, and the mean annual temperature is slightly higher. The white crystalline limestone of the Wales series, striking nearly north and south, is the predominant

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

of Hetta Inlet. In it are intruded many igneous rocks, some schistose, some massive. The white limestones are closely folded and have great variation in dip. The igneous rocks, so far as determined from the small collection made, include gabbros, diorites, amphibolites, diabases, and pyroxene-syenites. All these are comparatively massive. The greenstoneschists, which occupy considerable areas, are chloritic. The inlet is bordered on the west by lands of the

Tongass National Forest The Tongass National Forest () in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at , an expanse larger than 10 U.S. states and 75 U.N. member nations. Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many s ...

, which are included in the Hydaburg Roadless Area.Appendix C, Individual Roadless Area Description: Hydaburg
,

, 2003

History

A trail across this divide was a link in the mail route to the mining settlements of Coppermount and Sulzer. Freight was delivered by small steamers from Ketchikan, and also by Puget Sound vessels, which occasionally called at the camps along the inlet. Sulzer Tongass National Forest

References

;Bibliography * Bays of Alaska Bays of Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, Alaska {{PrinceofWalesHyderAK-geo-stub