Blueberry Hill (wilderness)
Encyclopedia
Blueberry Hill is located near downtown Valdez
Valdez, Alaska
Valdez is a city in Valdez-Cordova Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,020. The city is one of the most important ports in Alaska. The port of Valdez was named in 1790 after the Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdés y...

, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

.

Location

Blueberry Hill is on the north shore of the Valdez Bay. The elevation of Blueberry Hill is 107 meters. On the west side of Blueberry Hill, a grove of Sitka Spruce
Sitka Spruce
Picea sitchensis, the Sitka Spruce, is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 50–70 m tall, exceptionally to 95 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 5 m, exceptionally to 6–7 m diameter...

 make up the northernmost forest in the Pacific temperate rain forest
Pacific temperate rain forests
The Pacific temperate rain forests ecoregion of North America is the largest temperate rain forest ecoregion on the planet as defined by the World Wildlife Fund...

 system. The coastal rain forest on Blueberry Hill is approximately one square kilometer. Black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

 and Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

 inhabit the forest on Blueberry Hill.

Blueberry Hill is the largest in a system of hills that border the Valdez Bay. East of Blueberry Hill is Salmonberry or Civic Center Hill, named for the abundant wild salmonberries
Salmonberry
Rubus spectabilis is a species of Rubus native to the west coast of North America from west central Alaska to California....

 that grow on the northern shores of Ruth Pond. Southeast of the small boat harbor is Hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...

 Hill, named after the seasonal workers that inhabited the campground on Hippie Hill during the 1980s and 1990s. The Blueberry Hill network contains the Mineral Creek Islands east of town in the Valdez Tide Flats.

Blueberry Hill and all the hills in Blueberry Hill group are composed of metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...

 schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...

. Undisturbed exposed rock is visible on many of the cliff beaches surrounding the town of Valdez.
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