Salmon Bay Lake Cabin

$25.00/night

SALMON BAY LAKE CABIN, PO BOX 19001
THORNE BAY, AK 99919

Overview

Salmon Bay Lake Cabin offers visitors a unique Alaskan lodging experience on Prince of Wales Island. Located on the northern part of the island, the remote site offers a scenic setting for recreation and relaxation in the Tongass National Forest.

Access to the site is by float plane or a boating/hiking combination, only at high tide. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities.

Recreation

Salmon Bay Lake provides good fishing opportunities for cutthroat, Dolly Varden, pink, chum, coho, and sockeye salmon.

Swimming and beachcombing on the large sandy beach outside the cabin during the warmer summer months is popular, as the cabin receives southern sun exposure.

Hikers may be interested in Salmon Bay Lake Trail which extends from the saltwater flats of Salmon Bay to the cabin. This 1.5 mile hike accesses the skiff that is used to access the cabin for those traveling by boat and trail. The trail is rated more difficult because of muddy areas and bad footing on the trail. At the north end of the trail there is some moderate climbing.

Facilities

The cabin is a 12 x 14 foot log cabin (pan-abode style) furnished with wooden bunkbeds (without mattresses) that sleep up to six people. The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a wood stove for heat and an outdoor toilet. Other amenities include a cooking bench, axe, splitting maul, saw and a broom.

The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Visitors must bring their own food, water, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cook stove, stove fuel, fire starter, cooking gear/utensils, light source (lantern), toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags.

Firewood may be available, but the supply cannot be guaranteed. Visitors are asked to be conservative with wood and use their cook stoves for cooking. Water is available from the lake, but must be filtered, boiled or chemically treated before drinking.

There is an aluminum skiff with oars available at the cabin, and visitors may choose to bring a long shaft motor for boat use. Visitors are responsible for bringing and using their own personal floatation devices.

Click here for more cabin details.

Natural Features

The cabin sits back on the rolling, forested shore of Salmon Bay Lake, beneath a towering canopy of old-growth spruce, hemlock and cedar trees. A large sandy beach extends from the front of the cabin.

Wildlife in the area abounds, including a a variety of waterfowl, eagles, Sitka black-tailed deer and black bears (Learn more about bear safety in the Tongass National Forest).

Camp site features

Across 1 camp site:

Largest party: 6 people

Fees

Only one change per reservation for all Alaska cabins is allowed. Change is defined as a modification to the start or end date of the reservation; after one change has been made, if additional changes are desired, the customer must cancel the current reservation and re-book the new dates.

Directions

Salmon Bay Lake Cabin is accessible by float plane on Salmon Lake, or by a boat/trail combination only at high tide. Refer to USGS maps Petersburg A-4 and B-4. From the Salmon Bay Lake trailhead: The 1.5 mile hike from a saltwater bay through muddy and slippery conditions, includes fording a stream to a boat with oars provided by the Forest Service. The stream crossing is dangerous and not recommended during high water. Guests must then paddle an additional mile to the cabin. By plane, Salmon Bay Lake is located 35 air miles from Wrangell, 55 miles from Craig and 84 miles from Ketchikan. Visitors must note, however, that in fall, winter, and early spring, the cabin may be inaccessible as float planes cannot land on the frozen lake surface. Click here for information about reaching Forest Service Cabins. Inclement weather conditions may cause an extension of your trip during any time of the year and winter access can be difficult due to snow and ice conditions. Guests should bring extra supplies to last 2-5 days Please contact the Thorne Bay Ranger District at 907-828-3304 prior to arrival for more detailed information about safety precautions.

Stay Limit

Check in from 12 PM, check out by 12 PM.

Reviews

4 reviews

5 stars

3 stars

1 stars

John F

Loop:Area Salmon Bay Lake Cabin

Site:

Reviewed a year ago

Great little cabin. Great experience. But hard to find on our own. Of course it's easy if an air taxi drops you off because they ahve been there before, but we were in out own aircraft. It would be good to have GPS coordinates for each cabin. The few pictures help but the beach out front was submerged by high water and the boat was hard to see because it was sunk. (We pulled it up and bailed it out.) Website for reserving a cabin is tedious. Could have some more pertinent information. ability to select from a map is very important but the map lacks landmark, town, waterway and other labels. The ones that appear on aeronautical charts would be helpful because that is what you will be using to navigate.

john h

Loop:Area Salmon Bay Lake Cabin

Site:

Reviewed 5 years ago

Nice location. Cabin in decent shape with good stock of dried firewood. Trail to be salt water not very good with many blowdowns as you get closer to sale. Trout fishing reasonable. Alittle slow for steelhead but they are there.

Laura S

Loop:Area Salmon Bay Lake Cabin

Site:

Reviewed 6 years ago

We were at the cabin and another group of 4 men showed up and told us they had it reserved. They would not leave so we packed up and left.

Grace H

Loop:Area Salmon Bay Lake Cabin

Site:

Reviewed 6 years ago

had an amazing time at this cabin! It is the most beautiful cabin I have seen yet around Sitka. The lake is a great size and doesn't get too much wind. The cabin had lots of amenities in useful stuff left by people. The hike in was a solid walk with heavy packs, but under 2mi and little elevation change, and wonderous old growth forest! there was a nice rowboat there that we used to paddle the perimeter and fish. I recommend bringing seasoning if you plan on cooking trout! Also, the trailhead is a little rocky beach to the left side of the flats that you can pull a skiff into on high-mid tide.

Availability

See the Camp Sites section below to find detailed booking availability.

Reserve

Popularity: Moderate

Busiest in November, when about 52% of guest capacity is reserved. Based on 4 years of reservations.