U.S. Forest Service · Admiralty Island National Monument · AK

Admiralty Cove Cabin

Reservable, and full this SaturdayThe one site on offer is taken this Saturday, and the record lists no site held back for a walk-up. read 16:08 UTC

We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →

Right now
Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:08 UTC
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
60 ftElevation
981 ftWater · Admiralty CreekOcean · under 10 ft · to the Gulf of Alaska
In townJuneau, AK
72%Tree cover
Bortle 3Night sky · 235th darkest of 280 in AK

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices

In the agency’s own words

Admiralty Cove Cabin offers guests recreation, relaxation and a unique wilderness lodging experience on the northern tip of Admiralty Island in the Tongass National Forest. The remote site offers a scenic setting for hiking, beachcoming, berry picking, and wildlife viewing, all within the vicinity of the cabin. Access to the cabin is float plane or boat. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading

Recreation

Fishing is available in the stream adjacent to the cabin, as well as at nearby Young Bay, where cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden and coho salmon may be found. Several primitive trails extend from the cabin into the forest. The 4.5-mile Admiralty Cove-Young Lake trailhead is at the cabin's doorstep, and heads from the cabin to the North Young Lake cabin. It is a relatively flat trail and follows the creek at each end of the trail. The round-trip hike can be fairly strenuous when conditions are rainy and wet. Beachcoming is another pastime for visitors in the spring, as winter storms wash up Japanese fishing floats, shells, bottles, and other wave-swept treasures from the open ocean.

Facilities

The primitive, pan-abode log cabin is furnished with wooden bunks, without mattresses, and can accommodate up to six people. It is also equipped with a table, benches, an oil stove for heat and an outside toilet. Other amenities include cooking counters, shelves, cupboard space and a broom. A campfire ring is located outside the cabin. The cabin does not have running water or electricity, and guests must bring their own water, food, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cook stoves, matches, cooking gear/utensils, light source, No.1 stove oil (anticipate 5 to 10 gallons for a week), toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags.

Natural Features

The cabin rests on a level, forested bench overlooking Admiralty Creek and a large grassy tidal meadow. It is located approximately a quarter-mile from a saltwater beach in Admiralty Cove within Young Bay. Dense spruce and hemlock forests, glacier-fed streams, lakes and muskeg openings define the landscape, while rocky spires rise along the island's high crest in the distance. Sitka black-tailed deer stay well hidden in the dense forest but bald eagles are easily found in treetops along most beaches. Harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and humpback whales feed near rafts of waterfowl, and brown bears are abundant in the area (learn more about bear safety ).

What the agency tells you

Rule

This facility is located in an extremely remote and wild area; before making a reservation, become aware of bear, water, and weather safety (including cold)

Rule

Recreating in Alaska can present both obvious and hidden dangers; please be aware of your surroundings and be prepared for extended stays due to occasionally poor weather

Rule

Water is not available at this facility; visitors must bring their own for drinking, cooking, and cleaning

Everything else this campground posts · 6
Rule

All garbage and food must be packed out

Rule

Before digging for clams, become familiar with paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP ) and current regulations for size and quantity limits; cases of PSP from eating razor clams are relatively rare, but they have been reported in Alaska

Rule

Contact the Admiralty Island National Monument at 907-586-8800 prior to arrival for information about safety precautions

Rule

Learn more about Tongass National Forest.

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by purchasing firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.

Rule

The invasive European Green Crab (EGC) has been found in southern Southeast Alaska and is suspected to be in more locations on the Tongass National Forest. Please actively look for and report EGC to help map the distribution and contribute to management.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 cabin
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
“It is also equipped with a table, benches, an oil stove for heat and an outside toilet.”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…is located outside the cabin. The cabin does not have running water or electricity, and guests must bring their own…”

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast, Meadow
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Wildlife viewing
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Full this Saturdayread 16:08 UTC

How full the weekend is nationally.

OpenBooked

The one site on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read 16:08 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t

Booking window6 months outBookable now through April 16, 2027. Tomorrow at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay10 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$45From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Watch this campground

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Sat, May 1 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov ↗

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$45
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$45
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Oct 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

recreation.gov availability, read 16:08 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Cabin or shelter1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.

AREA ADMIRALTY COVE CABINA13cabin nonelectric981 ft$45

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate58.17638, -134.56186
The phone907-586-8800
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

Access to Admiralty Cove Cabin is by floatplane or boat with anchor. Admiralty Cove is a small, open cove within Young Bay, on the north end of Admiralty Island. Upon arrival, look for a large pruned opening in the beach fringe visible from the water while approaching the east side of the little island in Admiralty Cove. This cabin is in a designated Wilderness area, and access by helicopter is illegal. One-way flight time from Juneau is 15 minutes, and by boat it is 20 miles. Tides affect access to the cabin (click here for local tide tables). Refer to USGS topographic map Juneau A-2. Click here for information about reaching Forest Service Cabins.

Cabin users need to be aware of the large tide flat in Admiralty Cove. Much of the cove will go dry as the tide recedes, therefore boat and float plane access is effectively restricted to a 15-foot or higher incoming tide. Better anchorage exists to the west of the little island in Admiralty Cove. Anchorage in this location may require the use of hip waders to cross Admiralty Creek to reach the cabin.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon48°Light Rain Likely71% rain
Tonight42°Light Rain75% rain
Saturday45°Light Rain100% rain
Saturday Night42°Rain Showers100% rain

NWS forecast for Juneau, AK

Typical weather

Typical October night 37°F, day 47°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

70°32°10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: JUNEAU INTL AP, AK (USW00025309), 13 miles away and 44 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send

What threatens this place

Roadless
Douglas Island28,065 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Greens Creek27,177 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 16, 2026

Who answers for this land

Nick Begich, official portrait

Admiralty Cove Cabin is in Alaska’s at-large congressional district. Its representative, Nick Begich (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Who can change it · 3
Write to somebody who can change it

Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.

Read the draft, or change the wording

For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.

To Nicholas J. Begich III

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Admiralty Cove Cabin, Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska

Dear Nicholas J. Begich III,

I’m a constituent in Alaska, at-large. I tried to camp at Admiralty Cove Cabin, Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska, and couldn’t.

All 1 sites at Admiralty Cove Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked.

1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Admiralty Cove Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Admiralty Cove Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Admiralty Cove Cabin (Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska) via campanac.com
To Dan Sullivan

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Admiralty Cove Cabin, Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska

Dear Dan Sullivan,

I’m a constituent in Alaska. I tried to camp at Admiralty Cove Cabin, Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska, and couldn’t.

All 1 sites at Admiralty Cove Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked.

1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Admiralty Cove Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Admiralty Cove Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Admiralty Cove Cabin (Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska) via campanac.com
To Lisa Murkowski

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Admiralty Cove Cabin, Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska

Dear Lisa Murkowski,

I’m a constituent in Alaska. I tried to camp at Admiralty Cove Cabin, Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska, and couldn’t.

All 1 sites at Admiralty Cove Cabin are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, the one site recreation.gov was offering there was already booked.

1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Admiralty Cove Cabin keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Admiralty Cove Cabin. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Admiralty Cove Cabin (Admiralty Island National Monument, Alaska) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
The figures in these drafts: Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report RS20643) · Updated December 4, 2025 · “The ship’s final procurement cost was $13,316.5 million (i.e., about $13.3 billion) in then-year dollars.”
The figures in these drafts: Salary Table 2026-GS, Incorporating the 1% General Schedule Increase, Effective January 2026 (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) · Effective January 2026 · “Grade 5, Step 1: $34,799 (annual rate, before locality pay).”
The figures in these drafts: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, and Inflation Factors used in OMB Circular No. A-76 (OMB Memorandum M-08-13) · March 11, 2008 · “the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted downward, from 36.45 percent to 36.25 percent”

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 30 of the next 30 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.