Baranof Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:16 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Baranof Lake Cabin sits on the shores of greenish-blue Baranof Lake on the southwestern edge of Baranof Lake, 20 air miles east of of Sitka, Alaska. The cabin is generally available June through October, and makes an excellent base for experiencing this corner of Alaska. This is a remote site. The cabin can be accessed by a 25-minute floatplane trip, weather permitting. In poor weather and low clouds, flying time can double, as flights must go the northern route around Baranof Island. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Recreation options include wilderness-like solitude, photography and fishing. Cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden and rainbow trout runs occur from late July to late August, especially near inlet streams. Dense vegetation along the shoreline makes fishing and hiking along the shore impossible. For information about fishing permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
Facilities
The 12'x14' wood Pan Abode-style cabin accommodates up to six people with two double and two single plywood bunks. Amenities include a wood stove for heat, a table with benches, cooking counter, cupboard, broom, an axe or splitting maul and an outhouse toilet. The cabin does not include mattresses or cooking utensils. Visitors should bring sleeping bags and pads, a cooking stove, pots, pans, plates, utensils, food, toilet paper, garbage bags, a lantern, fire extinguisher, fire starter and personal flotation devices (PFDs). Rain gear and boots are recommended. Water is available from the lake or a nearby inlet stream but must be treated before using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. A small but heavy square-bowed skiff with oars is provided. A long-shaft 2-10 hp outboard motor enhances use of the skiff, but is not provided. Each person in the skiff should wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device (PFD). Be sure the plug is in before launching the boat. Tie the skiff well up on the shore and pull the plug before leaving so the boat does not fill with rain water. Click here for more cabin information and maps.
Natural Features
Baranof Lake is a glacier-fed lake surrounded by a spruce and hemlock forest, with mountain ridges rising to 3,000 feet on either side. The lake is nearly 3 miles long and half a mile wide, and sits at an elevation of 145 feet. The cabin has a small, sandy beach and is located near the mouth of the Baranof River. The sound of rushing water prevails as the Baranof River enters the lake in view of the cabin. A beautiful waterfall cascades over steep slopes across the lake. Brown bear frequent the area.
What the agency tells you
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)
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
Cabin may be inaccessible from November through May due to frozen lake surface (floatplanes cannot land); please contact the local Forest Service Ranger District office for current information prior to making reservations during this period
Everything else this campground posts · 7
The direct, over-the-mountain air access route time can increase considerably if weather is poor and the plane must fly the northern water route around Baranof Island
Firewood may be in short supply
Treat or boil water before drinking
All garbage and food must be packed out
For air charters, contact the Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau at 907-747-5940 or online.
Learn more about the Tongass National Forest
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “Amenities include a wood stove for heat, a table with benches, cooking counter, cupboard, broom, an axe or splitting maul and an outhouse toilet.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. A small but heavy square-bowed skiff with oars is…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Fishing
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:16 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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.
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 make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
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 · 4
recreation.gov availability, read 16:16 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
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 BARANOF LAKE CABIN | S11 | standard nonelectric | 282 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Salmon Lake Cabin SitkaTongass National Forest · 12 mi
Starrigavan Creek CabinTongass National Forest · 18 mi
Starrigavan Campground and Day UseTongass National Forest · 18 mi
Samsing Cove CabinTongass National Forest · 18 mi
Kanga Bay CabinTongass National Forest · 21 miAccessible June through October. Located 20 air miles from Sitka on the east side of Baranof Island, west of Warm Springs Bay. Access by floatplane from Sitka, 25 minutes in clear weather.
For geographic features surrounding cabin, refer to USGS topographic map Sitka A-3.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sitka, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 49°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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 Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Baranof Lake 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 →