Black Bear Lake Cabin (Tongass National Forest, AK)
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:03 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Black Bear Lake Cabin offers recreation, relaxation and a unique lodging experience on Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska. The remote site offers a scenic, mountainous setting for fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing. Access to the cabin is by floatplane only. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Anglers will find fair fishing on a resident population of rainbow trout. Boating or kayaking on the lake offers a peaceful setting for viewing wildlife in the area. Hunters can take advantage of the long hunting season in the surrounding national forest. Bear season occurs during spring and fall, while deer season begins in late summer and lasts through the late fall.
Facilities
The 12x12-ft primitive, pre-cut cedar, pan-abode style log cabin sleeps up to six people on wooden bunkbeds without mattresses. The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a wood stove for heat and an outside toilet. Other amenities include a cooking counter, shelves, cupboard space and a broom. The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Visitors must bring their own food, water, Bio brick compressed logs for the woodstove, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cook stove and fuel, fire starter, cooking gear/utensils, lantern or flashlights, toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags. Water is available from the lake, but must be treated before being used. An aluminum skiff with oars available for use, however visitors are responsible for bringing and using their own personal floatation devices. Click here for more cabin details.
Natural Features
The cabin is situated at an elevation of 1,700 feet, 20 yards from the shoreline of Black Bear Lake, a cold, clear lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks reaching elevations of 4,000 feet. The terrain is rugged with a mixture of old-growth forest and alpine vegetation. The high mountains and alpine terrain is quite stunning, showcasing a display of wildflowers in mid-summer. Wildlife in the area is abundant, including Sitka black-tailed deer and black bears. A hydroelectric project was constructed at the north end of the lake in 1995. The project now provides power to several communities on the island. The lake level varies, but is still a popular destination.
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
The lake is usually ice free from mid-June to September; from October to mid-June, the cabin may be inaccessible to floatplanes due to a frozen lake surface
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Water is not available at the cabin; visitors must bring their own for drinking, cooking and cleaning, or treat any water from natural sources
All garbage and food must be packed out
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is allowed through arrangements with the Permit Administrator on a limited basis. Call (907) 826-3271 to arrange.
Same day reservation are available for this cabin
Learn more about 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 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a wood stove for heat and an outside toilet.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…cupboard space and a broom. The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Visitors must bring their own food,…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:03 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 · 15
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:03 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
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.
| AREA BLACK BEAR LAKE CABIN | C01 | cabin nonelectric | 512 ft | $25 |
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
Where it is
Harris River CampgroundTongass National Forest · 5.0 mi
Salmon Lake Cabin Thorne BayTongass National Forest · 7.9 mi
Karta Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 9.7 mi
Eagles Nest CampgroundTongass National Forest · 9.9 mi
Control Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Karta River Cabin11 miAccess to Bear Lake Cabin is by floatplane only, 50 air miles from Ketchikan. Visitors must walk 20 yards from the lake to the cabin. Refer to USGS map Craig C-3.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hollis, AK
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Black Bear Lake Cabin (Tongass National Forest, AK) 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 →