Davidof Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:08 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
Davidof Lake Cabin is situated in a forested area off Davidof Lake in the Tongass National Forest, approximately 40 air miles southeast of Sitka, Alaska. The A-frame cabin makes a wonderful base for a backcountry experience. The site is remote and can be accessed by float plane only, weather permitting. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors enjoy picking berries in the surrounding forest, fishing for Dolly Varden from mid-July to September and hunting deer. Some rainbow trout can also be found in the lake. Landscape and wildlife photography opportunities abound. The 1.2-mile Davidof Lake Trail is located on southwest shore of Davidof Lake and connects to Plotnikof Lake and Cabin. Please note that the trail is not maintained or easy to locate. For information about fishing and hunting permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
Facilities
The rustic 16 by 16-foot A-frame cabin sleeps eight people and contains a sleeping loft that is reached by climbing a vertical ladder. The main level of the cabin is furnished with two double plywood bunks without mattresses. A wood stove for heat, an axe or splitting maul, a table and benches, cooking counter, broom and outhouse toilet are provided. Visitors must bring sleeping bags and pads, a cooking stove, pots, pans, plates, utensils, food, toilet paper, a lantern, garbage bags, a fire extinguisher, fire starter, rain gear, boots and PFDs. Water is available from the lake, but must be treated before using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. A heavy, square-bowed skiff (rowboat) with oars is provided. A long-shaft outboard motor in the 2-10 hp range is highly recommended for use with the skiff, but is not provided. Each person using the skiff should wear a Coast Guard approved personal floating device (PFD). 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
The area offers wilderness solitude and beauty. The cabin is located off the north shore of Davidof Lake, within the South Baranof Wilderness Area, almost one hundred feet inside the edge of the forest with no view of the lake. Davidof Lake is 1.2 miles long, a half-mile wide and sits at an elevation of 650 feet. Spruce and hemlock forested mountains rise up to a snowfield over 2000 feet in elevation. Blueberry and huckleberry bushes grow on the forest floor around the cabin. 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 inaccessable from October through June 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 these periods
Everything else this campground posts · 7
This cabin is in a designated Wilderness area; access by helicopter is illegal
Firewood may be in short supply or temporarily out at any time of year
Pack out all food and trash
Cabin not maintained in winter
For boat or air charters, contact the Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau at 907-747-5940 or www.Sitka.org
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
- “A wood stove for heat, an axe or splitting maul, a table and benches, cooking counter, broom and outhouse toilet are provided.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. A heavy, square-bowed skiff (rowboat) with oars is…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Coast
- Fishing
- Hunting
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:08 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 16:08 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 DAVIDOF LAKE CABIN | S14 | standard nonelectric | 301 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Plotnikof Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 2.3 mi
Avoss Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 6.6 mi
Sevenfathom Bay CabinTongass National Forest · 21 mi
Kanga Bay CabinTongass National Forest · 26 mi
Salmon Lake Cabin SitkaTongass National Forest · 26 mi
Baranof Lake Cabin31 miAccessible early June through October. Located 40 air miles southeast of Sitka, east of Whale Bay, within South Baranof Wilderness Area. Access is by float plane only, and takes 35 minutes from Sitka.
For geographic features surrounding cabin, refer to USGS topographic map Port Alexander C-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 41°F, day 49°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 31°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 Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
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
Davidof 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 →