Eight Fathom Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:15 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
Eight Fathom Cabin was constructed in 2009. It is located 15 miles from Hoonah, Alaska in the protected waters of Port Frederick. It is generally available year-round and makes an excellent base for experiencing this corner of Alaska, offering recreational options and abundant wildlife. The cabin is remote. It is accessible only by boat or float plane. From Hoonah, the boat ride is 45 minutes. By float plane, the flight is 30 minutes from Juneau and less than 10 minutes from Hoonah. This is a primitive cabin with no electricity, indoor plumbing or cell phone coverage. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
The cabin has good access to hunting, freshwater fishing, and saltwater fishing areas. For information about fishing and hunting permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website. A fine gravel beach in front of the cabin is suitable for landing and launching small boats. Tide tables should be consulted prior to any boating excursion. Neka Hot Springs tub is located 9 miles from the cabin. Visitors can access the hot springs from National Forest System road 8580.
Facilities
The 15x17-ft. milled cedar log cabin has a sleeping loft and an outside deck. The cabin accommodates up to 8 people and has single over double bunk beds, a table and benches, a cooking counter, a broom and dust pan. A wood burning stove is provided for heat. The beach access trail, first level floor, outside deck and outhouse are handicap-accessible. The outhouse is located close to the cabin. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. It is recommended that visitors bring their own water, but water is available from a small stream nearby (learn about water safety). Firewood is not provided. Visitors must bring seasoned dry firewood to burn in the woodstove, in addition to mattresses, cooking gear, sleeping bags, lanterns or flashlights, food, toilet paper, garbage bags, a fire extinguisher and fire starter. Rain gear and boots are recommended. Visitors are expected to pack out trash and clean the cabin before leaving ( additional cabin details ). Cutting trees around the cabin site is prohibited.
Natural Features
The cabin is built on a spur road edging out onto tidal, estuary flats at the head of Port Frederick. This area offers excellent opportunities for viewing scenery and wildlife, which includes whales, brown bear, deer, shorebirds and a variety of small mammals. The front deck of the cabin looks out over the tide flats and the surrounding mountains. The cabin is backed by dense evergreen forest.
Nearby Attractions
Neka Hot Springs
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.
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
Do not leave food behind when vacating this cabin
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Pack out all gear that you bring
Commercial use of this cabin, such as outfitting & guiding, is not allowed
The person holding the reservation must be at least 18 years of age, and must be a member of party using the cabin
There are no discounts for Golden Age or Golden Access Passports for Alaska cabin rentals
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.
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “The outhouse is located close to the cabin.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “Drinking water is not available at the cabin.”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Creek, Beach
- Berry Picking
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Clam Digging
- Crabbing
- Cross Country Skiing
- Fishing
- Gold Panning
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Motor Boat
- Picnicking
- Sea Kayaking
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- None
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:15 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 16:15 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 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.
| Eight Fathom Cabin | EIGHT FATHOM CABIN | cabin nonelectric | yes | 926 ft | $70 |
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
Where it is
Goulding Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 19 mi
Moser Island CabinTongass National Forest · 21 mi
Kennel Creek Cabin (AK)24 mi
White Sulphur Springs CabinTongass National Forest · 25 mi
Greentop CabinTongass National Forest · 27 mi
Bartlett Cove CampgroundGlacier Bay National Park · 31 miEight Fathom Cabin is located 15 miles southwest of the City of Hoonah, Alaska on the north shore of Eight Fathom Bight at the head of Port Frederick. Access is by float plane or boat only. It is a 45-minute boat ride from Hoonah and approximately a 30-minute flight from Juneau, AK. Flight time from Hoonah is less than 10-minutes.
The cabin is at the south end of the isolated Eight Fathom National Forest System road 8580 and within half a mile from the Eight Fathom Marine Access Facility (MAF) float dock. This road system is not connected to the Hoonah Road System and the dock is only accessible by float plane or boat. Please consult local tide tables before departing for the cabin.
Once ashore, the cabin is accessed via a short 125-ft barrier free trail.
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 38°F, day 48°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 27°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
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Eight Fathom 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 →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…cabin with no electricity, indoor plumbing or cell phone coverage. Visitors are responsible for their own travel…”