Goulding Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:10 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
Goulding Lake Cabin is located on the northwest shore of Otter Lake on the western edge of Chichagof Island, 60 miles northwest of Sitka, Alaska. The cabin, an A-frame with a sleeping loft, is available from late May through October and makes an excellent base to explore nearby lakes and high alpine meadows. This is a remote cabin that can be accessed only by floatplane, weather permitting. The flight is 50 minutes from Sitka or Juneau. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring their own amenities. There is no boat provided at the lake. Cabin guests may want to bring a packraft or other type of inflatable watercraft to explore the area. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors enjoy exploring Otter Lake and Goulding Lake to the east. The two lakes are connected. A boat is not currently available at the cabin. To aid exploring area waters, visitors should bring a pack raft or other type of inflatable boat. Fishing is possible but slow in the area. Cutthroat trout can be caught below the falls and in the lower lake west of the cabin all year. Dolly Varden fishing is year round, while steelhead and coho are seasonal. Photography opportunities abound. For information about fishing permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
Facilities
The A-frame cabin measures 16 by 16-ft. and accommodates six people. Its sleeping loft (with no bunks) is reached by climbing a vertical ladder. One double-size plywood bunkbed is located on the lower level. A table with benches, a cooking counter, cupboard, wood stove for heat, axe or splitting maul, a broom, an outdoor screened cooler box and an outhouse toilet are provided. The cabin does not include mattresses or cooking gear. Visitors should 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, rubber boots and personal flotation devices (PFDs). Water is available from a nearby stream and from the lake but must be treated before using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. Click here for more cabin information and maps.
Natural Features
The area offers wilderness solitude and beauty. Goulding Lake Cabin is located in a flat, lightly wooded area on the northwest shore of Otter Lake, on the western edge of Chichagof Island within the West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness Area. The surrounding terrain varies from open muskegs to densely forested steep slopes. A topographic map of the area is a must for exploration of nearby lakes and high alpine meadows. 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
Access by floatplane only; this cabin is in a designated Wilderness area, and access by helicopter is illegal
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Cabin may be inaccessible from November through early 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 these periods
Boil or treat water before drinking
Firewood may be in short supply at any time of the year, but is generally provided
All garbage and food must be packed out
For boat or air charters, contact the Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau at 907-747-5940 or online
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 table with benches, a cooking counter, cupboard, wood stove for heat, axe or splitting maul, a broom, an outdoor screened cooler box and an outhouse toilet are provided.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “It's recommended that visitors bring their own water.”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:10 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 16:10 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.
| CHCI | S02 | standard nonelectric | 274 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
White Sulphur Springs CabinTongass National Forest · 6.8 mi
Greentop CabinTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Moser Island CabinTongass National Forest · 18 mi
Eight Fathom Cabin19 mi
Suloia Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 32 mi
Piper Island Cabin36 miAccessible late May through October. Otter Lake, one of four lakes in the Goulding Lakes System, is located about 60 miles northwest of Sitka on the western edge of Chichagof Island. Access is by floatplane only, about a 50-minute flight from Sitka or Juneau. Refer to USGS topographic map Sitka D-7.
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 48°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 28°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
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
Goulding 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 →