Harvey Lake Cabin
Reservable everywhere but bookable nowhere.Ask the agency →
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1None on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Harvey Lake Cabin is open year-round and sits on a beautiful, off-coast freshwater lake and provides access to great boating, fishing and wildlife viewing opportunities. The cabin is accessible by boat or float plane. Visitors arriving by boat must hike a half-mile from saltwater to get to the cabin. It is 18 miles from Petersburg by air and 21 miles by boat. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
The Harvey Lake Trail is an easy half-mile trek leading from saltwater to Harvey Lake, following Harvey Creek. The trailhead can be difficult to locate. It is east of a small islet and south of the private cabins. Look for the red and white trailhead marker on the beach, then walk northward to an opening on the right through woods. The land north of the trailhead is private. Please respect the rights of property owners. The cabin is located near a picnic site with a sandy beach and swimming area. Boating and fishing are also popular activities enjoyed by visitors to the area. A rowboat with oars is available at the cabin; however, life jackets are not provided. Visitors may wish to bring a small outboard motor. Anglers might see cutthroat trout in the lake and coho salmon near the mouth of Harvey Creek in early fall. Hunting in the surrounding hills is also popular among visitors. Be aware of wildlife in the area and learn about bear safety .
Facilities
The A-frame cabin has two single wooden bunks, a sleeping loft for additional people, a wood stove, a large deck overlooking the lake and an outhouse with a pit toilet. Firewood is generally provided, but is not guaranteed. A broom, dustpan, axe and splitting maul may also be available, but could be missing or damaged. Drinking water is not provided. It is recommended that visitors bring their own water supply, but water can also be collected from the lake or a nearby creek. Any water from natural sources should be treated or boiled before using. Guests need to bring sleeping bags and pads, a cook stove and cooking gear, towels, food, clothing and garbage bags, among other necessities. All trash and food must be packed out, and visitors are expected to clean the cabin before leaving. Click here for more cabin details and maps.
Natural Features
The cabin is located on Woewodski Island near Duncan Canal. It is situated at the west end of Harvey Lake at an elevation of 100 feet. The surrounding terrain is forested hills. Woewodski Island has a long history of mining, with remnants of mines and current exploratory activities located throughout the area. A variety of wildlife makes its home in the area, including grouse, black bears, deer, moose and waterfowl. Visitors are asked to be considerate of the state's abundant biology and practice wildlife etiquette .
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
Be prepared to boil or treat any water taken from the lake for consumption
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is not allowed
Firewood at the cabin is supplied only for heating the cabin, it is not for outdoor campfires; collect dead and down wood from the forest for your outdoor campfire
All garbage and food must be packed out
Please report any missing or damaged items to the Petersburg Ranger District
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.
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
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Pit Toilets
- “…the lake and an outhouse with a pit toilet. Firewood is generally provided, but is not…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…but could be missing or damaged. Drinking water is not provided. It is recommended that visitors bring their own…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Wildlife viewing
Nothing on the booking system
recreation.gov lists none of the 1 campsites the agency files here. Whatever these sites are, a reservation isn’t how you get one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 16
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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| AREA HARVEY LAKE CABIN | P13 | type not stated | 77 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Beecher Pass CabinTongass National Forest · 1.1 mi
Kah Sheets Bay Cabin4.0 mi
Kah Sheets Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 5.0 mi
Breiland Slough Cabin6.4 mi
Castle Flats CabinTongass National Forest · 9.2 mi
Castle River CabinTongass National Forest · 9.4 miBy float plane from Petersburg, it is 18 miles. In fall, winter and early spring, this cabin may be inaccessible due to frozen lake surface (float planes cannot land); please contact the Petersburg Ranger District office for information prior to making reservations during these periods.
By boat from Petersburg, it is 21 miles, plus a half-mile hike to the cabin. If arriving by boat, there is a red and white diamond-shaped marker at the trailhead. The best boat mooring is 50 yards south of the marker. Boats will go dry at low tide unless anchored in the hole south of the trailhead (local tide tables).
Refer to USGS topographic map Petersburg C4. Maps are available online or by calling the Petersburg Ranger District at (907) 772-3871.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Wrangell, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 47°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 · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Harvey 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 →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record marks Harvey Lake Cabin reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its campsites. The draft asks why, and what it would take to fix it.
- The member who votes the moneyNicholas J. Begich IIIU.S. Representative · Alaska, at-large
- Your senator, on the same appropriationDan SullivanU.S. Senator · Alaska
- Your senator, on the same appropriationLisa MurkowskiU.S. Senator · Alaska
Read the draft, or change the wording
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Harvey Lake Cabin is reservable and not bookable
Dear Nicholas J. Begich III, I’m a constituent in Alaska, at-large. Harvey Lake Cabin, Tongass National Forest, Alaska is a federal campground the U.S. Forest Service records as reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its 1 campsites, in any month asked. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why isn’t Harvey Lake Cabin on the booking system, and what would it take to put it there? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Harvey Lake Cabin (Tongass National Forest, Alaska) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Harvey Lake Cabin is reservable and not bookable
Dear Dan Sullivan, I’m a constituent in Alaska. Harvey Lake Cabin, Tongass National Forest, Alaska is a federal campground the U.S. Forest Service records as reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its 1 campsites, in any month asked. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why isn’t Harvey Lake Cabin on the booking system, and what would it take to put it there? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Harvey Lake Cabin (Tongass National Forest, Alaska) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Harvey Lake Cabin is reservable and not bookable
Dear Lisa Murkowski, I’m a constituent in Alaska. Harvey Lake Cabin, Tongass National Forest, Alaska is a federal campground the U.S. Forest Service records as reservable, and recreation.gov lists none of its 1 campsites, in any month asked. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why isn’t Harvey Lake Cabin on the booking system, and what would it take to put it there? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Harvey Lake Cabin (Tongass National Forest, Alaska) via campanac.com