Heckman 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
Heckman Lake Cabin is located in the Naha Recreation Area at the end of the Naha River National Recreation Trail. The cabin is open year-round, offering opportunities for sightseeing, relaxation and recreation. The site can be accessed by float plane or by boating into Naha Bay and hiking six miles on the Naha River National Recreation Trail. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
The Naha River provides opportunities to fish for trout and Dolly Varden. There are also steelhead and salmon runs. Guests have use of the cabin's provided 14-foot aluminum skiff with oars, but they must provide their own life jackets. A short shaft motor can be used with the skiff, but one is not provided. The Naha River National Recreation Trail winds downstream along the river through old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock rain forest. Sights between Naha Bay and Heckman Lake include Roosevelt Lagoon, Jordan Lake and a waterfall.
Facilities
This 12-by-14 cabin ( pan-abode style ) has two single and two double bunks, to accommodate up to six people. It is also equipped with a table and benches, wood stove, splitting maul, broom and an outhouse. NOTE: Firewood may be available, but visitors are encouraged to contact the Ketchikan Misty Fjords Ranger District to check the status of the woodshed. Water and electricity are not provided. Water is available from a nearby creek or the lake, but guests should be sure to treat water before drinking or cooking with it ( water safety tips ). It is recommended that guests bring their own water supply. Other items to pack include sleeping bags, sleeping pads, lanterns or flashlights, cookware, plates, utensils, food, toilet paper, garbage bags, a fire extinguisher and matches, among other necessities. Guests are expected to pack out trash and clean the cabin before leaving ( click here for more cabin details).
Natural Features
The cabin sits on a low knoll and is backed by old-growth Sitka Spruce and western hemlock. The front deck of the cabin overlooks the lake and the gentle, densely forested mountain slopes on the opposite shore. Sitka black-tailed deer, black bears, beavers, marten, otters, mink and wolves are common to the area ( bear safety information ). Trumpeter swans are frequently seen on the lakes within the Naha Recreation 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
Water is not available at the cabin; guests must bring their own water supply
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Please pack out all trash and food
Please do not confuse this cabin with the Southeast Heckman Lake Cabin, which is located on the other end of the lake, is larger and wheelchair accessible
Please conserve firewood; supplied firewood is for wood stove use only
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is not allowed
High levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) have been reported in this area
Click here for more information 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
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “It is recommended that guests bring their own water supply.”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Wildlife viewing
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 · 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 16:08 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
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.
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 HECKMAN LAKE CABIN | K05 | cabin nonelectric | under 10 ft | $60 |
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
Southeast Heckman CabinTongass National Forest · 0.9 mi
Jordan Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 1.2 mi
Patching Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 3.2 miLast Chance CampgroundTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Last Chance CampgroundTongass National Forest · 12 miThree C's Group Use CampgroundTongass National Forest · 13 miThe cabin is located approximately 15 miles from Ketchikan within the Naha Recreation Area. It is located near the outlet of Heckman Lake at the terminus of the Naha Recreation Trail. It is 6 miles up the trail from Naha Bay. Access is by hiking the trail from Naha Bay or by float plane. There is a large dock located at the trailhead. Refer to USGS topographic map for Ketchikan, C-5.
In fall, winter and early spring, the cabin may be inaccessible due to frozen lake surface (float planes cannot land). Please contact the Ketchikan Misty Fjords Ranger District for information prior to making reservations during these periods.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Loring, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 52°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 32°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
Heckman 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 →