U.S. Forest Service · Admiralty Island National Monument · AK

Jims Lake Cabin

ReservableBookable through April 16; tomorrow opens April 17.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:11 UTC
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
210 ftElevation
under 10 ftWater · Jims LakeTidal flat · 2.1 mi
17.3 miNE of Sitka, AK
60%Tree cover
Bortle 1Night sky · 51st darkest of 280 in AK

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices

In the agency’s own words

Jim's Lake Cabin offers visitors recreation, relaxation and a remote wilderness lodging experience in the Tongass National Forest. The rustic cabin is located on the northwest end of Jim's Lake, an isolated area in the south-central portion of Admiralty Island. The small lake is away from many flight paths. Access to the cabin is by floatplane only. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading

Recreation

Hiking, fishing and wildlife viewing are all within the vicinity of the cabin. Anglers will find Jim's Lake to be a scenic setting for catching cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden and kokanee salmon. Visitors are welcome to use the skiff with oars available at the cabin, and may choose to bring a small outboard motor. The motor must be less than 10 horsepower due to wilderness regulations. Personal floatation devices are not provided.

Facilities

The primitive, pre-cut cedar pan-abode style log cabin sleeps up to six people on wooden bunkbeds without mattresses. The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a wood stove for heat and an outside toilet. Firewood is generally stacked in a woodshed near the cabin, but it is not guaranteed. The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Visitors must bring their own food, water, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cook stove, matches, cooking gear/utensils, light source, toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags. Water from any natural site must be filtered, boiled or chemically treated before drinking. Click here for more cabin details.

Natural Features

The cabin sits on a small rocky rise overlooking Jim's Lake, at an elevation of 232 feet. It is hemmed in by dense old-growth forest with views to distant glacier-capped peaks The cabin is located in the Kootznoowoo Wilderness which encompasses 956,255 acres of Admiralty Island. Dense spruce and hemlock forests, lakes and muskeg define the landscape, while distant rocky peaks tower along the island's high crest, reaching elevations of over 3,000 feet. Wildlife in the area abounds. Sitka black-tailed deer navigate dense forests and bald eagles perch in treetops along most beaches. Brown bear frequent the area as well.

What the agency tells you

Rule

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)

Rule

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

Rule

Water is not available at this facility; visitors must bring their own for drinking, cooking and cleaning, or treat any water from natural sources

Everything else this campground posts · 6
Rule

All garbage and food must be packed out

Rule

Contact the Admiralty Island National Monument at 907-586-8800 prior to arrival for information about safety precautions

Rule

Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is prohibited

Rule

Learn more about Tongass National Forest

Rule

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.

Rule

To ensure users have capability of using the skiffs, it is recommended that they bring their own 8 or 9 foot oars. Oars are provided once on an annual maintenance trip but are not guaranteed to still be on site or in working order.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 cabin
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
“The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a wood stove for heat and an outside toilet.”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…but it is not guaranteed. The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Visitors must bring their own food,…”
Firewood
Mentioned
Stay limit
7 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Beach
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Wildlife viewing
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:11 UTC

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

OpenBooked

Booking window6 months outBookable now through April 16, 2027. Tomorrow at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay7 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$35From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
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’ll write once, when the season that starts Sat, May 1 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$35
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$35
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Oct 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 16:11 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Cabin or shelter1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsUp to

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.

AREA JIMS LAKE CABINA10cabin nonelectricunder 10 ft$35

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
Coordinate57.58194, -134.27393
The phone907-586-8800
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

Access to the cabin is by floatplane only. It is about a 50-minute flight from Juneau. This cabin is in a designated Wilderness area, and access by helicopter is illegal. In fall, winter and early spring, the cabin may be inaccessible due to frozen lake surface (floatplanes cannot land). The lake is normally ice free from mid-May through November. Refer to USGS topographic map Sitka C-1, C-2.

Click here for information about reaching Forest Service cabins.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon47°Light Rain Likely72% rain
Tonight40°Light Rain77% rain
Saturday45°Light Rain100% rain
Saturday Night40°Rain Showers92% rain

NWS forecast for Angoon, AK

Typical weather

Typical October night 37°F, day 46°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 22°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

70°32°10°

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.

Measured at: SNETTISHAM PWR PLT, AK (USC00508584), 43 miles away and 181 ft lower

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.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Oct 16, 2026

Who answers for this land

Nick Begich, official portrait

Jims 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 30 of the next 30 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Angoon, AK, 9.2 mi NE. Straight line.