Joe Thompson Cabin
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Come walk in the footsteps of an early 20th century trapper, prospector, and local woodworker with a stay in the Joe Thompson Cabin on the shores of Lake Clark in Lake Clark National Park. Keep reading
Recreation
The cabin is an ideal location for kayaking, boating, fishing and wildlife viewing. Please refer to Alaska Department of Fish and Game for fishing regulations and license requirements. A trip up the nearby Portage Creek trail takes you above the treeline into the highcountry west of the lake for stunning views of the Aleutian and Alaskan Ranges.
Facilities
The cabin is rustic and accommodates up to three people. It is equipped with a wood stove, table and chairs and an outhouse nearby. Sleeping accommodations include wooden bunks -- with two twin size beds (bring your own pads). There is no electricity or running water at the cabin. Fresh water is available in the lake but must be treated. The cabin is equipped with a fire extinguisher and smoke detectors. There is no cell phone coverage at the cabin. There are no mooring buoys at this location. The cabin does not offer trash service; nor does the nearby community of Port. Alsworth. Air taxis may accommodate visitor trash for a fee in Anchorage or other surrounding communities.
Natural Features
The Joe Thompson Cabin sits on the shore of Lake Clark, approximately 14 miles (22.5 km) north of Port Alsworth, Alaska. The cabin is set back in the forest with views of the lake. Streams and a developed trail are neearby.
Nearby Attractions
This is a remote backcountry cabin with the closest amenities available in Port Alsworth. The Portage Creek Trailhead is adjacent to the cabin.
Charges & Cancellations
If I book this reservation today, what are my options to change or cancel? Please remember that reservations at these facilities prevent other visitors from using these sites. Planned changes to your stay should be made as far in advance as possible. You can make changes to your reservation ahead of your arrival date iin your Recreation.gov account in "My Reservations." Changes If your new stay dates are completely different from your original stay dates, there is a $10 change fee. There are no additional fees for adding or removing nights to your stay. Balances will adjust based on your new stay's nightly rate. Cancellations You may cancel the reservation any time before the date of your scheduled arrival. You will receive a refund for your stay, minus the following fees: $10 cancellation fee Any reservation fees (only if paid when booking) Any previous change fees Late cancellation penalties may also apply: What is “Late”? For cabins, a late cancellation applies starting from midnight 14 calendar days or fewer before your scheduled check-in. Late Fee In addition to the fees listed above, a late cancellation will also subtract your first night's recreation use fee from any refund owed. As of the expected check-in day, cancellations or changes to your stay are not possible through your account. It is at the facility's discretion to support additional Late Cancellations, No Show, or Early Departure updates – on-site personnel may not be able to assist. These changes carry penalties and may forfeit recreation use fees. For additional details, please visit the Rules and Reservation Policies page .
What the agency tells you
Dogs are allowed at the cabin.
Please use wood sparingly in the cabin for heating purposes only.
The park will enforce the maximum consecutive stay limit of 5 nights for a limit of 21 nights in a calendar year.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
The cabin is only accessible by floatplane or boat; water taxis are available from Port Alsworth.
You are responsible for bringing your own cook stove, lighter, utensils, sleeping pads, bedding, toilet paper, drinking water, and/or means to treat drinking water.
Park regulations require all food, garbage, and other scented items be secured inside the cabin or bear resistant food storage locker or canister at all times because bears frequent this area. Food storage violations could result in immediate termination of the cabin reservation in addition to a fine.
Pack out all your trash and remaining food. Lake Clark National Park and Joe Thompson Cabin do not offer trash service. Port Alsworth is a rural Alaska community without a public waste or trash system.
No smoking inside the cabin. All cigarette butts must be packed out with other garbage.
Help conserve firewood! Use only when necessary. Report any problems with the woodstove to park staff.
The park highly recommends that backcountry travelers carry a means of communication and file a trip plan with someone they know.
Travel plans in this area are frequently affected by weather. The park recommends that travelers carry extra supplies and allow some flexibility in your schedule.
This facility does not receive cleaning between groups. Guests are strongly encouraged to clean surfaces before and after use.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “It is equipped with a wood stove, table and chairs and an outhouse nearby.”
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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.
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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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“You can make changes to your reservation ahead of your arrival date iin your Recreation.gov account in "My Reservations." Changes If your new stay dates are completely different from your original stay dates, there is a $10 change fee. You will receive a refund for your stay, minus the following fees: - $10 cancella…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
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 · 6
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.
| Joe Thompson Cabin | cabin nonelectric | 123 ft | $45 |
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
Priest Rock CabinLake Clark National Preserve · 5.3 miNPS Priest Rock Public Use CabinLake Clark National Preserve · 5.3 miThe cabin is 120 air miles from Anchorage and 14 miles from Port Alsworth. Visitors must arrange their own transportation. This cabin is accessible by float plane, water taxi, or private vessel. Kayakers with advanced skills can reach the cabin from Port Alsworth. There are no mooring buoys at this location.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Port Alsworth, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 44°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 10°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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Joe Thompson 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
“…a fire extinguisher and smoke detectors. There is no cell phone coverage at the cabin. There are no mooring buoys at this location.…”