U.S. Forest Service · Tongass National Forest · AK

Kanga Bay Cabin

ReservableBookable through October 31; an off-peak season follows November 1 to April 30.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:10 UTC
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
40 ftElevation
842 ftWater · an unnamed streamOcean · 19 ft · to the Gulf of Alaska
In townSitka, AK
74%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 176th darkest of 280 in AK

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices

In the agency’s own words

Kanga Bay Cabin overlooks a secluded cove off Redoubt Bay on Baranof Island, and was built in 1998 by local volunteers. It's available year round, weather permitting, and makes an excellent base for experiencing and exploring this corner of Alaska. The site is remote. It can only be accessed by floatplane or boat. It's 10-minute plane ride or a 40-minute boat ride from Sitka. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading

Recreation

Visitors enjoy fishing for sockeye and coho salmon during August at Redoubt Lake, about 30 minutes away by boat. The bay offers a great location for kayaking, but visitors must provide their own kayaks. For information about fishing and hunting permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.

Facilities

The wooden, Pan abode-style cabin measures 15 by 17 feet and can accommodate up to six people. A large deck extends across the front of the cabin. One double plywood bunk and one single plywood bunk are furnished on the main level. A staircase accesses the open sleeping loft, which has two single plywood bunks and overlooks the main level. Amenities include a wood stove for heat, a table with benches, a cooking counter, broom and an axe or splitting maul. An outhouse toilet is close to the cabin. A mooring buoy is available on a first-come, first-served basis for boat anchorage. Cabin reservation does not include exclusive use of the buoy. Mooring buoys are configured using a 4200-lb concrete block with 90 feet of 7/8th-inch stud link chain. Mariners are responsible for determining how suitable an anchoring system is for the size of their craft. 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, raingear and rubber boots. Water available from nearby stream, 100 feet from the cabin, 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 cabin faces southeast, overlooking a cove, with distant views possible of the snow-capped peaks over Redoubt Bay. A spruce and hemlock forest surrounds the cabin, which sits just above a sloping, sand pebble beach. Deer, brown bear and a variety of seabirds inhabit the area.

Nearby Attractions

Popular Goddard Hot Springs is about a 20-minute boat ride to the south, where soaking pools are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

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

Cabin not maintained during the winter; firewood can be in short supply

Everything else this campground posts · 7
Rule

Cabin location offers protected boat anchorage, but the area occasionally experiences high winds from the southeast or from the Redoubt Lake area

Rule

Treat or boil water before drinking

Rule

All garbage and food must be packed out

Rule

For boat or air charters, contact the Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau at 907-747-5940 or online

Rule

Learn more about the 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

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.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
“An outhouse toilet is close to the cabin.”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“It's recommended that visitors bring their own water.”

Around the campground

On the water
Hot springs, Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
Boating
Fishing
Hunting
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

1 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

Booking windowThrough October 31Bookable now through October 31, 2026, the end of the peak season. The off-peak season that follows runs November 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027; recreation.gov releases it on its own schedule, so check there before counting on those nights.recreation.gov
Max stay7 nightsthe facility record
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 Sun, Nov 1 2026 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 · 14

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
Group area, a night$50
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 1, 2026 to Oct 31, 2026.
Only one change per reservation for all Alaska cabins is allowed.
Change is defined as a modification to the start or end date of the reservation
after one change has been made, if additional changes are desired, the customer must cancel the current reservation and re-book the new dates.
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 · 4

recreation.gov availability, read 16:10 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 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
Standard1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
Sleeps

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 KANGA BAY CABINS24standard nonelectric818 ft

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
Coordinate56.87885, -135.34282
The phone907-747-6671
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

Accessible year round, weather permitting. Located 12 air miles south of Sitka on Baranof Island within Kanga Bay. From Sitka, floatplane access is 10 minutes, boat access is 40 minutes. For geographic features surrounding the cabin, refer to USGS topographicmaps Port Alexander D-5 and D-4.

Please consult local tide tables before departing for the cabin.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight38°Showers And Thunderstorms100% rain
Saturday41°Rain Showers100% rain
Saturday Night37°Rain Showers100% rain
Sunday39°Rain Showers88% rain

NWS forecast for Sitka, AK

Typical weather

Typical October night 42°F, day 51°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical February night 32°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

70°32°20°

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.

Measured at: SITKA AIRPORT, AK (USW00025333), 12 miles away and 26 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Roadless
Redoubt68,347 acres · 2 mi · inventoried roadless area

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

Kanga Bay 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.