Kook Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:16 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
Kook Lake Cabin sits on the west end of Kook Lake, approximately 45 miles northeast of Sitka, Alaska. The cabin is available May through November, weather permitting, and makes an excellent base for experiencing and exploring this corner of Alaska. The cabin is remote and accessible by floatplane, weather permitting, 30 minutes from either Sitka or Juneau. The cabin can also be reached by a boat and hiking trip. The cabin is about an 8-mile hike from Corner Bay. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors enjoy hiking on a network of old logging roads of the the Corner Bay road system near the cabin. The 0.7-mile Kook Lake Trail begins behind the cabin and ends at Forest Road 7540, part of the Corner Bay road system. The trail is not maintained and crosses through many muskegs. It can be very wet, muddy and hard to follow. On Road 7540, it is a 7-mile hike to Tenakee Inlet and Corner Bay, the site of a former logging camp, now uninhabited. Tenakee Springs is located across Tenakee Inlet. Cutthroat and Dolly Varden fishing is available year-round in the lake. Good runs of sockeye occur during July and August, and coho salmon during late August and early September. Seasonal deer and bear hunting is also available. For information about fishing and hunting permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
Facilities
The wood A-frame cabin measures 16 by 16 feet and has one double plywood bunk on the main level, and an upstairs sleeping loft with no bunks reached by climbing a vertical ladder. A wood stove for heat, a table with benches, a cooking counter, a broom, an axe or splitting maul and an outdoor screened cooler box are provided. An outhouse toilet is close to the cabin. 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, fire extinguisher, fire starter and personal flotation devices (PFDs). Rain gear and rubber boots are a necessity. Water is available from the lake or a nearby stream, but must be treated before using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. A small but heavy square-bowed skiff (rowboat) is provided. A long-shaft 2-10 horsepower outboard motor enhances the use of the skiff, but is not provided. Each person using the skiff should wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device (PFD). Be sure plug is in before launching boat. Tie skiff well up on shore and pull plug before leaving so boat does not fill with rain water. Click here for more cabin information and maps.
Natural Features
The cabin sits in a beautiful stand of spruce and hemlock, surrounded by flat terrain with a sandy beach in front. North of the lake, the land gradually rises to 1,500 feet (455 meters), then ascends sharply to alpine. On the south, slopes are fairly steep, rising from the lake to 2,500 feet (762 meters). Brown bear frequent the 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
Cabin may be inaccessible from December through early May due to frozen lake surface (floatplanes cannot land); please contact the local Forest Service Ranger District office for current information prior to making reservations during these periods
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Firewood may be in short supply at any time of the year
Boil or treat stream water
All garbage and food must be packed out
For boat or air charters, contact the Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau at 907-747-5940 or online
Learn more about the 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
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “An outhouse toilet is close to the cabin.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…using. It's recommended that visitors bring their own water. A small but heavy square-bowed skiff (rowboat) is…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:16 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 · 14
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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:16 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| CHCI | S03 | standard nonelectric | under 10 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sitkoh Lake (East) CabinTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Sitkoh Lake (West) CabinTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Appleton Cove CabinTongass National Forest · 17 mi
Kennel Creek Cabin (AK)17 mi
Lake Eva CabinTongass National Forest · 18 mi
Florence Lake (East) CabinAdmiralty Island National Monument · 19 miAccessible May through November. Located near the eastern shore of Chichagof Island between the outlets of Tenakee Inlet and Peril Strait, about 45 miles northeast of Sitka. Access is by floatplane, 30 minutes from Sitka or Juneau; or by boating to Corner Bay and hiking 7 miles on logging road and 0.7-miles on Kook Lake Trail to the cabin. For geographic features surrounding the cabin, refer to USGS topographic maps Sitka C-3 and C-4.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sitka, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 38°F, day 48°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Kook 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 →