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

Marten Lake Cabin

ReservableBookable through April 16; today 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 16:13 UTC
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
230 ftElevation
290 ftWater · Marten CreekOcean · 3.5 mi · to the Pacific Ocean
In townWrangell, AK
69%Tree cover
Bortle 1Night sky · 42nd darkest of 280 in AK

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices

In the agency’s own words

A stay at Marten Lake Cabin provides for a unique experience at a remote, backcountry lake only accessible by floatplane. It is situated on the north side of Marten Lake, above Blake Channel and Bradfield Canal, 25 miles southeast of Wrangell, Alaska. The site can be accessed by float plane, depending on conditions. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading

Recreation

Anglers can fish for cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden in Marten Lake and nearby Clay Lake. Steelhead is available in lower Marten Creek. A skiff with oars is available at the cabin for rowing around the lake, but guests must provide their own flotation devices and ensure that the skiff is secured before leaving the cabin. Bear and mountain goat hunting is possible in designated seasons with the proper permits.

Facilities

The 12-by-14 cabin ( pan-abode style ) has single and double bunks to sleep up to four people. The cabin also has a table and benches, a broom and a wood-burning stove for heat. An outhouse is located just outside the cabin. A wooden cooler box for food storage is located on the partially covered front porch. Water and electricity are not provided. Water is available from a stream behind the cabin, but guests should be sure to treat water taken from any outside source before drinking or cooking with it ( water safety tips ). It is recommended that guests bring their own water supply. In addition to bringing a cook stove, guests should provide their own firewood, 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 in a relatively flat valley, with scenic views of Marten Lake and the steep mountains rising from the shoreline. The surrounding rainforest is primarily Sitka spruce and western hemlock with some cedar. There is a sand beach in front of the cabin at low and moderate lake levels. This area is home to brown and black bears, as well as moose ( bear safety information ). Mountain goats can sometimes been seen on the surrounding peaks.

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 the cabin; guests must bring their own water supply or be prepared to treat water taken from natural sources

Everything else this campground posts · 5
Rule

Firewood is not provided at the cabin; visitors must provide their own

Rule

There is no cell phone service at the cabin

Rule

Please pack out all trash and food

Rule

Cabin floor may flood after periods of extremely heavy rainfall

Rule

Click here for more information about Tongass National Forest

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

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

Facilities

Toilets
Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
“An outhouse is located just outside the cabin.”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“It is recommended that guests bring their own water supply.”
Firewood
Mentioned
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, Creek, Beach
Fishing
Hunting
Wildlife viewing
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:13 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. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay10 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 · 18

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.
Reservations can be made the day of arrival or up to 180 days in advance of cabin arrival.
Cabin reservations are restricted to a maximum stay of 7 consecutive nights per party for any one reservation between May 1 and September 30, and 10 consecutive days from Oct. 1 through April 30.
There are no discounts for Alaska cabin rentals with Golden Age and Golden Passports.
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 · 5

recreation.gov availability, read 16:13 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
Up 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 MARTEN LAKE CABINW17cabin nonelectric290 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
Coordinate56.27917, -131.84861
The phone907-874-2323
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

The cabin is located at the north end of Marten Lake, southeast of Wrangell. The lake is on the mainland (at an elevation of 178 feet) above Blake Channel and the Bradfield Canal.

This cabin is accessible by float plane only and is 25 miles by air from Wrangell. Marten Lake is usually ice-free from May to October. In fall, winter and early spring, the cabin may be inaccessible due to frozen lake surface (float planes cannot land). The cabin floor can flood during high lake levels. Please check on local conditions before you go by calling the Wrangell Ranger District at (907) 874-2323.

The weather

the next four days

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight34°Chance Rain Showers37% rain
Saturday43°Rain Showers100% rain
Saturday Night38°Rain Showers100% rain
Sunday41°Rain Showers100% rain

NWS forecast for Wrangell, AK

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Roadless
Southeast Wrangell18,377 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
East Wrangell7,630 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Harding174,349 acres · 8 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

Marten 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.