McDonald Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:08 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
McDonald Lake Cabin sits on Wolverine Island near the outlet of McDonald Lake 50 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska. The cabin is available year-round and makes an excellent base for experiencing this corner of Alaska with its many recreational options and abundant wildlife. The cabin is remote and accessible only by boat or float plane, depending on conditions. Visitors arriving by boat must anchor at Yes Bay and walk the 1.5-mile McDonald Lake Trail to get to the cabin. This primitive cabin has no electricity, indoor plumbing or cell phone coverage. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Boating, hiking, fishing and hunting are popular activities at this cabin. The McDonald Lake Trail features a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 3-sided shelter. A skiff with oars is provided for rowing around the lake, but visitors must provide their own life jackets. The skiff can use a short-shaft motor, which is not provided. Steelhead and salmon runs occur up to Wolverine Creek. The lake offers resident trout and Dolly Varden. For information about fishing and hunting permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
Facilities
The 12x14-ft. (pan-abode style) cabin accommodates 6 people with 2 double bunks and 2 single bunks. Other amenities include a table and benches, a cooking counter, a broom with dust pan, outhouse, splitting maul, and woodstove. Bring your own firewood as it cannot be guaranteed. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. It is recommended that visitors bring their own water supply, but water is available from a small stream near the cabin and should be treated before drinking or cooking with it (water safety tips). Visitors should bring sleeping bags, sleeping pads, a cooking stove and cooking gear, lanterns or flashlights, toilet paper, garbage bags, fire extinguisher and a fire starter. Rain gear and boots are recommended. Visitors are expected to pack out all their trash, gear and food and clean the cabin before leaving (more cabin details).
Natural Features
The cabin is backed by old-growth cedar, Sitka spruce and Western hemlock rainforest. From the front deck, visitors can gaze out over the lake and its forested shoreline, as well as admire the surrounding mountain peaks. Wildlife in the area includes Sitka black-tailed deer, black and brown bear, wolf, beaver, marten, mink and otter (bear safety and precautions). A variety of birds may be spotted in and around the lake.
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
Drinking water is not available at this cabin
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Pack out all trash, gear and food
Same day reservations allowed for this cabin
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is not allowed
The person holding the reservation for this cabin must be at least 18 years of age and must be a member of the party using the cabin
There are no discounts for Golden Age/Access Passports for Alaska cabin rentals
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “Drinking water is not available at the cabin.”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- None
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:08 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 · 15
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:08 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 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.
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 MCDONALD LAKE CABIN | K08 | cabin nonelectric | 19 ft | $60 |
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
Blind Pass Cabin6.9 mi
Reflection Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Frosty Bay CabinTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Anan Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 13 mi
Plenty Cutthroat CabinTongass National Forest · 16 mi
Eagle Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 16 miApproximately 50 miles from Ketchikan. Located on Cleveland Peninsula, north of Yes Bay. Cabin site is on Wolverine Island near outlet of lake.
Access is by float plane or boat. There is a 1.5-mile hike by trail from Yes Bay Lodge at saltwater. Refer to USGS Ketchikan D-6.
In fall, winter, and early spring, the cabin may be inaccessible due to frozen lake surface (float planes cannot land). Please contact the Ketchikan-Misty Fjords Ranger District for information prior to making reservations during these periods.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Wrangell, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 51°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 32°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 Augusts are colder than the August 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
McDonald 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 →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…cabin has no electricity, indoor plumbing or cell phone coverage. Visitors are responsible for their own travel…”