Patching Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:12 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
Patching Lake Cabin sits on the north end of Patching Lake near the inlet of the Naha River 20 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska. The cabin is open year-round and makes an excellent base for experiencing this corner of Alaska with its recreation options and abundant wildlife. The cabin is remote and accessible only by float plane, depending on conditions. 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, fishing and hunting are popular activities at this cabin. Resident cutthroat trout are available in Patching and Chamberlain Lakes, but there is no access trail to Chamberlain Lake from the cabin. For information about fishing and hunting permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website. A 14-foot aluminum 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.
Facilities
The 12x14-ft. ( pan-abode style ) log cabin accommodates 6 people with 2 single and 2 double bunks. Other amenities include a table and benches, a cooking counter, food storage, broom, splitting maul, and an outhouse. A wood stove is provided for heat. NOTE: Firewood may be available, but visitors are encouraged to contact the Ketchikan Misty Fjords Ranger District to check the status of the woodshed. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. Visitors must bring their own water supply, but water is also available from a nearby creek, but should be treated before drinking or cooking with it ( water safety ). Visitors should also bring sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cooking gear, lanterns or flashlights, food, toilet paper, garbage bags, a fire extinguisher and fire starter. Rain gear and boots are recommended. Visitors are expected to pack out their trash, gear and food and clean the cabin before leaving (additional cabin details).
Natural Features
The cabin sits at the lake's edge, backed by a rainforest of old-growth cedar, Sitka spruce and western hemlock. This is a beautiful location where the Naha River flows from Chamberlain Lake into Patching Lake. Visitors can stand on the front deck and gaze out over the lake and the surrounding forest and mountains or explore the area from the gravel bar in front of the cabin. Wildlife includes Sitka black-tail deer, black bear, beaver and wolf (bear safety and precautions). Geese and trumpeter swans are often seen on 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
No drinking water is available at this cabin
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Pack out all gear, food and trash
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is not allowed
Same day reservations allowed for this cabin
There are no discounts for Golden Age/Access Passports for Alaska cabin rentals
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
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
- “…to check the status of the woodshed. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. Visitors must bring their own water…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- None
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:12 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 16:12 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 PATCHING LAKE CABIN | K11 | cabin nonelectric | 11 ftNaha River | $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
Heckman Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 3.2 mi
Jordan Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 3.4 mi
Southeast Heckman CabinTongass National Forest · 3.4 miLast Chance CampgroundTongass National Forest · 14 mi
Plenty Cutthroat CabinTongass National Forest · 15 mi
Manzanita Lake CabinMisty Fjords National Monument · 15 miApproximately 20 miles north of Ketchikan, Alaska, on the north end of Patching Lake near the inlet of the Naha River. Access is by float plane only. Refer to USGS Ketchikan C-5.
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 Loring, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 52°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
Patching 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…”