Shakes Slough 1 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 · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Shakes Slough 1 Cabin makes an excellent basecamp for exploring the Stikine River. It is located at the confluence of the Stikine River and Shakes Slough and within a few hundred feet of neighboring Shakes Slough 2 Cabin. These cabins offer spectacular views of the surrounding Stikine-LeConte Wilderness. The site can be accessed by float plane or shallow draft boat, depending on conditions. A tide of at least 14 feet is required to navigate the Stikine River tide flats. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
This area of the Stikine River offers plenty of places to explore by boat. Shakes Lake and Glacier are located three miles north of the cabin and offer excellent opportunities to view wildlife and scenery. The Chief Shakes Hot Springs are approximately four miles upstream, and can be accessed by boat from Hot Springs Slough, which is off the Ketili Slough. A 0.3-mile trail leads from Hot Springs Slough to the Chief Shakes Hot Springs. River levels and tide charts should be checked before any boating activity in the area. Cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden are in the river from June to October, but a boat is needed to reach the trout streams. Hunting is also available in the area during designated seasons.
Facilities
The 12-by-14 cabin (pan-abode style) was built in 1962 and has two single and two double bunks, to sleep up to four people. The cabin also has a table and benches, broom, oil heater and an outhouse. A wooden cooler box for food storage is located on the partially covered front porch. Water and electricity are not provided, and there are no natural drinking water sources near the cabin. Guests must bring their own drinking water. Heating oil is not supplied by the Forest Service. In addition to bringing a supply of No.1 stove oil, guests should pack sleeping bags, sleeping pads, a cooking stove, 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 is tucked into a stand of spruce trees back from the bank of the Stikine River. It overlooks Shakes Slough and offers spectacular views of Popof Glacier, Mount Basargin and other nearby peaks. The vegetation in front of the cabin is primarily ferns and salmonberry, with willow and alder along the slough. The surrounding rainforest consists of Sitka spruce and western hemlock, with cottonwood on the valley bottom. Brown and black bears roam the area, and moose are sometimes seen among the willow thickets ( bear safety information ). Mountain goats can occasionally be spotted in the surrounding mountains. The Stikine River tide flats are a major stopover point in the spring and fall for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl.
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
Water is not available at the cabin; please observe water safety precautions when using water taken from natural sources
Everything else this campground posts · 6
There is no cell phone service at the cabin
Please pack out all trash and food
This cabin is in a designated wilderness area; access by helicopter is illegal
Click here for more information about 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 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- OUTHOUSE on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “Guests must bring their own drinking water.”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Lake, River, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
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 · 18
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.
| AREA SHAKES SLOUGH 1 CABIN | W01 | cabin nonelectric | 368 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
Where it is
Shakes Slough 2 CabinTongass National Forest · 0.0 mi
Mount Rynda Cabin6.2 mi
Twin Lakes Cabin (AK)Tongass National Forest · 6.3 mi
Mount Flemer Cabin9.2 mi
Garnet Ledge CabinTongass National Forest · 14 mi
Sergief Island CabinTongass National Forest · 14 miThe Shakes Slough Cabins are located in the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness on the north shore of the Stikine River at the Shakes Slough entrance. From Wrangell, the cabin is 20 miles by float plane or 25 miles by shallow draft boat.
Low river levels and tides affect access to the cabins ( Stikine River level at Shakes Gage ). A minimum depth of 14 feet is required for navigating through the Stikine River tide flats. The river is normally ice-free May to October.
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 39°F, day 47°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
Shakes Slough 1 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 →