Shipley Bay 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 · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Shipley Bay Cabin offers visitors recreation, relaxation and a unique lodging experience on Kosciusko Island in southeastern Alaska. The remote site offers a scenic setting for fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing, all within the vicinity of the cabin. The site can either be accessed by float plane or boat at high tide. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
The cabin is an excellent location for anglers, as the stream and lake support cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, dolly varden, steelhead and three species of salmon. Hikers may want to head out from the cabin on a rugged 0.8 mile natural-tread trail connecting Shipley Creek to Shipley Lake. Continuing to Devilfish Bay is an option as well, however good maps and orienteering skills are essential as there is no designated trail. The snow-capped Mount Francis rises 2,592 feet in elevation and can be seen in the distance from the cabin on a clear day.
Facilities
The cabin is a 12 x 14 foot primitive, pre-cut cedar log cabin ( pan-abode style ) furnished with wooden bunkbeds (without mattresses) that sleep 4-6 guests. The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a tiny stove for heat and an outdoor toilet. Other amenities include a cooking counter, fire extinguisher and a broom. The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Guests must bring their own food, water, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cook stove/fuel, biobricks for stove, fire starter, cooking gear/utensils, light source (lantern), toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags. Water is available from the nearby stream, but must be filtered, boiled or chemically treated before drinking. Click here for more cabin details.
Natural Features
The cabin sits on a low bluff between Shipley Creek and Shipley Bay on Koscicusko Island. The front of the cabin faces out to a large rocky beach, and a grassy tidal flat extends from its back where Shipley Creek meets the ocean. Wildlife in the area abounds, including a variety of waterfowl, shore birds, bald eagles, Sitka black-tailed deer and black bears. Learn more about bear safety in the Tongass National Forest.
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
Guests must bring their own cooking stove and fuel
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Guests must bring biobricks for woodstove
All garbage and food must be packed out
Click here for a map of cabins on Prince of Wales Island
The person holding the reservation must be 18, and must be a member of party using the cabin
Check in and check out are at 12 p.m.
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is limited; please contact the district office for more information
Same day reservation are available for this cabin
No discounts for Golden Age and Golden Passports for Alaska cabin rentals
Learn more 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
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, a tiny stove for heat and an outdoor toilet.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “The cabin does not have running water or electricity.”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- 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 · 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 SHIPLEY BAY CABIN | T12 | cabin nonelectric | 431 ft | $25 |
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
Where it is
El Capitan CabinTongass National Forest · 8.5 mi
El Capitan CampgroundTongass National Forest · 8.5 mi
Red Bay Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 13 mi
Sarkar Lake Cabin15 mi
Salmon Bay Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 17 mi
Barnes Lake Cabin21 miShipley Bay Cabin is accessible by float plane or one hour boat ride from El Capitan dock. Fog, high winds, and low tides can make landing at the cabin difficult. Click here for Sitka tide table information.
A mooring buoy in the bay is available on first-come, first-served basis. Mooring of more than one vessel is allowed if the first party there agrees. Refer to USGS map Petersburg A-5. Click here for information about reaching Forest Service Cabins.
Inclement weather conditions may cause an extension of your trip during any time of the year and winter access can be difficult due to snow and ice conditions. Guests should bring extra supplies to last 2-5 days Please contact the Thorne Bay Ranger District at 907-828-3304 prior to arrival for more detailed information about safety precautions.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Edna Bay, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 40°F, day 52°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 30°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
Shipley Bay 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 →