Southeast Heckman Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 14:57 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
Southeast Heckman Cabin is situated on the southeast shore of Heckman Lake within the Naha Recreation Area approximately 15 miles from Ketchikan. The cabin is open year-round and makes an excellent base for experiencing this corner of Alaska with its recreation options, beautiful scenery 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
Fishing and boating are popular activities at this cabin. The Naha River is noted for steelhead and salmon runs and offers resident trout and Dolly Varden. For information about fishing permits and seasons, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website. Guests have use of the cabin's 14-foot aluminum skiff with oars, but they must provide their own life jackets. A short-shaft motor can be used with the skiff, but one is not provided.
Facilities
The 16x22-ft. ( pan-abode style ) log cabin accommodates 8 people with 3 single and 2 double bunks. Other amenities include a table and benches, a cooking counter, broom, splitting maul, and outhouse. A wood stove is provided for heat. Bring your own firewood as it cannot be guaranteed. This cabin is designed to be barrier-free, with accessible boardwalks connecting the dock, cabin and outhouse. The boardwalk has an incline between 5 and 15 percent. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. Visitors must bring their own water supply, but water is also available from the lake and 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 in a clearing overlooking the lake, backed by old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock. The terrain is sloped above and below the cabin. Visitors can gaze out over the lake to the densely forested slopes on the other side. Sitka black-tailed deer, black bear, marten, mink, beaver and wolf are common to the area (bear safety and precautions). A variety of birds may be seen 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
No drinking water is available at this cabin
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Please pack out all trash, food and gear
Please conserve firewood; supplied firewood is for wood stove use only
Same day reservations allowed for this cabin
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
- 1
Facilities
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…has an incline between 5 and 15 percent. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. Visitors must bring their own water…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Boating
- Fishing
- Wildlife viewing
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- None
1 of 1 sites open on Sat, Oct 17read 14:57 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 14:57 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 SOUTHEAST HECKMAN CABIN | K04 | cabin nonelectric | yes | 18 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
Heckman Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 0.9 mi
Jordan Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 2.1 mi
Patching Lake CabinTongass National Forest · 3.4 miLast Chance CampgroundTongass National Forest · 11 mi
Last Chance CampgroundTongass National Forest · 12 miThree C's Group Use CampgroundTongass National Forest · 13 miAccess to the cabin is by float plane. The cabin is approximately 15 miles from Ketchikan within the Naha Recreation Area. Cabin is located on the southeast shore of Heckman Lake about a half mile across from the inlet of the Naha River. Refer to USGS map 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
Southeast Heckman 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…”