Steamer Bay Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:10 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Steamer Bay Cabin is on the northwest corner of Etolin Island on the east side of Steamer Bay. Its location on saltwater provides access to fishing and paddling opportunities. The site can be accessed by float plane or boat, depending on conditions. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Saltwater fishing for King salmon is possible from May through July, silver salmon in August and September, and halibut from June through September. Dolly Varden and pink salmon (July through August) are available in nearby Porcupine Creek. Steamer Bay offers opportunities for crabbing, as well as digging for clams and abalone. The gravel beach, nearby islands and rocky shorelines invite beachcombing. The surrounding area can be explored on foot or by water, but tide tables should be consulted before any boating, kayaking or canoeing excursion.
Facilities
The 20-by-20 cabin ( modified A-frame style ) has two single bunks (one with a trundle bed) and a partial loft, to sleep up to seven people. It is also equipped with a table with benches, wood stove for heat, fire grill, broom and outhouse. A partially covered deck wraps around three sides of the cabin, and a wooden cooler box is provided for food storage. The cabin is fully accessible and includes a wheelchair ramp from the beach to the cabin. There is a mooring buoy located in the water in front of the cabin. Water and electricity are not provided. Water is available from a small stream, but guests should be sure to treat water taken from any outside source prior to consumption ( water safety tips ). It is recommended that guests bring their own water supply. Cooking facilities are not available. Guests should provide their own firewood, cook stove, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, 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 sits near a gravel beach and overlooks Steamer Bay and Clarence Strait, as well as large rock outcroppings, a grassy estuary and tidal flats. The surrounding terrain is mountainous and densely forested with Sitka spruce and western hemlock rainforest. Muskeg is also common in the area. Brown and black bears, porcupine, deer, waterfowl, porpoises, whales and other marine life are commonly seen in the area (learn about bear safety ). Roosevelt elk were introduced here and thrive on Etolin Island.
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 bring drinking water or be prepared to treat water taken from natural sources before use
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Firewood is not provided at the cabin; visitors must provide their own
There is no cell phone service at the cabin
Please pack out all trash and food
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is not allowed
High levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) have been reported in this area
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
- “It is recommended that guests bring their own water supply.”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek, Beach, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:10 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 16:10 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 STEAMER BAY CABIN | W14 | cabin nonelectric | 302 ft | $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
Barnes Lake Cabin15 mi
Deep Bay CabinTongass National Forest · 16 miThree Sisters Overlook CampsiteTongass National Forest · 16 miNemo Campsites Entry & Info SiteTongass National Forest · 16 miYunshookuh Loop Campground17 miSteamer Bay Cabin is located on the northwest corner of Etolin Island on the east side of Steamer Bay. The cabin is accessible by boat or float plane only, and is 27 miles by boat or 25 miles by air from Wrangell.
Use caution when anchoring the boat due to the rocky shoreline. Check local tide tables to determine the best time for arrival and departure, ideally at high slack tide. There is a mooring buoy anchored in the bay for cabin guests only.
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 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
Steamer 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 →