Upper Russian Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:24 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
Upper Russian Lake Cabin is a rustic trapper style log cabin located on Upper Russian lake. It was recently refurbished to keep the old fashioned charm of the 1950s, when it was originally built. Its location provides good fishing and boating opportunities. Visitors enjoy exploring surrounding trails and viewing wildlife. The cabin can be accessed by hiking, biking, skiing, horseback, snowmobile, and floatplane. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors enjoy boating and fishing for Dolly Varden and rainbow trout on Upper Russian Lake. A rowboat with oars is provided at the cabin. Fishing equipment is not provided and permits are required to fish or hunt in the state, click here to learn more about Alaska Department of Fish & Game regulations. In season, visitors hunt for moose, black and brown bears and wolves in the surrounding forest. Hiking, mountain biking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling (during open seasons only) are also popular in the area. Learn more about hiking the Russian Lakes Trail Facilities The log cabin has bunk space for six and max. occupancy of eight people. It is equipped with counter space, table, benches and a wood stove for heat. An outhouse is also provided. Firewood can also be cut in the area, using the splitting maul and hand saw supplied at the cabin. Visitors will need to bring their own water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes. Water taken from streams and lakes must be treated or boiled prior to consumption. Visitors will also need to bring their own bedding and sleeping pads, flashlights, cooking gear, food, clothing and cooking utensils, among other necessities. All garbage and food must be packed out.
Natural Features
The cabin is located south of Sterling Highway, set back from the north shore of Upper Russian Lake. It is surrounded by an open grove of giant cottonwood trees with views of the lake and mountains beyond. For more information on access and regulations pertaining to this cabin, trail conditions, safety precautions and outdoor safety and ethics , please contact the Seward Ranger District.
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
Winter access is via a trek of up to 12 miles
Everything else this campground posts · 11
There is no source of fresh water near the cabin; visitors must bring their own, or treat or boil water from streams and lakes.
Use of this cabin by a commercial operator, such as an outfitter or guide, is not allowed
All garbage and food must be packed out.
Forest Order (10-04-00-14-47) that limits occupying/renting a public use rental cabin for more than seven consecutive days by any group or person.
It is unlawful to use a public recreation cabin without a valid cabin reservation.
Occupying a Public Recreation cabin with more than eight individuals per cabin for each permitted day is prohibited.
Camping, pitching tents, or staying overnight within 300 feet of any public recreation use cabin is prohibited unless you have a valid cabin reservation.
It is prohibited to hitch, tether, or hobble any saddle or pack animal including dog teams, within 200 feet of an established trail, water source, or developed recreation site, including Forest Service recreation cabins.
Camping and/ or occupying any one Public Recreation Use Cabin for a period longer than seven consecutive days by any person or group including but not limited to family members, members of the same household, and members of the same camping party within a 30 day period, and three consecutive days May 15 to August 31.
Learn more about Chugach 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
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “An outhouse is also provided.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…at the cabin. Visitors will need to bring their own water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes. Water…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Winter sports
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:24 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
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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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 19
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 16:24 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 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 UPPER RUSSIAN LAKE CABIN | S04 | cabin nonelectric | 222 ft | $75 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Aspen Flats Cabin (Chugach National Forest, AK)Chugach National Forest · 3.0 mi
Barber Cabin (Chugach National Forest, AK)Chugach National Forest · 6.4 miCooper Creek SouthChugach National Forest · 8.8 mi
Russian RiverChugach National Forest · 9.2 miQuartz Creek CampgroundChugach National Forest · 10 miCrescent Creek CampgroundChugach National Forest · 12 miAccess to the cabin is via the Russian Lakes Trail, 9 miles from the Russian Lakes Trailhead on Snug Harbor Road or 12 miles from the Russian Lakes Trailhead located in Russian River Campground.
Winter parking for Upper Russian Trailhead is located at mile 9 of Snug Harbor Road. The last 3 miles of Snug Harbor Road are not plowed in the winter. Winter parking for Lower Russian Lakes Trailhead is 1 mile back on the campground road and the last mile of the campground road is not plowed. Access the cabin via Russian Lakes Trail (12 miles from Russian River Campground parking area and 9 miles from the Cooper Lake Trailhead). Maps are available online or by calling the Seward Ranger District at 907-288-3178.
Winter travelers need to be able to evaluate avalanche and over-ice travel conditions. For more current travel conditions call the Seward Ranger District at 907-288-3178. Motorized access is prohibited in the winter and summer. The trail is closed to horse/pack stock from April 1 to June 30. Trail access information for Russian Lakes Trail
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cooper Landing, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 31°F, day 41°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 16°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
Upper Russian 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 →