Winstanley Island Cabin
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:09 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Winstanley Island Cabin is located on Winstanley Island approximately 30 air miles east of Ketchikan. The cabin offers saltwater recreation and wildlife viewing opportunities and makes an excellent base for experiencing this corner of Alaska. The cabin is remote and accessible only by float plane, boat or kayak, 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
A number of scenic attractions can be reached by boat or kayak from Winstanley Island Cabin, including Walker Cove, Chickamin River, Smeaton Bay, New Eddystone Rock and the Behm Canal. Rudyerd Bay is a good day trip for adventurous sea kayakers. Local tide tables should be consulted before any boating excursion. Hiking trails to freshwater streams and lakes and various hunting areas are accessible by boat, including Winstanley Lake (#743), Checats (#704), Ella (#70), Manzanita (#721) and Nooya Lake (#724). Saltwater fishing is possible around the cabin.
Facilities
The 12x14-ft. ( pan-abode style ) cabin accommodates up to 6 people with 2 single bunks and 2 double bunks. Other amenities include a table with benches, cooking counter, food storage, broom and dustpan. A wood stove is provided for heat, along with a splitting maul. An outhouse is located nearby. Bring your own firewood as it cannot be guaranteed. A mooring buoy is available on a first-come, first-served basis. The cabin reservation does not give exclusive use of the buoy. More than one vessel is allowed to use the buoy if the first party there agrees. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. Visitors should bring their own water supply, but water is also available from a nearby creek 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 (more cabin details).
Natural Features
The cabin is located on Shoalwater Pass, which is on the east side of Behm Canal between Rudyerd and Smeaton Bays within the Misty Fiords Monument Wilderness. It is surrounded by rugged mountain peaks and spruce, hemlock and cedar forest. The Misty Fiords Monument Wilderness supports a diverse variety of wildlife. Mountain goats, bears, moose and bald eagles make their home here ( bear safety ). The waters host a variety of aquatic mammals, including Dall's porpoise, orcas, humpback whales, sea otters and harbor seals. Many seabirds can also be seen.
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
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Please pack out all trash and food and clean cabin before departing
Please conserve firewood as the supplied firewood is for wood stove use only
This is the Winstanley Island Cabin, and is not to be confused with Winstanley Lake Cabin
This cabin is in a designated Wilderness area, and access by helicopter is illegal
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.
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
- “An outhouse is located nearby.”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…buoy if the first party there agrees. Drinking water is not available at the cabin. Visitors should bring their own water…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Coast
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Forest Service says
- None
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:09 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 16:09 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 WINSTANLEY ISLAND CABIN | M13 | cabin nonelectric | 4,941 ft | $60 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Winstanley Lake CabinMisty Fjords National Monument · 3.8 mi
Checats Lake CabinMisty Fjords National Monument · 3.8 mi
Ella Narrows CabinMisty Fjords National Monument · 7.9 mi
Manzanita Lake CabinMisty Fjords National Monument · 12 mi
Fish Creek CabinTongass National Forest · 12 mi
Wilson Narrows CabinMisty Fjords National Monument · 13 miThe cabin is located on saltwater approximately 30 air miles east of Ketchikan on Winstanley Island on the east side of the Behm Canal between Rudyard and Smeaton Bays. The cabin is accessible by float plane or boat. A mooring buoy is provided at the site. Refer to USGS map Ketchikan B-3. Please consult local tide tables before departing for the cabin.
This cabin is in a designated Wilderness area, and access by helicopter is illegal.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Saxman, 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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Winstanley Island 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…”