Catch Cabin Fever In Southeast Alaska U.S. Forest Service Cabins In Alaska Are The Best Deal In Town

Consider these two guys from Elgin, Ill., stepping out of a Cessna at the Juneau airport’s float-plane basin.

They’ve both got five-day beards, the legal limit of cutthroat trout in a cooler, and fresh memories of scores more hooked and released. The plane has just picked them up from a lake in the interior of million-acre Admiralty Island. The trip rewrote their definitions of wild and gorgeous. Even without the trout, their adventure in remote Alaska would have been overwhelming.

“Forget everywhere you’ve ever been!” one of them shouts. Their slice of wild Alaska could have cost a fortune at a remote fly-in lodge. Or it could have meant tenting in chilly rain, where humans are outnumbered by grizzly bears.

But the buddies from Illinois neither paid resort prices nor slept on the ground in the intimidating, rainy wilds. They stayed in one of the U.S. Forest Service’s 151 recreational cabins in Southeast Alaska. At around $25 a night, the cabins remain one of the best deals in Alaska.

Approximately 90 percent of Southeast Alaska lies within 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest. The cabin system spans the forest for 500 miles, from Gulf of Alaska beaches near Yakutat at the north to Misty Fiords National Monument at Alaska’s southern boundary.

The cabins offer an ecological sampling of the Tongass.

Though most are in low-lying rain forest, a few sit at tree line in alpine uplands, at the brink of the Coast Range’s hundreds of square miles of glaciers and high ice fields.

A majority of the cabins are in roadless wilderness, on the shores of lakes and saltwater inlets. Though salt water allows transportation from town by boat, most users go to and from cabins by float plane. Small-plane charters are routine transportation in Alaska. For those from “Outside” - as Alaskans call the rest of the world - the low-altitude flights are peak scenic experiences, and wonderful overtures and finales to adventures in the wilderness.

At first, air charters can seem alarmingly expensive. Round-trip between Juneau and Admiralty Island’s Hasselborg Lake, where the buddies from Illinois went trout fishing, runs about $520 for two or three people. The rate is based on $260 per hour for a Cessna 206. But split the price two or three ways, and factor in the time in the air, threading through mountains, following fingers of the Inside Passage, and chartering begins to seem reasonable.

For nervous fliers and the militantly frugal, there are cabins accessed from the sketchy road systems of Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and other, smaller communities, all of which lie within Tongass National Forest. Most of these near-town cabins are hike-in, from roadside trailheads. One cabin north of Skagway is accessed by the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. Another cabin near Skagway is a converted caboose. A few of the cabins are near natural hot springs. There are barrier-free units for the disabled.

The typical cabin design is a statement in prefab functional minimalism. It sleeps up to six, in two double-bed-size wooden bunks and two singles. Cabins on lakes come with skiffs and oars. All units have heating stoves, most of them wood-burning with ample supplies of unsplit wood out back. Users bring their own cookstoves, food, lights and bedding. They treat their own water and do without electricity, phones and indoor plumbing.

It’s a mistake, though, to concentrate on what the cabins lack. In their heck-and-gone settings, they’re the Ritz. They’re weatherproof, bearproof and allaround cozy. After the float plane goes back to town, they’re the only man-made thing in sight, and they feel, instantly, like home.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go Making reservations: Write to the Forest Service Information Center in Juneau for an information package with particulars on making the best cabin pick, based on float plane budget, recreational desires and the nature of one’s own Alaska wilderness dreams. The package will contain information on reservations for cabins throughout the Tongass National Forest, as well as a list of air charter companies. Reservations are accepted up to 179 days in advance. Summer stays in most remote cabins are limited to seven days. Maximum stays may be only two days at certain road and trail-accessed sites. Where pressure is greatest, the Forest Service holds lotteries for users. But, even on peak days, those who are flexible and willing to venture farthest into the boondocks can often find a cabin on short notice. For more information: Forest Service Information Center, Tongass National Forest, 101 Egan Drive, Juneau, Alaska 99801; (907) 586-8751. Other sources: Alaska Rainforest Tours in Juneau is a good one-stop source for independent travelers in Southeast Alaska. The company books intown lodgings and tours, activities and small-airline charters and is a good source of sound advice about getting the most out of your time and money in Alaska. Contact Alaska Rainforest Tours, 369 South Franklin, Suite 200, Juneau, Alaska 99801; (907) 463-3466.