San Juan Bay Cabin

About

San Juan Bay Cabin offers a remote wilderness lodging experience on Montague Island at the entrance to Prince William Sound in Alaska's Chugach National Forest. The 14x16-ft cabin sleeps up to six people on wooden bunkbeds without mattresses and features a table, wood stove, oil stove, rainwater catchment barrel, and basic tools including an axe, saw, and splitting maul. An outdoor pit toilet is located nearby. Access is exclusively by wheel plane, landing on a sandy beach about half a mile from the cabin during low tide only. Flight time is approximately 60 minutes from Cordova or 40 minutes from Seward. The cabin sits at the edge of a grassy clearing near dense Sitka spruce forest. This area dramatically uplifted 35 feet during the 1964 earthquake, draining the former bay into what is now a meadow with San Juan Creek running through it. The creek offers good runs of coho and pink salmon and Dolly Varden from mid-July through mid-August, though it requires about a mile hike from the cabin. Hunting for Sitka black-tail deer and brown bear is available seasonally. Visitors should be prepared for encounters with brown bears and bring bear-resistant food containers. Some land on Montague Island is privately owned by Chugach Alaska Corporation and requires permission to access.

Directions

Located 90 miles southwest of Cordova in San Juan Bay on the southwest end of Montague Island. Access is by wheel plane at low tide only, approximately 60 minutes from Cordova or 40 minutes from Seward. The landing beach is a half-mile walk from the cabin. Check NOAA tide predictions for San Juan Bay before planning your flight.