Baranof Lake Cabin

This cabin is in a spectacular location with a huge waterfall just over the lake. You may also get some cell service here (sometimes). There is a nice beach to park your floatplane.

This is one of the most scenic cabins in the system.

This is one of the most scenic cabins in the system.

This is one of the most scenic cabins in the system.

Baranof Lake is pure heaven on earth--it's probably the most beautiful natural place I have ever visited. My wife and I stayed at the Forest Service cabin there for a week, and the fond memories from that vacation will last a lifetime. The cabin is on the SW corner of the lake, nestled by high mountains. The outhouse is about 50 yards from the cabin, surrounded by towering Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir trees. There is a beautiful waterfall across the lake, and a (heavy!) aluminum skiff for cabin guests. We used it to row to the western shore to sunbask on the beach, and to row around the lake sightseeing and fishing. We caught (and ate!) Rainbow and Cutthroat trout.

The cabin is only accessible by float plane--it cost ~$950 (each way) to charter a Cessna 206 with Ward Air for the 45-minute flight from Juneau. On clear days you can fly from Sitka, but on overcast days the surrounding mountain tops are in the clouds, so you'd have to fly completely around Baranof Island, which might take about as long as flying directly from Juneau anyway. The small fishing resort at Baranof Warm Springs is ~1/4-mile past the easterly end of the lake, down a trail to Chatham Strait. Unfortunately, we couldn't row that far because one of the oarlocks on the skiff was broken.

You are truly on your own here, although incredibly, there is cellular coverage from the same tower that serves Warm Springs. Bears weren't a problem; I only saw one set of brown bear tracks on the westerly shore--none near the cabin. But you might want something if you hike down the trail to Warm Springs, because brown bears fish in the river that runs along it during salmon runs.

Be sure to bring warm clothes, sleeping bags and pads, and enough food. We used a Coleman propane stove with extra 1-lb cylinders. There is a woodshed next to the cabin for the wood stove--bring firestarter sticks for the stove. I used UV disinfection for the water we hauled from a creek about 100 yards west of the cabin.