Kook Lake Cabin

Kook Lake Cabin sits on the west end of Kook Lake, approximately 45 miles northeast of Sitka, Alaska, and is available May through November, weather permitting. This is a remote site, reached by floatplane 30 minutes from either Sitka or Juneau, or by a boat and hiking trip — the cabin is about an 8-mile hike from Corner Bay. Visitors enjoy hiking on a network of old logging roads of the Corner Bay road system. The 0.7-mile Kook Lake Trail begins behind the cabin and ends at Forest Road 7540; it is not maintained, crosses many muskegs, and can be very wet, muddy and hard to follow. On Road 7540 it is a 7-mile hike to Tenakee Inlet and Corner Bay, the site of a former logging camp, now uninhabited, with Tenakee Springs across the inlet. Cutthroat and Dolly Varden fishing is available year-round in the lake, with good runs of sockeye in July and August and coho salmon in late August and early September. Seasonal deer and bear hunting is also available. The wood A-frame cabin measures 16 by 16 feet, with one double plywood bunk on the main level and an upstairs sleeping loft with no bunks, reached by a vertical ladder. A wood stove for heat, a table with benches, a cooking counter, a broom, an axe or splitting maul and an outdoor screened cooler box are provided, with an outhouse toilet close by. There are no mattresses or cooking gear: bring bedding, a cook stove and cookware, a lantern, food, a fire extinguisher, fire starter and flotation devices. Rain gear and rubber boots are a necessity. Water is available from the lake or a nearby stream but must be treated; bringing your own is recommended. A small but heavy square-bowed skiff is provided; a long-shaft 2-10 horsepower outboard enhances its use but is not. Everyone using it should wear a Coast Guard approved flotation device. Be sure the plug is in before launching, and tie the skiff well up on shore with the plug pulled before leaving so it does not fill with rain water. The cabin sits in a beautiful stand of spruce and hemlock, surrounded by flat terrain with a sandy beach in front. North of the lake the land rises gradually to 1,500 feet, then ascends sharply to alpine; on the south, slopes are fairly steep, rising from the lake to 2,500 feet. Brown bear frequent the area.