Lake Alexander Cabin

Lake Alexander Cabin sits on the northwest end of Lake Alexander in the Tongass National Forest, part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. The remote site offers a scenic setting for hiking, fishing, canoeing and wildlife viewing. Access is by floatplane, or by canoe or kayak with portage. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Anglers will find Lake Alexander a scenic setting for catching cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden. A skiff with oars is available at the cabin, and visitors may bring a small outboard motor, which must be less than 10 horsepower due to wilderness regulations. Visitors must bring personal flotation devices. Originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the Admiralty Island Canoe Route features portages of varying difficulty linking seven mountain lakes in the heart of the Kootznoowoo Wilderness between Angoon and Seymour Canal. Several trails are accessible by boat along the route. From the cabin, a 2.4-mile trail at the east end of the lake goes to Mole Harbor, and a paddle through Lake Alexander to the west end of Beaver Lake leads to a quarter-mile trail to Hasselborg Lake. The primitive, pre-cut cedar, pan-abode style log cabin sleeps up to six people on wooden bunkbeds without mattresses, and is equipped with a table, benches, a wood stove for heat and an outside toilet. Firewood is generally stacked in a woodshed near the cabin, but it is not guaranteed. There is no running water and no electricity. Bring food, water, sleeping bags and pads, a cook stove, matches, cooking gear and utensils, a light source, toilet paper, a first aid kit and garbage bags. Water from any natural site must be filtered, boiled or chemically treated before drinking. The cabin is situated under a canopy of old-growth forest overlooking scenic Lake Alexander at an elevation of 350 feet, within the Kootznoowoo Wilderness, which encompasses 956,255 acres of the island. Dense spruce and hemlock forests, lakes and muskeg define the landscape, while distant rocky peaks tower along the island's high crest, reaching over 3,000 feet. Sitka black-tailed deer find habitat in the dense forest, bald eagles perch in treetops along most beaches, and brown bear frequent the area. Admiralty Island has a rich cultural heritage, evident in the traditional native village of Angoon, its only permanent settlement.