Mallard Slough Cabin

Mallard Slough Cabin provides an excellent basecamp for exploration of the Stikine River Delta and Stikine-LeConte Wilderness, with opportunities for hiking, paddling, hunting and birdwatching. The cabin is between LeConte Bay and the North Arm of the Stikine River, 22 miles from Wrangell and 20 miles from Petersburg, Alaska. The site can be accessed by float plane or shallow draft boat, depending on conditions; access requires at least a 14-foot tide for boats and 16 feet for float planes. The Mallard Slough Trail is a 2.7-mile trail from the cabin to LeConte Bay. The first 0.4 miles is maintained to the grassflats of Cheliped Bay; once on the grassflats the trail is marshy and marked solely by occasional posts. The area around the cabin is also ideal for exploring by kayak or canoe during high tide. The Forest Service does not provide boats or flotation devices, and tide tables should be consulted before any boating excursion. This cabin is also in a prime location for waterfowl hunting in the fall. This 16-by-16 cabin (modified A-frame style) was built in 1980 and has two single bunks (one with a trundle bed) and a second-floor loft, sleeping up to seven people. It also has a table with benches, a wood stove and broom, with an outhouse outside and a wooden cooler box for food storage attached to the cabin. Water and electricity are not provided; water may be available from a rain catchment barrel but must be treated, and bringing your own is recommended. Guests provide their own firewood, cook stove, cookware, bedding, lighting and food, and pack out trash and clean the cabin before leaving. The cabin sits on relatively flat land with grass and shrubs growing on the tide flats, situated between the tide flats and a forest of spruce and hemlock, with low-to-moderate forested hills behind. Wildflowers are prominent in May and June. LeConte Glacier is within boating distance of the cabin at high tide, and there are icebergs in LeConte Bay and in Frederick Sound, along the Horn Cliffs. Brown and black bears, bald eagles, owls, hawks and moose inhabit the area. The Stikine River tidal flats are a major stopover spot for shorebirds and waterfowl during spring and fall migrations, and nearby Cheliped Bay is one of the best areas for watching the spring shorebird migration on the Wrangell Ranger District.