Nellie Martin River Cabin

Nellie Martin River Cabin offers a remote lodging experience on Montague Island in southcentral Alaska, with fishing, hunting, kayaking, beachcombing and wildlife viewing all within walking distance of the facility. Access is by wheel plane only, on the beach at low tide, typically 45 minutes from either Seward or Cordova. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety. The Nellie Martin River has one of the largest coho salmon runs in the Prince William Sound area, and gets heavy use in August through September when the fish run. In addition to coho salmon, there are plenty of pink salmon earlier in the season, along with sea-run Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout tagging along to eat the eggs. The river is generally shallow and easy to wade, but there are deep pools where it meanders. Hunters have a long season in the surrounding national forest — bear in spring and fall, deer from late summer through late fall. The beach, located less than a mile from the cabin, is a good place for beachcombers to search for glass, Japanese fishing floats and other sea-borne treasures. The rustic, 12-by-14 cabin has wooden bunks without mattresses, to accommodate up to six people, and is equipped with a table, wood and oil stoves, a rainwater catchment barrel, axe, saw, splitting maul and an outdoor pit toilet. There is no running water, electricity, cut firewood, mattresses or cooking utensils: bring your own water, food, sleeping bags and pads, cook stoves, matches, cooking gear, a light source, No. 1 stove oil, toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags. Montague Island is an island in the Gulf of Alaska, at the entrance to Prince William Sound. The cabin sits on the Nellie Martin River at the edge of a dense spruce forest, less than a mile from the beach landing area. An understory of shrubs and grasses complements the flat forested area, and the sandy, pebble-strewn shoreline offers views of the Gulf of Alaska and surrounding mountains. Wildlife in the area abounds, including migratory waterfowl, Sitka black-tail deer and brown bears. Guests should be aware that the cabin sits within the Chugach National Forest, but some of the land within a half-mile northwest of it is owned by the Chugach Alaska Corporation, and access to those lands requires permission from the corporation.