Softuk Bar Cabin

Softuk Bar Cabin is located 45 miles southeast of Cordova on the Gulf of Alaska, in the Chugach National Forest. The remote site offers a scenic setting for hunting, birding, clamming, berry picking, beachcombing and wildlife viewing. Access is by wheel plane on the beach at low tide only, typically a 25-minute flight from Cordova. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety. The sandy beach adjacent to the cabin is a good stretch for beachcombing in the springtime, after winter storms wash up Japanese fishing floats, shells, bottles and other wave-swept treasures. The area is not well known for its fishing, but there is a small run of coho salmon in the lagoon behind the cabin. Digging for razor clams and picking wild strawberries are also pastimes at the site. Hunters have a long season in the surrounding national forest — bear in spring and fall, deer from late summer through late fall. The 12x14-ft rustic structure can sleep up to six people on wooden bunkbeds without mattresses. It is furnished with a table, wood and oil stoves for heat, an axe, splitting maul, saw, a rainwater catchment barrel and an outdoor pit toilet. There is no running water or electricity: bring your own food, water, #1 stove oil, cut firewood, sleeping bags and pads, cook stoves, matches, cooking gear and utensils, a lantern or flashlight, toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags. The cabin is adjacent to a long and wide sandy beach on the Gulf of Alaska, surrounded by alder and spruce forest. In the distance, glacier-capped peaks rise from the horizon on a clear day. Wildlife in the area abounds, including waterfowl, moose, Sitka black-tail deer, brown and black bear. For history buffs, the old townsite of Katalla is about 4 miles east of the cabin. This was the first place oil was drilled in Alaska, with the first production well drilled in 1902. There aren't many relics left from the oil drilling days and no original buildings are standing, and most of the townsite and drilling areas are on private land. Hiking toward Katalla is also scenic, however Cape Martin is difficult to cross at high tide, so check local tide tables before setting out.