Starrigavan Creek Cabin

Starrigavan Creek Cabin is a drive-up, high-use, seasonally accessible log cabin within the Starrigavan Recreation Area. The cabin was constructed in 2008 from young Sitka spruce trees harvested around Starrigavan Creek to improve wildlife and fish habitat. It is an experiment in the longevity of young spruce logs for construction purposes, making it the first young-growth cabin and also the first cabin within a recreation area in the Tongass National Forest. Access to Sitka is only by ferry or airplane. The cabin is a two-minute drive from the Alaska Marine Highway Sitka Ferry Terminal, or a 7-mile drive from downtown Sitka or the airport. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring some of their own amenities. This is a locked cabin that requires visitors to pre-arrange access. Starrigavan offers saltwater and freshwater fishing opportunities. Visitors also enjoy kayaking, photography, hiking and birding. Hiking options include the Estuary Life Trail, Forest and Muskeg Trail, Mosquito Cove Trail and numerous intertwining paths and roadways within the recreation area. The cabin is equipped with beds for six adults, but can accommodate a maximum of eight people if younger children are involved, and is available solely for overnight camping. The main level has one single bunk over an accessible bunk, a table with benches, a wood stove for heat, a cooking counter, a broom and dustpan. A stairway leads to the upstairs sleeping loft, which offers two double-size bunks, a table, two chairs and a lamp table. The cabin does not have electricity or indoor plumbing. A bench overlooks Starrigavan Creek, and a picnic table and a combination campfire ring/grill with log benches are provided outside. A vault toilet is located 200 feet from the cabin; artesian well water is 300 feet from the cabin. Parking space is provided for up to four standard vehicles. Visitors must bring sleeping bags and pads, garbage bags, matches, fire starter, a tablecloth to protect the cedar tabletop, a cooking stove, pots, pans, food and coolers, eating and cooking utensils, lanterns and flashlights (candles are discouraged). The cabin is situated next to Starrigavan Creek and is surrounded by a temperate rainforest of hemlock and spruce trees with salmonberry bushes, low shrubs and mosses covering the forest floor. It occupies an old campsite within the major camping loop of Starrigavan Recreation Area, which houses a diverse range of forest, estuary and marine habitats. Depending on the season, visitors may view brown bear, spawning coho and pink salmon, common merganser, bald eagle, great blue heron, bufflehead, kingfisher, river otter or Sitka black-tailed deer. Brown bear frequent the area.