Softuk Bar Cabin

USDA Forest Service campground, 1 site

Overview

Softuk Bar Cabin offers recreation, relaxation and a unique lodging experience in the Chugach National Forest. Located 45 miles southeast of Cordova on the Gulf of Alaska, the remote site offers a scenic setting for hunting, birding, clamming, berry picking, beachcombing and wildlife viewing.

Access to the cabin 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, and must bring several of their own amenities.

Recreation

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 can take advantage of a long hunting season in the surrounding national forest. Bear season occurs during spring and fall, while deer season begins in late summer and lasts through late fall.

Facilities

The 12x14-ft rustic structure can sleep up to six people on wooden bunkbeds without mattresses. The cabin 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.

The cabin does not have running water or electricity. Visitors must bring their own food, water, #1 stove oil, cut firewood, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cook stoves, matches, cooking gear/utensils, a lantern or flashlight, toilet paper, first aid kit and garbage bags. Click here for more cabin details.

Natural Features

Softuk Bar 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.

Nearby Attractions

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. 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.