Best Cabin Camping near Gustavus, AK

This cabin is at the end of the road going North of Juneau. The cabin is not furnished with mattresses & sleeps a max of 8 for a max of 3 nights. Summer access by foot or boat (can haul onto a rocky beach). The foot trail begins at Point Bridget State Park Trailhead parking area at Mile 39 Glacier Highway. The trail is 3.4 miles to the cabin. Winter access**:** the same trail is open in the winter. Visitors can ski or snowshoe in, but no ATV's or other motorized vehicles are allowed. Primary heat at the cabin is kerosene with an emergency woodstove.

I've stayed at this cabin twice and absolutely love going here. It is perfect place to camp with the family or make it a boys trip. Easiest way to get to the cabin is from Sitka, takes little under 2 hours by boat. Near the cabin, there is great crabbing across the bay and decent shrimping within a 10 minute boat ride. There is one mooring buoy to tie up to so bring a raft to get to shore. Outside the cabin, there is a couple benches around the fire pit and a rope swing. There is some pre-cut wood alongside the cabin, otherwise you can always scavenge for more wood. I would bring an ax. There is also a tire swing next to the fire pit. Inside the cabin, it is small but easily slept all of us (5 guys). Bring all your own camping gear. There is also a little wood stove inside the cabin to help warm it up at night. Only warning, be on the lookout for bears, there was multiple signs of them so don't leave anything outside

After being unable to find good reviews of campsites here, I took what I could find and gambled on a site. We were in tent site 021. It was a gorgeous site, had a large picnic table, bear box, water spigot between us and the site next to us, fire pit, clean pit toilets and a clean bath house. This campground has backpacker sites, RV sites, and car sites as well. We had a short walk through the moss on a trail that led down to Mendenhall Lake. It had a gorgeous view of the glacier. We enjoyed listening to all the birds and it was a pretty quiet campground.

There are a few sites close to boggy areas and they can be mushy and muddy, especially after a rain. There is a map on the reservation website where you can kind of see it. Our site was fabulous.

The trails are not far from the campground, so they are walkable.

After a month of kayaking in Glacier Bay, stumbling off the ferry and taking the bus to the campground Mendenhall campground felt like luxury. Without a doubt the best hot showers I've ever had camping. The proximity to the glacier and the views from around the lake are astounding. Mt McGinnis on the west and Mt Bullard and Thunder Mountain to the East. The shark fin and the towers piercing out of the ice field. It's all jaw dropping regardless of what direction you turn your head.

The campground is walking distance to multiple trails including the west glacier trail that approaches the glacier or splits off and climbs to summit Mt McGinnis as well as the visitor center. Also big heads up there were the famed ice caves but those have long collapsed and as of my visit no new caves have formed.

Bear boxes are at each campsite as well as fire pits. By far my favorite established campground in Juneau. Only downer in my opinion is having to reserve online first.