Holgate Public Use Cabin

Holgate Public Use Cabin is a small, reservable cabin on a bluff above a cobble beach on the northeast shore of Holgate Arm. The porch faces Holgate Glacier; this is a place to settle in for a night, not a roadside stop. It sleeps up to six on bunks, and a propane heater is provided.

There’s no road in: arrange a boat, water taxi, charter, or floatplane from Seward. Expect a two-to-four-hour boat trip or about 35 minutes by air. The landing beach is steep, and wind off the glacier, swell, calving waves, icebergs, and tour-boat wakes can make Holgate Arm rough. There’s no cell coverage on this coast, so plan communications before leaving.

There’s no electricity or running water, and no food service. Bring your own cook stove, cookware, bedding, drinking water or treatment supplies, and toilet paper. Water may sometimes be available near the beach trail, but it can dry up later in the season. A toilet shelter is there, but its pit is sealed; use the provided waste kits and pack them out. Keep food, garbage, and scented items inside because bears use this area. Pets aren’t allowed in the cabin or coastal backcountry, except service dogs.

Holgate Glacier fills the view across the arm, and you may hear it calve. Repeat photographs from 1909 and 2019 show a century of change in the same view. U.S. Grant named the glacier for Thomas F. Holgate, a Northwestern University dean.

The cabin is a base for exploring Pedersen Lagoon and Quicksand Cove by boat or kayak. Stay at least half a mile from Holgate Glacier; calving waves and swells make close approaches dangerous.