Agency-listedUSFS · dispersedFree
One Duck Shelter Site
Dispersed · U.S. Forest Service · AK · 55.43429, -132.82800
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Forest Service lists this site. On most of their ground you can camp away from developed sites pretty much anywhere — so treat this as a known-good spot, not the only one allowed. The unit sets stay limits and how far off road and water you must be. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at One Duck Shelter Site
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,686 ft.
Fire & smoke — around One Duck Shelter SiteNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from One Duck Shelter Site · Tongass National Forest · AK
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- HHardware12 mi
- @Mail12 mi
- GGrocery13 mi
- RxPharmacy13 mi
- FFuel13 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- WWater47 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 47-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 13 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Dump, Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — One Duck Shelter Site
Access
Dispersed
Land
U.S. Forest Service · dispersed
Elevation
1,686 ft
State
AK
Coordinates
55.43429, -132.82800
Cost
Free · Forest Service inventory: no fee
Nearby & resupply — around One Duck Shelter Site · Tongass National Forest · AK (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureHarris River (river) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townHollis · ~8.3 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~12.8 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesAC Craig Thompson House · ~12.6 mi
- PharmacyWhale Tail Pharmacy · ~12.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicSEARHC Alicia Roberts Medical Center · ~13.1 mi
Nearby restrooms — around One Duck Shelter Site · Tongass National Forest · AK — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomOne Duck Shelter · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHarris River Campground · ~2.5 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletHarris River Picnic Site · ~2.6 mi NW · USFS
- RestroomCable Creek Fish Pass · ~3.2 mi S · USFS
Coming out here — One Duck Shelter Site · Tongass National Forest · AK
- Surface water mapped nearby: Harris River (river). That is wash water at best, and nobody has checked it for you — a creek can be dry and a tank can be mud. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open One Duck Shelter Site elsewhere
Other camps near One Duck Shelter Site
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area~2.5 mi · fee
- Lake Number 3~17.3 mi
- Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area~18.6 mi · fee
The unit that manages One Duck Shelter Site
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at One Duck Shelter Site are set by Tongass National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — One Duck Shelter Site
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
USFS Recreation Area Activities, activity 'Dispersed Camping', pulled 2026-09-19: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tongass/recarea/?recid=78690 | agency openstatus: none || REVIEW 2026-09-24 (nightshift-verified): The recid URL above now 301s to the forest's recreation landing page (a made-up recid does the same). Live page https://www.fs.usda.gov/r10/tongass/recreation/one-duck-shelter-site (read 2026-09-24): 'a three sided camping shelter at the top of a steep alpine hiking trail (One Duck Trail.)'; fire ring, four sleeping platforms, 'First-come, first served.'; trailhead on the paved Hydaburg Road ~2.5 mi from the Hollis-Klawock Highway; trail 1.1 mile, steep; 'USGS Map: Craig B-3'. Page lat/lon 55.43428591,-132.82798507. APPROVED: COORDINATE CORRECTED: the lead's 55.843889,-132.843889 is 45.6 km NORTH of the shelter. The page point, the EDW ONE DUCK SHELTER record (55.43429,-132.828) and the page's own quad reference (Craig B-3 = the 55.25-55.5 N row) all agree on 55.434. No published pin within 4 km of the corrected point. camp_type backcountry (walk-in shelter, not drive-up). EDW fee_charged N. Tongass alerts list nothing for the Craig RD. (lead coordinate before this review: 55.843889,-132.843889)
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about One Duck Shelter Site
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — One Duck Shelter Site
Finding water out here →What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Picking a spot →All field notes →