You can reserve a site at the Brooks Camp Campground on-line in 2014. NPS photo.
Another national park has added its camping reservations system to the recreation.gov portal. At Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, this means you can go online to reserve campsites at Brooks Camp and other destinations in the park.
“Previously, campers with a break-in-stay at the Brooks Camp Campground had to make multiple reservations. The new features on recreation.gov will allow people to create itineraries on one reservation,” said Roy Wood, Katmai's chief of interpretation. “When the booking season for the campground opens, you’ll be able to reserve all of your nights in the campground on one reservation even if there is a break-in-stay.”
This feature is especially useful for people who stay at Brooks Camp before departing to other destinations in the park, such as the Savonoski Loop or the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
Fure's cabin on Naknek Lake. NPS photo.
Fure's cabin, a beautifully constructed one-room house on Naknek Lake's Bay of Islands, is a public use cabin. Now a refuge for kayakers, canoers, and hikers, the cabin was once the home of trapper, miner, and famed Naknek local Roy Fure.
Fure was born in 1885 in Lithuania, and came to Alaska in the early 1900s seeking his fortune. He settled in the Naknek area, supplementing his trapping and mining income by working as a laborer. In 1919, he married Anna Johnson, a Native woman from Bethel. They had three sons and a daughter, but only two of the children, Alexander and Marian, survived childhood. After Anna's death in 1929, Fure married Fanny Olson, a Native woman from Naknek. They had a daughter, Nola, in 1930. Fanny left some time after 1940 for Kodiak.
The Bay of Islands cabin was built in 1926, a labor of love. The roof, walls, and floor are made of hand-hewn spruce logs with dovetail notching reminscent of European craftsmanship. In 1931 the land on which the cabin stands was incorporated into the expanded Katmai National Monument.
Because he never became a U.S. citizen, Fure was not eligible for a homestead claim and was "trespassing" on Park land. In 1940 Fure was arrested for game violations and told to leave the Bay of Islands cabin. He and Fanny built a new cabin outside the Monument on American Creek, but continued to use the Bay of Islands cabin. Fure periodically stayed in the cabin until the 1950s. He died in 1962 in Portland, Oregon.
Fure's cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In the late 1980s, NPS maintenance staff restored the cabin.
The Brooks Camp Campground has a 60 person capacity. Staying in the campground costs $12 per person per night June 1 through September 17 and $6 per person per night in May and September 18 through October 31.
Campers are limited to 7 nights in July and 14 nights per calendar year. Group size is limited to six.
“America the Beautiful” Access and Senior pass holders receive 50 percent discounts on camping.
During the $6 shoulder season, there is no potable water and the electric fence may not be operational.
Historic Fure’s Cabin, in Bay of Islands on Naknek Lake can also be reserved online in 2014. The cost for the cabin`is $45 per night June 1 through September 17. Guests at Fure’s cabin are limited to no more than four consecutive nights and seven nights per calendar year. Group size is limited to six.
Discount passes are not valid for Fure’s Cabin reservations.
Fees collected for Fure’s Cabin reservations will be used to maintain the cabin, adjacent structures, grounds, and the portage trail to Lake Grosvenor.
For reservations outside of the reservation period above, please contact the park at 907-246-3305. 2014 reservations for the Brooks Camp Campground and Fure’s Cabin can be made starting January 5 at 8 a.m. Alaska Time, 12 p.m. Eastern. Visit www.recreation.gov for more information.
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