You can camp in a campground or in a cabin. You can hike through dense forest, alpine meadow, or on a wooden trail through marshland called muskeg. You can explore world-class caves. You can enjoy salt water fjords and unending waterways by canoe or kayak, your own motor or sail boat, charter boat, ferry, or cruise ship. You can watch bears, eagles, whales, and countless other critters in their natural settings. You can visit glaciers by land or sea. And of course, you can fish - fresh or salt water, everything from herring to trout to salmon to halibut.

Some of the most popular recreation facilities are the public recreation cabins. Reservations are required and rental fees run from $25 to $45 a night per cabin. The cabins are rustic - they are a true Alaskan experience. The Tongass also offers a number of camping experiences, ranging from a place to pitch your pup tent in the middle of nowhere to developed campgrounds along the road systems.

Winter recreation in the Tongass includes ice skating on lakes, ponds, and sloughs. Snow sports are influenced by nearby topography. Cross-country skiing is popular in areas of flat or gently-rolling ground. Snowmobiling is also popular many areas. Some cabins that are popular for winter sports activities include Eagle Glacier Memorial, Dan Moller, John Muir, Peterson Lake, and Windfall Lake cabins near Juneau and Ravens Roost cabin near Petersburg.