Description
The cabin is a 16 x 16 foot A-frame with a main floor and a sleeping loft.
Facilities
The cabin accommodates up to 6 people and comes equipped with wooden bunks, a kerosene heater, a table, benches, broom, fire extinguisher and an outhouse with a pit toilet. No water, electricity or fuel for the heater is provided. Freshwater is available around the cabin, but it must be treated before drinking.
Capacity
6 people
Area
Mile 21, Copper River Highway
Location
Shrode Cabin is situated on the northeastern shore of Shrode Lake, a freshwater lake near Long Bay, which is just off Culross Passage in Prince William Sound. Shrode Lake is separated from the saltwater Long Bay by a lagoon.
Access
The site can be accessed by float plane or boat, depending on conditions. Those arriving by boat should be prepared to hike 1 mile to the cabin from where the boat anchors at Long Bay.
Terrain
The cabin is located in an open grassy and muskeg area with evergreen forest nearby. The front of the cabin overlooks the lake and surrounding mountains.
Special Features
Approximately 1.25 miles from the McKinley Trail trailhead is the junction for the Pipeline Lakes Trail, which wanders through muskeg meadows and spruce-hemlock forests below steep mountainsides. In the spring, brown bears can be seen grazing on the new grass on the south-facing slopes.
The trail also reaches McKinley Lake and McKinley Lake Cabin, about 2.25 miles from the trailhead. The trail meets the shoreline of the lake at both its southern end, and at the cove at its upper area. Hiking approximately a quarter-mile beyond the cabin, visitors will find remnants of the Lucky Strike Mine. Rusting machinery, pipes and a collapsed tunnel are the most obvious evidence of the mine site.
The closest fishing area to the McKinley Trail Cabin is just across the highway in the upper part of Alaganik Slough. The highway is a two-lane dirt road with anywhere from 10 to 75 vehicles per day. Coho salmon move into the slough with the high tides downstream. In late August and September, they start moving up the slough to the spawning grounds, passing near the cabin. Other coho salmon fishing spots are found in the area as well.
Hunters can take advantage of a long hunting season in the surrounding national forest. Bear season occurs during spring and fall, while deer season begins in late summer and lasts through late fall.
Season of Use
Year-round
Managing Agency
Chugach National Forest
What To Bring
Visitors are responsible for bringing their own kerosene or #1 heating oil (1 gallon per day in summer, 2 gallons per day in winter), a cook stove, flashlights or lanterns, bedding, mattresses, toilet paper, garbage bags, cookware, dishes and utensils.
Rowboat
No
Stove
Oil & Wood
USGS Topo Map
N/A
