Alaska Public Use Cabins Accessible by Trail

12′ x 28′ road acces­si­ble cab­in that sleeps up to 6. 

12′ x 16′ cab­in on shore of Byers Lake. Sleeps 6. 

14′ x 16′ Cab­in on Byers Lake that sleeps up to 6.

Oper­at­ed by the non-prof­it Alas­ka Moun­tain and Wilder­ness Huts Asso­ci­a­tion, Man­i­to­ba Cab­in is intend­ed to pro­mote wilder­ness expe­ri­ence and cama­raderie in the spir­it of Euro­pean-style trekking huts. While very pop­u­lar among back­coun­try skiers dur­ing win­ter week­ends, the facil­i­ty often has open­ings dur­ing week­days. Dur­ing the sum­mer, you might have the entire place to yourself.

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On the shore in the qui­et cor­ner of a busy lake, Nan­cy Lake 1 may be one of the most ver­sa­tile pub­lic use cab­ins in Alas­ka. One minute you’re in deep woods beneath a tow­er­ing canopy, and then, like step­ping through the look­ing glass, you descend a hill to find a sto­ry­book log cab­in with a panoram­ic view of boat­ing and fish­ing, or ski­ing and snowmobiling.

A place for peo­ple who want to expe­ri­ence the seren­i­ty of deep woods but main­tain the option of boat­ing or ski­ing on a 761-acre water play­ground with plen­ty of action. Sit­u­at­ed on a hill­side beneath a mature stand of spruce and birch, this new log cab­in is the most iso­lat­ed PUC near Nan­cy Lake proper.

“Cab­in” may be the wrong word for this sprawl­ing, com­fort­able cot­tage front­ed by an ample float­ing dock ready for all kinds of lake fun. With a cov­ered front porch large enough to keep an extend­ed fam­i­ly reunion dry dur­ing a late sum­mer down­pour, this facil­i­ty is real­ly a one-room house, near­ly 600 square feet of liv­ing space com­pete with a semi-pri­vate sleep­ing bay, a clos­et, plus gobs of room to cook, lounge and play.

This rus­tic log cab­in nes­tles into the for­est about 1.5 miles up the Idi­tar­od Trail off on a side trail. It has the feel of an old-time Alaskan trapper’s home. Although perched at the edge of hard-core wilder­ness — deep inside the moun­tains — this cab­in is close to trails main­tained by the Nature Cen­ter itself, giv­ing fam­i­lies with small chil­dren the option of com­bin­ing short hikes with edu­ca­tion. The facil­i­ties can also be used as a  ...more

Want to feel like you’ve ven­tured deep into the moun­tains with­out walk­ing all day? The Rapids Camp Yurt grabs some of the best views in the Eagle Riv­er Val­ley. The yurt and its view­ing deck are perched high, giv­ing their inhab­i­tants a feel­ing they are stand­ing among the peaks around them. In sum­mer, the sound of the riv­er run­ning pro­vides a sooth­ing white noise.

If you’d like to spend the night lis­ten­ing to the rush of a wild riv­er, vis­it this snug yurt over­look­ing Eagle Riv­er with spec­tac­u­lar views of the sur­round­ing moun­tains. Locat­ed less than two miles form the Nature Cen­ter off the Albert Loop Trail, the yurt sleeps up to four, with two on wood­en bunks and two on the floor. It fea­tures a deck, two chairs and a table, plus a wood stove with fire­wood stacked in a shed. Eagle Riv­er is your water  ...more

Quaint cab­in ren­o­vat­ed in 2000, locat­ed about ¹⁄₄ mile north of the Nabesna Road.

With excep­tion­al­ly easy access for fam­i­lies, Yudit­na Creek cab­in may be one of the most ver­sa­tile back­coun­try cab­ins in the state, whether cycling, ski­ing or hik­ing. Locat­ed at the end of a three-mile trip down a most­ly flat trail along Eklut­na Lake into the heart of Chugach State Park, the cab­in offers a per­fect base for all-day adven­tures in a spec­tac­u­lar moun­tain valley.

The Yuk­la Yurt can be used as a first-night stop for peo­ple doing the Cross Pass Cross­ing to Gird­wood. It’s also a great base for explor­ing the val­ley or for tak­ing a hike on the upper half of the Dew Mound Trail. The area will be qui­et: no motor­ized recre­ation allowed. This yurt is the fur­thest from Nature Cen­ter, with a more remote feel than Rapids Camp Yurt.

Mile 8.6 Russ­ian Lakes Trail. Rus­tic cab­in with bunks for six and sleep­ing space for eight. Fish­ing for Dol­ly Var­den and rain­bow trout in the near­by Russ­ian Riv­er. Fea­tures counter space, table, bench­es, a wood stove, split­ting maul and hand­saw, and out­house. Check Availability  ...more

Mile 2.3 Russ­ian Lakes Trail. This rus­tic cab­in in a flat area along the east­ern shore of Low­er Russ­ian Lake fea­tures a row­boat with oars. It sleeps eight, with bunks for six, and includes cook­ing counter, table, bench­es, wood stove, spit­ting maul and saw, and an out­house. Check Availability   ...more

This is a win­ter-access-only Bureau of Land Man­age­ment safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail. It does not require a reser­va­tion, is free, and is not exclu­sive use (mean­ing you will have to share it with oth­ers if they show up). Each cab­in is equipped with bunks, a wood­stove, and outhouses.

This 16 x 16 cab­in is locat­ed on the north bank of Big Indi­an Creek. This cab­in offers seclu­sion and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore the remote north­east inte­ri­or of the Refuge. Wildlife includes moose, black and brown bears and wolves. Hunt­ing and trap­ping is allowed. In the win­ter there is cross-coun­ty ski­ing and snow­shoe­ing. Review Alas­ka depart­ment of Fish and Game hunt­ing and fish­ing regulations. 

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This is a win­ter-access-only Bureau of Land Man­age­ment safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail. It does not require a reser­va­tion, is free, and is not exclu­sive use (mean­ing you will have to share it with oth­ers if they show up). Each cab­in is equipped with bunks, a wood­stove, and outhouses.

Locat­ed 39 miles north of Juneau. Access by foot or boat in the sum­mer. Beach-comb, fish, look for wildlife, and more.

Cal­lis­to Cab­in is locat­ed in the Caines Head State Recre­ation Area, approx­i­mate­ly 7 nau­ti­cal miles south of Seward in Res­ur­rec­tion Bay. The cab­in can be reached by the coastal tidal trail, or by water taxi or floatplane. 

14′ x 18′ cab­in locat­ed 39 miles north of Juneau in Point Brid­get State Park. Go beach­comb­ing, wildlife view­ing, hik­ing, or boating.

Locat­ed at the end of the trail between Fos­sil Gap Trail and Fos­sil Creek Trail, in the White Moun­tains Recre­ation Area. 

This small cab­in sleeps two and pro­vides a base camp from which to explore game trails and ridge­lines with excel­lent views of Mount Wrangell, Mount San­ford and Tana­da peaks. It’s locat­ed at the end of 3‑mile Cari­bou Creek Trail, which is some­times acces­si­ble by recre­ation­al ATV (check with Nation­al Park Ser­vice first), as well as snow machines when there’s at least 6 inch­es of snow on the ground.

12 by 14 rus­tic cab­in on Res­ur­rec­tion Creek in spruce-birch for­est with moun­tain views. Sleep­ing bunks for six with space for eight. Equipped with counter space, table, bench­es, wood stove, split­ting maul and hand saw. Out­house and bear locker. 

This is a win­ter-access-only Bureau of Land Man­age­ment safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail.

12′ x 16′ cab­in that sleeps up to 6. Acces­si­ble via trail from Point Brid­get State Park.

A 12ft x 14ft rus­tic cab­in at the north­west end of Cres­cent Lake in the Kenai Mountains.

A 12ft x 14ft rus­tic cab­in over­look­ing the south­ern shore of Cres­cent Lake. It is a 7 mile hike via Carter Lake Trail and an 11 mile hike via Cres­cent Creek Trail. 

Cab­in is near Crow Pass in the Chugach Moun­tains, 3 miles from the Crow Pass Trail­head and is locat­ed 500 yards East of the Trail at the old cab­in site 

16′ x 16′ cab­in in the White Moun­tains Recre­ation Area

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This is a restored Civil­ian Con­ser­va­tion Corps (CCC) log cab­in, 16′ x 20′. Access by 3 mile trail on Pio­neer Street off Cor­do­va Street, and at the end of Jack­son St. above Blue­ber­ry Hills sub­di­vi­sion in West Juneau.

You can’t get much clos­er to a rail­road­ing expe­ri­ence than sleep­ing in a caboose. Refur­bished as a pub­lic use cab­in in the 1960’s, this clas­sic trail car moth­balled by the White Pass and Yukon Route rail­road offers rus­tic ameni­ties with views of Skag­way River’s East Fork and Saw­tooth Mountains.

Der­by Cove Cab­in is 14′ X 18′. This cab­in sits with­in a spruce and hem­lock for­est behind a grav­el beach. At the head of the Caines Head trail sys­tem, Der­by Cove is a quar­ter mile from the ranger sta­tion. Use the creek that runs in front of the cab­in as a water source.

16-x-16 log cab­in in an alpine val­ley nes­tled amid steep moun­tain slopes. Sleeps 6, with table, oil stove, and out­house. Note: You must bring #1 stove oil if you want heat. One gal­lon lasts about one hour. Devil’s Creek Trail inter­sects here, a 10-mile descent to the Seward High­way trail­head. Devi’s Pass Lake is about one mile down the trail. Check Availability  ...more

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This is a log chalet style cab­in, 12 feet by 16 feet, locat­ed on the South shore of Eagle Lake

12-by-14 rus­tic cab­in tucked away from the trail in a scat­tered spruce for­est near the more open sub­alpine zone at 2,200 feet. Sleeps 6, with table, wood stove, split­ting maul, cross­cut saw, and outhouse. 

Locat­ed off of the mid­dle of Wick­er­sham Creek Trail, sleeps 4.

The cab­in is locat­ed on the north shore of Engi­neer Lake. The cab­in is south fac­ing over­look­ing the lake sur­round­ed by spruce and birch trees. Two bunk beds, table with bench­es, wood stove, broom, shov­el, water buck­et, fire extin­guish­er, estab­lished camp­fire ring, and outhouse.

This is a win­ter-access-only BLM safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail.

16-by-16 rus­tic log cab­in on Fox Creek in the Res­ur­rec­tion Creek val­ley near the edge of by spruce/​birch for­est with views of near­by moun­tains. Sleeps 6, with table, wood stove, split­ting maul, cross­cut saw, and outhouse.

1950’s hunt­ing cab­in. Sleeps 3 com­fort­ably, 6 max. Approx­i­mate­ly one quar­ter mile down­riv­er from the mouth of Glenn Creek on left bank of the Yukon River

The Har­le­quin Lake 14ft X 80ft shel­ter and is avail­able on a first come first serve basis. 

The yurt is removed from the state park camp­ground and very pri­vate. Drop off is to the right of the game mark­er about 300 yards to the left of the Humpy Creek trail head and campground.

15′ x 12′ log chalet style cab­in with a deck.

This cab­in is sit­u­at­ed along east shore of Juneau Lake. A rus­tic cab­in with counter space, a table, bench­es and a wood stove for heat. Sleeps eight with bunks for six. Oth­er fea­tures include a split­ting maul and saw, an out­house — and a canoe with pad­dles for explor­ing the lake.

At a spec­tac­u­lar spot two miles from the Cana­di­an bor­der, this pub­lic use cab­in sleeps six and over­looks the main branch of the Skag­way Riv­er. The trail there leads to Laughton Creek and Laughton Glac­i­er. Moose, brown bears, and wild­flow­ers can be found in this sub­alpine forest.

Cab­in locat­ed between Trail Creek Trail and Wick­er­sham Creek Trail in the White Moun­tains Nation­al Recre­ation Area

Have you ever want­ed to spend time in a trapper’s shack deep in the Alas­ka Bush? A place where you might see the out­line of a loon’s head against slate water with Denali gleam­ing above the trees and no oth­er move­ment? Nes­tled on a penin­su­la on a lake deep inside the Nan­cy Lake State Recre­ation Area, Lynx Lake Cab­in 1 is pri­vate, snug and cozy. An ear­ly-to-bed, ear­ly-to-rise retreat with a weath­ered, lived-in vibe.

These two almost iden­ti­cal cab­ins (only 200 feet apart) are aimed toward adven­tur­ers and fam­i­lies who want to include both pad­dling and hik­ing in their dai­ly adven­tures. They offer direct access to two lakes as well as the park’s trail sys­tem. Though rel­a­tive­ly close, each cab­in is col­ored by a slight­ly dif­fer­ent atmos­phere. Lynx 2’s porch faces the sun­set, with good after­noon sun and a view of Lynx Lake. It feels open, more exposed. Lynx 3  ...more

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Hunter Style cab­in, 12 feet by 16 feet. Access by 4‑mile trail from Dan­ger­ous Riv­er Bridge at end of For­est High­way 10 or by boat on the Dan­ger­ous River.

Cab­in sleeps 3 in South West White Moun­tains Nation­al Recre­ation Area

This is a win­ter-access-only Bureau of Land Man­age­ment safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail

Win­ter-access-only BLM safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail.

This is a win­ter-access-only Bureau of Land Man­age­ment safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail.

This cab­in is locat­ed in the Nabesna Riv­er val­ley approx­i­mate­ly 13 miles south­east of Nabesna, or approx­i­mate­ly 20 miles by snow­ma­chine trail from the Nabesna Road. Rus­tic Cab­in, 12×16. Use is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Although it takes some get­ting to, this wilder­ness, lake­side pub­lic use cab­in offers great sport­fish­ing and a skiff to pad­dle around in. This new cab­in is a 7 – 10 mile hike and four-mile pad­dle or skiff ride across Wrangell Nar­rows from down­town Peters­burg. It sleeps six.

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The 12x20-ft, rus­tic cab­in has a loft and a cov­ered deck. Locat­ed 4.2 miles from Pow­er Creek Trail­head, which begins approx­i­mate­ly 6.9 miles north of Cor­do­va, Alaska.

Locat­ed at the top right hand side of the entrance of Sadie cove. The site is over­look­ing the cove and out to the Kachemak Bay and Eldred Passage.

Want to feel like you’ve ven­tured deep into the moun­tains with­out walk­ing all day? The Rapids Camp Yurt grabs some of the best views in the Eagle Riv­er Val­ley. The yurt and its view­ing deck are perched high, giv­ing their inhab­i­tants a feel­ing they are stand­ing among the peaks around them. In sum­mer, the sound of the riv­er run­ning pro­vides a sooth­ing white noise.

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Reach­ing this moun­tain­top perch requires a steep, four-mile climb, but hik­ers are reward­ed with birds-eye view of the area from a rocky, alpine ledge. The only U.S. For­est Ser­vice cab­in on Mitkof Island’s road sys­tem, Raven’s Roost accom­mo­dates eight. 

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Cen­tered on a park-like island with wind­ing trails through the brush, Red Shirt Lake Cab­in 1 is a big cab­in that’s an easy pad­dle from the launch point at end of the three-mile Red Shirt Lake Trail. From its sprawl­ing front porch, you can glimpse water on two sides, but no major vis­tas. Sit­u­at­ed in the mouth of the lake’s pro­tect­ed north­west­ern lobe, the cab­in is a great launch point for explo­ration by canoe when the main lake becomes windy and  ...more

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Cab­in at the end of Bear Creek Trail in the White Moun­tains Nation­al Recre­ation Area. 

Mile 29.2 Res­ur­rec­tion Pass Trail. This cab­in sits at the south end of Juneau Lake. A rus­tic cab­in with counter space, a table, bench­es and a wood stove for heat. Sleeps eight with bunks for six. Oth­er fea­tures include a split­ting maul and saw, an out­house — and a canoe with pad­dles for explor­ing the lake. Check Availability  ...more

Locat­ed at the back of Eklut­na Lake, Seren­i­ty Falls is one of Alaska’s largest huts. With an enor­mous bank of win­dows fac­ing the falls and a moun­tain so high as to near­ly block the sky, the place feels as though you have crossed into the alpine realm. Yet it’s a rel­a­tive­ly easy 12-mile hike or bike along the wide, flat Eklut­na Lake­side Trail, mak­ing it a great choice for fam­i­lies with kids or large groups.

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16ft x 12ft Pan Abode style cab­in with 4 sin­gle wood­en bunks, Table, Wood stove, Food cup­board, Axe, Cook­ing counter and shelves, Log book, Broom and dust­pan, Out­house, Wood sup­ply (rounds), 12-foot skiff with oars. Water is avail­able from the lake. Treat all water before using.

Down­riv­er from the mouth of Coal Creek on the left bank of the Yukon. Boat or hike in.

Approx­i­mate­ly 6 miles above Tako­ma Bluff, just above the mouth of Eure­ka Creek on riv­er left. Sleeps 3 com­fort­ably, 6 max.

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A rus­tic log cab­in with counter space, a table, bench­es and a wood stove for heat. Sleeps eight, with bunks for six. Oth­er fea­tures include split­ting maul and saw, out­house — and a row­boat equipped with oars for explor­ing the lake. Check Availability   ...more

This is a win­ter-access-only Bureau of Land Man­age­ment safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail. 

Win­ter-access-only BLM safe­ty cab­in, built and main­tained in part­ner­ship with the Idi­tar­od His­toric Trail. 

A two-sto­ry log cab­in with a loft sleeps eight with bunk space for sev­en. It has counter space table, bench­es and a wood stove for heat. Oth­er fea­tures include split­ting maul and hand saw, an out­house — and a row­boat with oars. Check Availability 

Cab­in in the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge. The trail­head to the cab­in is locat­ed on the Ski­lak Lake Road, mile 7.5 from the east entrance junc­tion with the Ster­ling High­way. The cab­in is locat­ed .2 miles from the road on the Upper Ohmer Lake Trail. 

Mile 11.9 Russ­ian Lakes Trail.Handsome 12×14 trapper’s style log cab­in that over­looks the lake and a stun­ning view. With bunk space for six and sleep­ing for eight. (The For­est Ser­vice rec­om­mends space for 4, so expect close quar­ters.) Check Availability  ...more

The White Moun­tain Nation­al Recre­ation Area has over 200 miles of win­ter trails that are shared by dog mush­ers, ski­iers, ski­jor­ers, and snow machin­ers and sev­er­al cab­ins have been built along the White Moun­tain win­ter trails to pro­vide vis­i­tors with safe­ty and com­fort dur­ing their adventures.

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Cab­in at the inter­sec­tion of Windy Creek Trail and Cache Moun­tain Loop Trail in the White Moun­tains Nation­al Recre­ation Area 

Locat­ed off of Windy Creek Trail Near Beaver Creek in White Moun­tains Nation­al Recre­ation Area.

The cab­in is locat­ed on an island of Tus­tu­me­na Lake in the Kenai Wilder­ness area.