Photo Credit: Rhein Lake Public Use Cabin

Alaska Public Use Cabins Accessible by Road

It’s true that Alaska’s public use cabins can be deep inside parks, wildernesses and refuges—and often require a hike, ski or paddle to reach. But what if you don’t have time or desire for a trek? Sometimes you just want to drive to your wilderness cabin.

You’re in luck! A couple dozen cabins across the state—several of them new beautiful log cabins next to great recreation or on the waterfront—are located on the road system. Some of them are immediately adjacent to parking and rated wheelchair accessible. Others involve a short walk over a packed trail suitable for utility wagons or sleds to help transport gear and supplies. All are reservable and exude their own unique charms.

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Public Use Cabins

Rhein Lake Cab­in over­looks a large, pris­tine lake with great pad­dling and decent fish­ing for rain­bow trout in the for­est of Nan­cy Lake State Recre­ation Area near Wil­low. This hand­some (brand-new in 2018) log cab­in offers some­thing spe­cial in a vast park known for its back­coun­try outposts

Bald Lake Cab­in is a great choice for peo­ple who want to stay at an Alas­ka wilder­ness cab­in on a pris­tine lake, but don’t want to trav­el far to get there. On the hill­side over­look­ing iso­lat­ed Bald Lake, the cab­in offers seclu­sion and pri­va­cy only a short walk from your vehi­cle. It’s a best of both worlds” kind of place — where you can spend the day explor­ing a vir­tu­al­ly pri­vate lake with inter­est­ing bays, or quick­ly dash back to your vehi­cle to  ...more

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

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

New in 2016, Dol­ly Var­den Cab­in offers the same recre­ation oppor­tu­ni­ties that you’d find while car camp­ing in the Eklut­na Camp­ground, but you sleep inside an insu­lat­ed with a wood-burn­ing stove and loads of space. Aimed at peo­ple who might want to expe­ri­ence the pad­dling, bik­ing, hik­ing and climb­ing pos­si­bil­i­ties of the stun­ning Eklut­na Val­ley, but don’t want to rough it” or chop wood for heating.

Nes­tled just off the Seward High­way near Bird Creek, these two new, spa­cious cab­ins might allow you to ful­fill almost any fam­i­ly-friend­ly Alaskan recre­ation fan­ta­sy in a sin­gle week­end. They offer unmatched options for all kinds of activ­i­ties — bik­ing, fish­ing, hik­ing, wildlife view­ing — with excep­tion­al­ly easy access by car.

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. 

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This mod­ern, spa­cious cab­in is locat­ed on the road sys­tem, 11 miles south of Wrangell on the Zimovia High­way. Open year-round, it sleeps 6 – 8 and meets ADA dis­abil­i­ty require­ments. There is access to Newt Lake where a skiff and oars are avail­able for use. 

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Rus­tic 16ft x 20ft log cab­in ful­ly ADA acces­si­ble bunk on main lev­el. 15 minute dri­ve from down­town Sit­ka or 2 minute dri­ve from Alas­ka Marine High­way Sit­ka Fer­ry Terminal.

Adiron­dak style shel­ter designed for win­ter use.

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This airy and hand­some 1620 cab­in with a sleep­ing loft stands in a pop­u­lar camp­ground next to an 800-acre fish­ing and boat­ing lake about 59 miles south­east of Fair­banks. The cab­in may be unavail­able for pub­lic reser­va­tions May 1 through Sept. 30 because it is used to house camp­ground hosts.

This large 2024 cab­in with a broad, cov­ered front porch sup­port­ed by burled posts looks out over the Chena Riv­er and fea­tures excep­tion­al access with wheel­chair suit­able ramps. Locat­ed about 37 miles from Fair­banks in the Chena Riv­er State Recre­ation Area, the cab­in nes­tles in a hand­some spruce-birch for­est on the riv­er inside the 254,000-acre recre­ation area.

This snug 1620 cab­in on the braid­ed Delta Riv­er offers stun­ning glimpses of some of the tallest peaks in the Alas­ka Range. The cab­in nes­tles in a wood­ed, 46-acre recre­ation site with 12 camp­sites, sur­round­ed by foothills that rise into tun­dra, on the fresh-water Don­nel­ly Creek. Just off the high­way and sel­dom crowd­ed, the locale is known for its wilder­ness char­ac­ter and sweep­ing views.

Encounter a taste of old-time Alas­ka by spend­ing the night inside an authen­tic log cab­in once used by fer­ry­men who oper­at­ed boats trans­port­ing pio­neers across the Tanana Riv­er on the old Valdez-Fair­banks Trail.

Very strik­ing at the 2,973-foot lev­el of the Alas­ka Range, this sim­ple, 12×14 log cab­in can anchor your alpine adven­ture — with sweep­ing views of sur­round­ing tun­dra foothills only a few miles north of Pax­son off the Richard­son High­way. The 605-acre state recre­ation site fea­tures a boat launch and pic­nic sites, with berry pick­ing and ATV trails in sum­mer, and a vast realm for snow sports in win­ter. Note: The 1.5‑mile access road is not plowed in  ...more

A his­toric 1520 log cab­in that resem­bles a Gold Rush Sourdough’s retreat hun­kers in the for­est on the shore of Quartz Lake. It’s acces­si­ble from the lake, too, by boat in sum­mer or ski/​snowmobile in win­ter. The lake is 86 miles south­east of Fair­banks, inside a 556-acre recre­ation area with some of the best road-acces­si­ble fish­ing in Alaska’s Interior.

This cozy 10×16 cab­in inside a camp­ground about 22 miles up the Elliott High­way from Fair­banks offers great access to the 400-acre Chatani­ka State Recre­ation Area with near­by sled and ATV trails, and boat­ing on the Chatani­ka Riv­er. Wired for elec­tric­i­ty, the cab­in may be unavail­able for pub­lic reser­va­tions May 1 through Sept. 30.

This 1620 log cab­in is sit­u­at­ed inside the park-like Delta State Recre­ation Site a half mile north of Delta Junc­tion and the junc­tion of the Alas­ka and Richard­son high­ways. The braid­ed Tanana Riv­er is just across the high­way, offer­ing stun­ning views of the Alas­ka Range dur­ing clear weather.

This airy and very pop­u­lar 1618 log cab­in enjoys excep­tion­al access inside Eagle Beach State Recre­ation Area. With a wheel­chair acces­si­ble ramp and a cov­ered front porch adja­cent to park­ing, the cab­in is a great base to explore acces­si­ble nature loops, or beach­comb and watch for marine wildlife, birds and oth­er crit­ters in the salt marsh and tide flats.

This framed 1220 cab­in about 45 miles from Fair­banks is wired for elec­tric­i­ty and offers a par­ti­tioned sleep­ing area, with space for up to four adults and a bit of pri­va­cy. Locat­ed inside the Gran­ite Tors Camp­ground, the cab­in is a great base for explor­ing both the Chena Hot Springs Win­ter Trail (also known as the Yukon Quest Trail) and the 15-mile Gran­ite Tors Trail.

This rus­tic, 2024 log cab­in with a cov­ered porch sits in the for­est close to the Chena Riv­er about 53 miles from Fair­banks inside the Chena Riv­er State Recre­ation Area. It has the vibe of an old-time trapper’s cab­in, with great riv­er access.

This large log cab­in sits adja­cent to the park­ing lot at Quartz Lake, with a rep­u­ta­tion for some of the best road-acces­si­ble fish­ing in Alaska’s Inte­ri­or and hik­ing trails with strik­ing views of the Tanana Riv­er Val­ley. Dur­ing win­ter, ice fish­ing is pop­u­lar, with four huts avail­able for rent. The cab­in may be unavail­able for pub­lic reser­va­tions May 1 through Sept. 30.

A cozy 1412 log cab­in inside a 61-acre park with a boat launch site on the Salcha Riv­er about 40 miles south­east of Fair­banks in the Tanana Riv­er Val­ley. The site is known for its grayling fish­ing, with a July salmon run. With ski­ing and snow­ma­chin­ing in win­ter. The cab­in may be unavail­able for pub­lic reser­va­tions mid-May through mid-September.

The only state pub­lic use cab­in on the Ketchikan-area road sys­tem, this pop­u­lar 1216 cab­in fea­tures one of the region’s few acces­si­ble sandy beach­es. Hik­ing trails, salmon view­ing, sports fish­ing, excel­lent kayak­ing and wildlife view­ing all con­tribute to the cabin’s rep­u­ta­tion as a remark­able base for recre­ation in a serene coastal rain for­est setting.

This airy 1618 log cab­in over­looks a scenic bend in the riv­er estu­ary inside the Eagle Beach State Recre­ation Area near Juneau. Berry Patch offers a bit of pri­va­cy but remains a great base to explore acces­si­ble nature loops, or beach­comb and watch for marine wildlife such sea lion and whales, birds and oth­er crit­ters in the salt marsh and tide flats.

This cozy 1214 cab­in is tucked into the for­est inside the Eagle Beach State Recre­ation Area about 15 miles up the coast from Juneau on the island-rich Favorite Chan­nel of Lynn Canal. Mar­tin Cab­in offers a bit of pri­va­cy amid the big trees, with more imme­di­ate access to the trails along the riv­er than the area’s oth­er coastal-ori­ent­ed cabins.

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