Photo Credit: Manitoba Cabin

Alaska Public Use Cabins Accessible by Trail

Most public use cabins in Alaska are accessible by trails. But these trails often occur in two flavors—short-but-sweet tracks that lead directly from parking and take minutes to traverse versus true backcountry routes that might involve all-day hikes or even an expedition.

Short Treks

Many front-country PUCs are situated in the forest or on a shore out of sight from parking. These access trails range from a few hundred feet to a mile or two, with a quarter to half-mile a typical “longer” distance. Most of the time, these trails are wide and mostly flat, like jeep roads. Visitors regularly shuttle gear, food, water and firewood from vehicles to the cabin door with sleds in winter or utility wagons in summer. A good example would be the very popular Bald Lake Cabin in the Nancy Lake State Recreation Area near Willow, located down a well-trod quarter-mile trail from parking. (Winter access is a half-mile-long but easily traversed pulling a sled by hand.)

Long Treks

Alaska is also famous for backcountry PUCs on trail networks—with access requiring hours or even days of hiking, biking, skiing or paddling. Most popular might be the eight cabins spread along the 39-mile Resurrection Pass Trail between Hope and Cooper Landing. Many through-hikers reserve a new cabin for each night of their traverse. Several of the 10 PUCs in the Nancy Lake State Recreation Area near Willow can be strung together for multi-day ski trip over winter trails or a paddle over the canoe trail loop. At the same time, people regularly target a single cabin a day’s hike from parking, and then return the way they came.

Show Map

Public Use Cabins

Short Treks

Access is usually .5 miles or less, with a few that are 2-3 miles or less on flat trails.

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.

Check Availability

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.

Difficulty: Easy

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 14 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.

Long or Multi-Day Treks

Access requires multiple miles on a hiking or water trail from road or community.

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 1616 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. 

Check Availability

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

Check Availability

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

Check Availability

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

Check Availability

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.

Check Availability

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.

Check Availability

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. 

Check Availability

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

Check Availability 

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.

Check Availability

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.

Check Availability

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.

Check Availability

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.

Water Accessible Trails

Requires crossing Skilak or Tustumena lakes.

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

Expert Advice