McKinley Lake Cabin
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
THIS SITE IS CLOSED FOR ALL RESERVATIONS DUE TO PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS . McKinley Lake Cabin offers guests recreation, relaxation and a remote lodging experience in southcentral Alaska. Located on the northwest end of McKinley Lake in the Chugach National Forest, guests will find fishing, hiking, hunting and wildlife viewing all within the vicinity. Access to the cabin is by hiking, float plane or canoe. Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Keep reading
Recreation
McKinley Trail provides access to both the McKinley Trail Cabin, located just 100 yards from the trailhead, and this cabin, which is about 2.25 miles from the trailhead. The trail meets the shoreline of the lake at its southern lobe and at the cove at its upper end. 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. At 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. Anglers will find cutthroat trout near inlet creeks and gravel shoals near the cabin, and more healthy coho and sockeye at the mouth of the lake outlet. Many anglers concentrate on the Dolly Varden that follow the sockeye to eat their eggs. Walking up the Pipeline Lakes Trail, anglers will discover a series of five small lakes with resident cutthroat trout and some Dolly Varden. Using dry flies is the best bet in these lakes. 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.
Facilities
The 16-by-20 cabin is equipped with wooden bunks that sleep up to six guests. The cabin is equipped with a table, benches, wood stove for heat, saw, axe, splitting maul, a rainwater catchment barrel and an outdoor pit toilet. The cabin does not have running water, electricity or cut firewood. Visitors must bring their own supply of drinking water and firewood. Visitors must bring food, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, a cook stove, matches, cooking gear, lanterns or flashlights, toilet paper, a first aid kit and garbage bags. All trash and food must be packed out, and visitors are expected to clean the cabin before leaving.
Natural Features
The cabin is situated on McKinley Lake and is surrounded by a dense spruce and hemlock forest. Steep mountainous terrain encircles the area. Visitors will be treated to an abundance of wildlife. Loons and other waterfowl find habitat on the lake, while sockeye salmon splash and spawn in the nearby creek. Sitka black-tailed deer, moose, black and brown bear also inhabit the forest. Learn more about bear and moose safety in Alaska.
What the agency tells you
This facility is located in an extremely remote and wild area; before making a reservation, become aware of bear, water, and weather safety (including cold)
Recreating in Alaska can present both obvious and hidden dangers; please be aware of your surroundings and be prepared for extended stays due to occasionally poor weather
Inclement weather conditions may cause an extension of your trip during any time of the year and winter access can be difficult due to snow and ice conditions; bring extra supplies to last 2-5 days
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Water is not available at this facility; visitors must bring their own for drinking, cooking, and cleaning
Boil or treat all water collected from natural sources
All garbage and food must be packed out
Same day reservations are allowed for this cabin
There are two cabins in the McKinley area and sometimes confusion arises as to which one is which. McKinley Trail Cabin is located near the Copper River Highway, about 100 yards up the McKinley Lake Trail. This cabin, McKinley Lake Cabin, is on the lake, about 2.25 miles from the trailhead
Forest Order (10-04-00-14-47) that limits occupying/renting a public use rental cabin for more than seven consecutive days by any group or person
Contact the Cordova Ranger District at (907) 424-7661 for more detailed information about safety precautions
Learn more about Chugach National Forest and Prince William Sound
Check out the forest's campground description for specific information to Fish Your National Forest
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by purchasing firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Pit Toilets
- “…catchment barrel and an outdoor pit toilet. The cabin does not have running water, electricity…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “The cabin does not have running water, electricity or cut firewood.”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 7 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Creek, Beach, Meadow
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
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Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| AREA MCKINLEY LAKE CABIN | C14 | cabin nonelectric | 126 ft | $60 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
McKinley Trail CabinChugach National Forest · 1.9 mi
Tiedeman Slough CabinChugach National Forest · 10 mi
Power Creek CabinChugach National Forest · 16 mi
Childs Glacier Recreation Area and CampgroundChugach National Forest · 20 mi
Martin Lake CabinChugach National Forest · 22 mi
Softuk Bar CabinChugach National Forest · 26 miAccess to the cabin is by float plane, canoe or a 2.25-mile hike through dense forest.
Hiking access begins at McKinley Lake Trail, a signed trailhead located at Mile 21 of the Copper River Highway.
Access by boat or canoe is up Alaganik Slough to McKinley Lake, approximately 2 miles. If paddling a canoe, check with the Forest Service office on the stream conditions. When the glaciers melt and there has been rain, the stream can get a little rowdy. Hazards include trees that have fallen across the creek. Boat access is best at high water in mid-June to September.
Access by float plane is typically 10 minutes from Cordova. Float planes land on the lake next to the cabin. In fall, winter, and early spring, the cabin may be inaccessible to float planes due to the frozen lake surface. Please contact the local Forest Service Ranger District office at (907) 424-7661 for information prior to making reservations for these periods.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cordova, AK
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 48°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 19°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
McKinley Lake Cabin is in Alaska’s at-large congressional district. Its representative, Nick Begich (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →