McKinley Lake Cabin
This 16x20-ft cabin can accommodate up to 6 people and is equipped with wooden bunks. Cabin amenities include 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.
Reservations
The McKinley Lake Cabin is CLOSED until further notice and not available for reservations.
General Information
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.
Access to the cabin is by hiking, float plane or canoe.
The McKinley Lake Cabin is CLOSED until further notice and not available for reservations.
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. Check-in/Check-out time is 12pm.
The McKinley Lake Cabin is CLOSED until further notice and not available for reservations.
Address: 612 Second St. Cordova, AK 99574
Phone: (907) 424-7661
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 am to 5 pm (Closed on federal holidays)
Office Email: mailroom_r10_chugach@usda.gov
Getting There
Latitude / Longitude
Latitude: 60.46866757
Longitude: -145.1951217
Directions
Access 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.
Travel Considerations
Visitors are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety and must bring several of their own amenities.
Facility and Amenity Information
Restrooms
PIT TOILETWater
Potable water is not available at this site.
Recreation Opportunities
Fishing - River/StreamFishing - River/Stream Info
Anglers will find cutthroat trout near inlet creeks and gravel shoals near the cabin, and healthier coho and sockeye salmon 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, there is a series of five small lakes with resident cutthroat trout and some Dolly Varden. Using dry flies is the best bet in these lakes.
Note: Salmon fish counts are monitored throughout Alaska and determine the daily limits for sport, commercial and subsistence fishing. Anyone fishing in Alaska should be aware that the limits are subject to change and/or restriction depending on the fish count.
Emergency orders, often restricting the harvest of king salmon, can be issued at any time and have the same force and effect as law. Be sure to check the ADF&G's Emergency Order and Press Releases page prior to fishing.
General Hiking Info
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.
Viewing WildlifeViewing Wildlife Info
In the spring, brown bears can be seen grazing on the new grass on the south-facing slopes. Do not approach the bears. Binoculars recommended.
HuntingHunting Info
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.