McKinley Trail Cabin
McKinley Trail Cabin is a small 12-by-14 log cabin in the Chugach National Forest near Cordova, placed as a base camp just off the Copper River Highway. The cabin is about 80 yards from the road on the McKinley Lake Trail, with access by motor vehicle to the trailhead at Mile 21 of the Copper River Highway, followed by a short walk to the cabin.
Inside, it sleeps up to 6 people in wooden bunkbeds and is equipped with a table, a wood stove for heat, and an outdoor pit toilet (no running water, no electricity, and no cut firewood provided). Use of the cabin is reservable, with reservations handled through Recreation.gov; it’s also subject to a Forest rule that limits renting public-use rental cabins to no more than seven consecutive days per group or person.
Plan to be fully self-sufficient: bring your own drinking water, firewood (or an axe to cut your own), food, sleeping bags/sleeping pads, a cook stove, matches, cooking gear, and lantern/flashlight, plus essentials like toilet paper, a first-aid kit, and garbage bags. Food and all trash must be packed out, and you’re expected to leave the cabin clean before departing.
For trip planning around the cabin, McKinley Trail provides access to nearby lakes and a historical mining site, and about 1.25 miles from the trailhead is the junction for the Pipeline Lakes Trail. The area is also used for fishing and wildlife viewing, with coho salmon moving into the nearby slough and starting to move up to spawning grounds in late August and September.