Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Cabins

About

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Cabins provide a rare opportunity to stay in remote Alaskan wilderness within a refuge spanning 1.9 million acres of the western Kenai Peninsula. The 14 cabins include seven historic structures dating to around 1900 and seven trapper-style log cabins. Each cabin sleeps multiple guests and comes equipped with a table, benches, plywood sleeping bunks, and a wood-heating stove for warmth. Getting to these cabins is part of the adventure. Most require access by boat, floatplane, hiking, or snowmachine depending on season and location. Visitors must be self-sufficient, bringing their own bedding, food, water, firewood (or collecting dead/downed wood), and emergency supplies. Cell phone coverage is unreliable, and poor weather can extend stays unexpectedly. The refuge hosts exceptional fishing for chinook, sockeye, coho, and pink salmon, plus Dolly Varden char, rainbow trout, and arctic grayling. Wildlife includes brown and black bears, caribou, Dall sheep, mountain goats, wolves, lynx, wolverines, moose, eagles, and thousands of migratory birds.

Directions

Access varies by cabin. From Anchorage, take the Seward Highway south to the Sterling Highway; the eastern refuge boundary is at milepost 55. Refuge visitor center and headquarters are in Soldotna via Funny River Road, then right onto Ski Hill Road. Individual cabins require hiking, boats, floatplanes, 4WD vehicles, or snowmachines depending on location and season.