Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Cabins

I had a blast at Dolly Varden lake cabin. It is so awesome that Alaska has places for you to camp a say on lakes. Cabin was clean and just perfect.

The cabin is awesome and in a great spot , the weather did not cooperate, windy and rain , so I didn't try any fishing, it's a awesome spot and will be back

I had a blast at Dolly Varden lake cabin. It is so awesome that Alaska has places for you to camp a say on lakes. Cabin was clean and just perfect.

The mosquitoes are Alaska style so bring a coil for the cabin and spray for you. They have plenary of firewood available and if you have Vorizon you will get some service. Awesome cabin with great windows overlooking the lake!

The mosquitoes are Alaska style so bring a coil for the cabin and spray for you. They have plenary of firewood available and if you have Vorizon you will get some service. Awesome cabin with great windows overlooking the lake!

My wife and I loved our time (2 nights) here. Very peaceful. Cabin & outhouse were clean and in very nice condition. I wish I brought along a file to sharpen the axe and maul but they were useable. This is a great place for 2 people for a quiet retreat. We will be back.

My wife and I loved our time (2 nights) here. Very peaceful. Cabin & outhouse were clean and in very nice condition. I wish I brought along a file to sharpen the axe and maul but they were useable. This is a great place for 2 people for a quiet retreat. We will be back.

- We backpacked to the cabin via the Pollard Horse Trail. It's not easy online (and in fact quite confusing) to find out where the actual start/parking is for the Pollard Horse Trail. For example, the wildlife Refuse website (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/kenai/map?trail=pollard-horse-trail), shows the trail beginning at the border of the Wildlife Refuge, but there is no road to that location; it's a about a mile+ from the road. However, we called the staff at the Wildlife Refuge office and they were VERY helpful and explained it all to us. So, call before you go.
- The trail itself is easy to follow, though there were dozens of down trees across the trail. My guess is that routine trail maintenance hadn't happened yet this summer, But, it still was a relatively easy hike, with no big elevation gain or loss.
- The cabin looks like a dump from the outside but it is actually quite nice inside - pristine clean and set up nicely. One of the websites says there are two bunk beds, but that's not correct. There are two knee-high wood platform beds that can each hold two people if they don't mind squeezing close to each other. Otherwise, more comfy for two people total.
- I saw some write ups about how there are spaces between the logs of the cabin walls, and mosquitos can enter. Yes, there are some spaces in the walls, but we had no problem with mosquitos - even though there were lots of them out in the forest on the way to the cabin.
- The stove works great. Be careful as it can really heat up the cabin, even with just a little wood burning.
- As for wildlife, we didn't see any except birds and mosquitos. We've learned that the wildlife refuge is a place for people to hunt and kill wildlife, not a refuge (safe of safety) .
- Overall, though, we had a great time. Look up the cabin's history before you go - both its old history about the nurses in the 1940s, and also the more recent history of serving as a life saver for some people whose boat swamped in the lake,

- We backpacked to the cabin via the Pollard Horse Trail. It's not easy online (and in fact quite confusing) to find out where the actual start/parking is for the Pollard Horse Trail. For example, the wildlife Refuse website (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/kenai/map?trail=pollard-horse-trail), shows the trail beginning at the border of the Wildlife Refuge, but there is no road to that location; it's a about a mile+ from the road. However, we called the staff at the Wildlife Refuge office and they were VERY helpful and explained it all to us. So, call before you go.
- The trail itself is easy to follow, though there were dozens of down trees across the trail. My guess is that routine trail maintenance hadn't happened yet this summer, But, it still was a relatively easy hike, with no big elevation gain or loss.
- The cabin looks like a dump from the outside but it is actually quite nice inside - pristine clean and set up nicely. One of the websites says there are two bunk beds, but that's not correct. There are two knee-high wood platform beds that can each hold two people if they don't mind squeezing close to each other. Otherwise, more comfy for two people total.
- I saw some write ups about how there are spaces between the logs of the cabin walls, and mosquitos can enter. Yes, there are some spaces in the walls, but we had no problem with mosquitos - even though there were lots of them out in the forest on the way to the cabin.
- The stove works great. Be careful as it can really heat up the cabin, even with just a little wood burning.
- As for wildlife, we didn't see any except birds and mosquitos. We've learned that the wildlife refuge is a place for people to hunt and kill wildlife, not a refuge (safe of safety) .
- Overall, though, we had a great time. Look up the cabin's history before you go - both its old history about the nurses in the 1940s, and also the more recent history of serving as a life saver for some people whose boat swamped in the lake,

Nice pristine cabin We were there early in the summer (May), before fishing season, and only one other person in the lake the whole time we were there.