Nestled in the forest just beyond the Porcupine Campground on the west end of the Hope Highway is a two-story dry cabin with a covered cedar porch overlooking Turnagain Arm. It’s less than half a mile from the site of a future parking lot, making it an easy hike, snowshoe or ski to access. A stone’s throw away are popular hiking trails and the community of Hope.
The soon-to-be-completed cabin is one of the first of 25 to be constructed as part of the Alaska Cabins Project, a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation to build more accessible cabins on the Chugach and Tongass National Forests by 2027. The project will also repair existing cabins. Funding came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Forest Foundation and other organizations.
“It was really important for both the Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation when stewarding this project to develop plans to build these cabins in really accessible sites,” said Kenzie Barnwell, Chugach stewardship coordinator with the National Forest Foundation. The nonprofit works with the Forest Service to manage contracts and leverage funding for the cabins…