White Mountains National Recreation Area - Alaska Cabins

Located just an hour's drive from Fairbanks, Alaska, the one-million-acre White Mountains National Recreation Area offers stunning scenery, peaceful solitude and outstanding opportunities for year-round recreation including hiking, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing, wildlife and scenic viewing. There are 13 beautiful log cabins throughout the White Mountains, along with two trail shelters available on a first-come, first-served basis. Be sure to carry your cabin permit at all times while in the recreation area. Winter visitors travel by ski, snowshoe, dog team, fat bike and snowmobile to enjoy the public-use cabins and 250 miles of maintained trails that make the White Mountains one of Interior Alaska's premier winter destinations. The cabins and trails are surrounded by jagged limestone mountains and cliffs, high mountain passes, and broad, rounded valleys. Whether you choose to explore by ski, snowshoe, snowmobile or dog team, you'll find crisp, clean air, dazzling views, and if you're lucky, shimmering northern lights against a star-studded sky. In summer, visitors to the White Mountains pan for gold, fish, hike and camp under Alaska's midnight sun. The Nome Creek Road provides access to two campgrounds, trails, a gold-panning area and a departure point for float trips on the Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River. Three campgrounds are open from late May until the snow flies in October. Most of the cabins become difficult to reach in the summer, but a few are regularly used, such as Fred Blixt Cabin and Lee's Cabin. Many of the trails used for winter travel may be difficult to travel during the summer due to wet, muddy conditions or difficult water crossings; not all are suitable for hiking, and not all are accessible to ATVs. To protect sensitive resources, vehicles must remain on BLM routes designated for their use unless traveling in an area designated open to cross-country motorized travel. The entire area is open to all forms of non-motorized use, so feel free to explore off-trail. The most popular places to ride OHVs are in the Nome Creek tailings and the Quartz Creek Trail. All lands to the north of the Nome Creek Road from the Bear Creek Trail, west to Ophir Creek Campground and the Beaver Creek Put-In, are closed to motorized vehicles in summer from May 1 to October 14, or until there is adequate snow cover for use by snowmobiles.