The Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is considering opening the cabin at Chilkat State Park for public use in the winter, starting as early as October 2022.
“As long as it looks like it would get utilized and rented out, it would probably be a $35-a-night cabin,” said Preston Kroes, superintendent of Southeast Alaska state parks. Kroes said that he has wanted to rent out the Chilkat State Park cabin to the public ever since he was a park ranger in Haines. A campground host lives in the cabin in the summer, so it would be available to reserve only in winter.
Tom Morphet wrote a letter to the editor in the Dec. 2 edition of the CVN encouraging residents to show support for opening up both the Chilkat State Park cabin and the cabin at the 19 Mile parking lot. Kroes said the Division of Parks is less likely to make the latter available for public use because a caretaker lives there year round. That volunteer maintains the grounds and plows the parking lot, facilitating access for visitors to the council grounds, Kroes said. “Unless we don’t have a volunteer, we probably won’t be able to open that cabin up for public use.”
Kroes said the state has made plans for a public use cabin system in the borough but currently lacks funding for it. The Division of Parks maintains 15 public use cabins in Southeast and more than 80 statewide.