Bore Tide Cabin

Bore Tide Cabin is an Alaska State Parks cabin attached to the Bird Creek campground. The campground is 20 miles south of Anchorage, and the cabin is on a driveway off of the north side of the campground. If the gates are open, you can drive right up to it. Although the location is very close to a fairly busy campground and highway, the cabin has a very secluded feel to it aside from the highway noise. The cabin is open and available year-round, but the camp ground is not and the gate is locked in the winter.

Firewood was not advertised, so we brought our own. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find a stocked wood pile with wood splitting tools stored inside. Water is available from pump wells in the campground, and the campground toilets are about 100 yards away.

The Bore Tide Cabin is very clean and well maintained. It sleeps 12 comfortably with bunks for 6-8 on the ground floor, and the rest in the loft which the kids immediately took over. The cabin is heated by a propane heater which requires you to bring your own bottle. We simply used the bottle from our propane grill at home and it worked fine. A full bottle lasted us through the night, but two nights would probably be pushing it. We missed the ambiance of a wood stove, but got used to the easy maintenance and steady, comfortable heat of the propane heater.

Above the propane heater is a sizable ‘hanging rack’ to hang all of our gear, which is just about the most handy thing we have seen in a cabin yet.

The loft in the Bore Tide cabin is accessed from a spring-loaded ladder and has a trap door which completely seals the ladder entrance when it’s closed so there is little chance of kids falling from the loft.

The large table is great for gathering your group around for meals or games. Sealed in the table’s veneer is a nice map of the Chugach State Park to give you and your family some hiking ideas nearby. There is also a ‘cabin book’ which is chock full of information about the area including nearby hikes.

Also close by is the coastal bike path, so bring your bikes in the summer! Once our kids get older I’m sure we’ll have fun using the Bore Tide cabin as a starting point for exploring that path.

The cabin is great for families with small children. It’s very close to Anchorage, and a gas station is right across the highway if you managed to forget something critical. Yet at the same time it has a very secluded feel. You should always monitor your children, but the cabin doesn’t seem to have a lot of inherent hazards for kids.

The Bore Tide Cabin is surprisingly close to Anchorage, which is a positive and a negative. We forgot our new board game, and instead of going without and using our imagination I just hopped in the truck and went on back home to get it. Going back seemed like cheating, but Settlers of Catan is now a family favorite so we let it slide this time.

If it feels like we’re reaching just to find a negative about the cabin, we are. It’s a wonderful place that we can’t recommend highly enough. As with all easily accessible cabins, plan ahead and book early as they do fill up fast!

Cabin Details

Cost: $95/night
Heat: Cabin is heated by Propane and you must bring a full bottle. The one from your grill will do fine
Firewood is provided by volunteers
Water: bring your own or get some from the gas station across the street
This is one of the rare cabins you can drive to, so there is no need to pack light

Some things to look out for

There are train tracks for the Alaska Railroad that pass very close to the cabin, in between the camp grounds and Turnagain Arm. Stay off the tracks and be mindful of children near them.
There are special dangers regarding the Turnagain Arm mudflats. Be aware and very cautious on the mudflats!

Click Here for other cabins near Anchorage within the Chugach Stage Park. Read about our adventures at other Public Use Cabins below.

Click Here to see the Board Game worth going back home for!