Juneau is getting a new city-owned public use cabin

Juneau is getting a new public-use cabin, this time built by a local trail maintenance nonprofit. The cabin will be owned and maintained by the city but constructed by Trail Mix Inc., which builds and maintains trails around Juneau.

Meghan Tabacek, who leads Trial Mix, said this will be the organization’s first time building a cabin. 

“Not only are we going to build a beautiful cabin that generations of Juneau people can use for years and years to come,” she said. “But we’re also setting up trail workers who hopefully can keep those skills in the Juneau community, or wherever they take off to afterwards.”

The Juneau Assembly approved a grant to the nonprofit last month to take on the project. The money was approved by voters in 2022 in a bond package. 

The cabin will be at Amalga Meadows Park, about a mile out the road from the Shrine of St. Therese. The new cabin will be a short hike beyond the existing Amalga cabin. 

Tabacek said Trail Mix staff will build the trail to the new cabin this summer. Next summer, they’ll build the cabin itself, under the guidance of an experienced foreman who has built public-use cabins before. 

Tabacek said the new cabin will look similar to the first one, with a few improvements.

“We’re getting a longer roof over the deck — which, you know, necessary for Juneau,” she said. “Now you can actually hang out on the deck, even if it’s rainy.”

This will be the second city-owned cabin in the Juneau area. There are about a dozen Forest Service and state-owned cabins.