Winterlake Lodge stands on the shore of Finger Lake on the western edge of the Alaska Range, beside the historic Iditarod Trail, about 198 miles north-west of Anchorage. There is no road in: guests arrive by floatplane in summer and by ski plane in winter. The Branham brothers built it as a hunting lodge in the 1930s. The Dixon family took it on in 1994, stopped all hunting and added cabins, a bar, a wellness suite and a kitchen, and in 2023 it joined Eleven's collection of remote lodges. The lodge occupies 15 acres, with about a million acres of wilderness beyond that helicopters can reach, and views towards Denali. There are six hand-built cabins, one of them the original log cabin with three bedrooms, the rest with one or two. Meals are taken in the main lodge: wild salmon, reindeer sausage and king crab, with fine wines and Alaskan ales. Summer brings glacier treks, dog-sledding on a glacier, rafting, hiking and fishing for all five species of Pacific salmon, while winter is given over to heli-skiing in the Tordrillo Mountains. Grizzly bears, wolves, moose, caribou and Dall sheep all live in the area.
Not taking stays at present. No reopening date has been published.
- Nearest airport
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
- Rooms
- Six cabins
Insider tip Build the flight into the plan: the lodge is reached only by floatplane in summer or ski plane in winter, so allow for weather and keep luggage light.
Why I choose it It is a true fly-in wilderness lodge, small enough for one family to fill, with the Alaska Range on the doorstep.