About Us
The Original Susitna Lodge
The Susitna Lodge was built in the 1960 and served as a seasonal roadhouse along the Denali Highway which was the only route at the time to access Denali National Park. It also operated as a hunting lodge and floatplane base for remote hunting and fishing trips. The original lodge stopped providing services in the 1980’s and has been mostly abandoned until it was bought in 2019 by Cody Strathe and Paige Drobny. They are working to rehabilitate and rebuild this amazing property!
In the fall of 2019 the TV show, Building Alaska, filmed the construction of the first 3 bedroom log home on the property. You can view it online, by searching Building Alaska, Season 11.
In the summer of 2020, we broke ground on the new large log lodge near the lake.
Susitna Lodge History
The area around the lodge has been used for 10,000 years or more by native Alaskans. The rich natural resources here have drawn people to the area. Caribou wandered this land by the thousands. During the construction of the original lodge in 1960, several archaeological sites were found on the property. The artifacts were sent to the University of Alaska Museum of the North. We still find stone artifacts around the property.
The old lodge once featured a great room with an abundance of large game mounts. The old lodge is currently being used for storage and a shop. We have hopes of rehabilitating the old structure and creating an event venue for weddings, live music and conferences.
CODY STRATHE AND PAIGE DROBNY
Your Hosts
Cody Strathe and Paige Drobny are the owners, hosts and guides for many of the activities. Each have 25 years of professional outdoor experience in remote areas of Alaska. Together they have run 26 thousand mile dogsled races with Paige finishing 5th in the 2024 Iditarod. Both are certified wilderness first responders and have a variety of outdoor training including, swift-water rescue.
The Dogs of Squid Acres Kennel
Our Alaskan huskies are here to welcome you and show the joy of dog mushing. You can learn more about our dogs at our website for Squid Acres Kennel.