Entry No. 26 — the Anchorage file — filed under: spirit-houses
Eklutna Historical Park & Spirit Houses Cemetery
More than 100 brightly hand-painted miniature 'spirit houses' line the graves at this centuries-old Dena'ina Athabascan cemetery beside St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, the colors keyed to each family. The look is a one-of-a-kind product of two belief systems colliding.
The story
Long before Russian missionaries arrived along Knik Arm in the early 1800s, the Dena'ina Athabascan people cremated their dead, placing the ashes in woven birch baskets set in tree branches or along riverbanks so the spirit could travel unburdened to the 'High Country.' When Orthodox priests outlawed cremation and demanded earth burials, the Dena'ina didn't abandon their spiritual logic; they adapted it. Ground burials called for warmth, so families draped woven blankets over the soil mounds. And because Orthodox theology held that a soul roams near its grave for 40 days before departing, the Dena'ina built miniature, dollhouse-like wooden shelters directly over the burial plots to keep the traveling spirit safe.
What sits beside Old Glenn Highway today is a quiet visual collision of two entirely different cosmological systems. More than 100 hand-painted spirit houses fill the yard, painted in specific primary and pastel color schemes belonging to individual family lineages. When two families intermarry, their spirit house colors combine. Inside or beside many of the tiny rooflines sits a traditional three-barred Russian Orthodox cross. Crucially, the houses are never repainted or restored once built; as wood rots and paint peels back into the Alaskan dirt, the spirit completes its journey home.
Standing at the edge of the graveyard are two churches that tell the rest of the story. Old St. Nicholas Church—a hand-hewn spruce log chapel built in the late 1800s and dragged across frozen waters from Knik around 1900—is officially the oldest standing building in the Municipality of Anchorage. Beside it sits its 1962 replacement, complete with traditional onion domes, still serving the active village of roughly 70 residents.
What it's like
Drive 26 miles north from Anchorage up the Glenn Highway, take the Eklutna exit, and pull into the small parking area beside the entrance cabin. Between mid-May and mid-September, local docents run brief guided walks from the heritage cabin; outside that seasonal window, access is strictly limited. Keep in mind that this is an active, living sacred site for the Dena'ina, not an abandoned roadside curiosity. You must stay squarely on the designated gravel paths—never step onto the grave mounds, lean against the timber structures, or touch the decaying paint. Visit in the late afternoon when the mountain light hits the rooflines, and pair your stop with Thunderbird Falls just one exit down the highway.
The move: Walk the rows of painted spirit houses together at golden hour, then circle the little St. Nicholas log church and trade guesses about which family colors go with which graves.
📍 Before you go It’s a real drive, not a city stop: take the Glenn Highway north from Anchorage to the Eklutna exit around mile 26 and follow the signs into the village, about half an hour out. Check in at the small heritage cabin and gift shop at the park entrance, where docents lead cemetery walks during the summer season (roughly mid-May to mid-September); access is limited the rest of the year. This is an active, sacred Dena’ina burial ground — stay on the paths and never touch or lean on the spirit houses. Pair it with the Thunderbird Falls trail one exit away, or keep driving up the road to Eklutna Lake.
- 📍 Chugiak (north of Anchorage)
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Old Glenn Hwy, Chugiak, AK (about 25-30 miles north of Anchorage)
Hours: Added 2026-06-09 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Little Lithuanian Museum & Library — Pair this Indigenous-Orthodox sacred ground with another improbable cultural enclave just down the road in Chugiak, open by appointment.
- Nike Site Summit — Follow up a peaceful 19th-century sanctuary with high-altitude Cold War ruins perched 3,900 feet up in the nearby Chugach Mountains.
- Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery (the unmarked-graves Pioneer Cemetery) — Compare Eklutna's Indigenous-Orthodox spirit houses with downtown Anchorage's 1915 municipal pioneer plot to see two wildly different ways Alaskans commemorated their dead.
Good to know
Why are miniature painted houses built over the graves?
They are Dena'ina spirit houses. When Russian Orthodox missionaries prohibited traditional cremation in the 1800s, the Dena'ina adapted by placing a blanket over the burial mound for warmth and erecting a tiny wooden house over the grave to shelter the soul during its 40-day journey after death.
Can I visit Eklutna Cemetery year-round?
Access is limited outside the summer season, which runs roughly from mid-May to mid-September. Summer docents operate out of a heritage cabin at the entrance, but you should confirm current operating hours before making the 25-30 mile drive from Anchorage.
What rules must visitors follow inside the cemetery?
This is an active, sacred Dena'ina burial ground. Visitors must remain on designated gravel paths at all times, never touch, lean on, or step over the spirit houses, and avoid leaving any items or disturbing the graves.
What is the history of the log church next to the spirit houses?
Old St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church was built out of hewn spruce logs in the late 19th century and moved from Knik to Eklutna around 1900. It is recognized as the oldest standing structure in the Municipality of Anchorage.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Atlas Obscura · alaska.org · npr.org · thealaskalife.com · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-06-09