Best Cabin Camping near Delta Junction, AK

We ended up here Memorial Day weekend because the other sites around Delta were full, but boy am I glad we made it. The campsites are large enough for multiple tents, have fire rings, and most have picnic tables. The bathrooms are also well maintained and the spots spaced out enough so you’re not right on top of your neighbors. What really makes the campground, though, are two things: Number one, NO BUGS! We saw maybe 5 mosquitoes over two days (which is unheard of in interior Alaska), and number two, THE VIEWS! Behind most of the sites is access to Donnelly Creek and boy oh boy the views of the Alaska Range are magnificent. We had a beautiful walk along the path and while it was windy, it was a beautiful day. The only negative is the amount of traffic in the highway nearby because of the proximity to the pipeline, but it’s not something that will keep us away.

We stumbled upon this campground by accident while exploring the area between Paxon Lake and Delta Junction and it was such a hidden gem! The night we stayed it was super quiet with hardly anyone else staying there, which was surprising for the middle of July. Great camp spots, no host when we stayed but the bathrooms were very well maintained. It was a clear sunny night and the views of the Creek with the Alaska Range in the background were pretty spectacular! Whether stopping for the night while passing through or as a destination, I totally recommend this campground.

Harding Lake State Recreation Area is a shady and scenic site about twenty minutes from North Pole. The lesser-known and elder cousin of the many water-themed state recreation areas that trace the Richardson Highway from Fairbanks to Delta Junction.

This large and accommodating campground boasts a boat launch into Harding Lake, a baseball field, a large group recreation area near the water, a self-guided nature trail, a trailer dump site, and unpotable bulk water--along with various bathrooms with trash receptacles. 

Our family of 5 tent camped in May and had a fantastic weekend. The sandlot-reminiscent baseball field was a rare and magical find that suited our family's wiffleball addiction perfectly. It's like wandering through a moss grove and emerging into a boreal. baseball field. A subarctic Field of Dreams. I also hit two first-pitch homeruns off my 9 and 5 year old--which may or not be related to the magic of this field--but I choose to believe.

The spacious and thoughtfully-designed campground certainly feels beyond its prime--old, unserviceable water pumps (perhaps not yet operable for the season); aspen saplings dotting the baseball infield; and many downed spruces over the nature trail. The posted maps are a little outdated. However, the campground boasted some of the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen, anywhere-with a very friendly on-site host who came by to chat and kept the facilities in pristine condition.  The camping spots are well-placed along the loop to allow for varying degrees of privacy between sites.

Mosquitoes are everywhere in springtime Alaska--please let me know when you find a campground in a birch forest without them. That said, bring all the bug repellant and preventative measures you can muster. I was swarmed by a biblical cloud of man-eating Culicidae when we first pulled in--but they soon dispersed and only became annoying for intermittent periods. 

Overall this was a magnificent campground, quiet and clean, with plenty for the kids to do. Fantastic and memorable experience.

This was a nice campground with a friendly couple hosting. The spaces were spaced out with privacy trees. I think we scored one of the best spots number 11. The mosquitoes were unbearable outside and in 73 degree weather you needed to be completely covered. The water was so high that the only water play area was the boat launch area. The kids still had a great time but I would check the water level before coming back. There is a dump station, water, and plenty of bathrooms throughout the campground. It is a party campground for water activities so expect noise well after 2am. There are no electric hookups. The closest store is about 10 minutes down the road and has your basic essentials. There are other lakes to visit within an hour radius which makes this a fun location. There is a baseball/soccer field on site which was a lot of fun for the children to run off so energy and it wasn’t very buggy. The water pump was turned off due to Covid19. There’s a water toys rental by the boat launch that offers paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards $25/2 hours or $35 for all day. They are only open Friday-Sunday or by appointment.