Best Tent Camping near Kenai, AK

The stunning lake view and access made the campsite worth dealing with the bugs and bears.

We arrived at Upper Skilak Lake Campground on a sunny Friday afternoon and managed to get the last site available. The campground was packed, including all the RV sites. We ended up in one of the walk-in tent sites. There are a total of 10 walk-in tent sites, with six right on the lake and the rest just a short walk away.

Each campsite is equipped with bear-proof storage for food, which is essential considering the active bear presence in the area. There is enough space for two tents, and the fire pits are new with adjustable grill racks, which made cooking easy. Buckets were provided to safely extinguish fires.

The campsites are a short walk from the parking lot, involving a small hill, except for one (maybe two) handicap-accessible site that offers easier access.

During our stay, we saw black bears and grizzly bears every day. Bear scat was common on the trails and beach, adding to the sense of adventure but also requiring constant vigilance regarding food storage and safety.

The park rangers were friendly and stopped by our site each night to check in and talk about bear sightings. However, one morning, a ranger accompanied by a few volunteers walked into our site while we were eating, which felt somewhat invasive.

The main downside was the state of the bathrooms. They were extremely dirty, with one stall that didn’t lock and another that had no toilet paper. The smell was terrible, and overall, the facilities were not well-maintained.

By the time we left on Monday, we were the only campers remaining, which offered a peaceful end to our stay.

Overall, Upper Skilak Lake Campground offers a beautiful location and a genuine wilderness experience, the poor condition of the bathrooms and significant amount of bugs were the only drawback.

Be prepared for bears and lots of bugs. The lake, the trails, and experience were definitely worth the trip.

Hidden Lake canpground is made up of three sections. Skyview loop the furthest from the lake is the largest with sites large enough for any rig. #6, 10 15 and 20 are handicapped only, do not park here unless you have tags or hanging proof. Ridge Loop and Lake Loop are both tighter and have signs warning of limited manuverbility. Sure #6 on lake loop is ADA and #1 on Ridge loop is ADA. There are trails down to the lake from the upper two, ridge and skyview. There is a free boat launch to access Hidden lake which has trout, dolly garden, kokanee and land locked salmon. Seven day limit at only $10 a day. There are day use covered picnic pavilions, an amphitheater, hiking trails and camp host. The walk in tent area is very private and tree covered. All sites have tables and fire rings. Love this place!

The Cooper Creek sites are a nice alternative to when the Russian River campground is full. This campground is right off of the Sterling Highway. We didn't make online reservations for Memorial weekend so many of the Cooper Creek sites were reserved, but we managed to find one open. It featured a campfire ring with adjustable grilling rack, picnic table (with bench cutout for wheelchair access) and a bear-proof locker. The campground road and site pads are not paved, but all is well-maintained. We didn't notice any highway noise, which was nice! Lots of foliage and tree cover between sites. The camp hosts were super friendly. We saw them making the rounds of sites in late afternoon and also tidying up the restroom in the morning. Our site, #12, was right across from the start of a little trail that runs parallel to Cooper Creek for a little while. 2017 fees are $18 for single sites, $28 for doubles and $7 for firewood. There were a couple pull through sites that would be perfect for large campers/motorhomes, folks pulling boats, and multiple vehicles.

My family loved our weekend away at the Russian River Campground. It was super easy to make a reservation online (reserve early!), our loop was a short walk to the boardwalk to get down to the river. However, we ended up with a pull through spot that was a pain to get our rig into (26' pull behind). Luckily it was the first spot in the loop so we were able to back it in and have the door open to the footprint and the slide towards the road (friends in 69, the next spot over) had the same issue. Also, if you have a second vehicle it's going to be horrible to park at the site as well (unless you have two smaller vehicles and are tent camping). But we had a massive wheelchair friendly picnic table, a fire pit with a decent size grate and a bear box.

We spend many days at the Russian during the peak of salmon season. When the reds (sockeye) are in, whether it be the first run or the second, the Russian River Campground is the place to be. Sites are nestled in the woods and feature a paved driveway, metal fire pits with top grate, picnic table, and large bear/animal proof lockers for food and gear. Trees and shrubs abound - no scorched earth campsites here. Some sites are singles, others doubles and a few pull-throughs for larger campers and those towing boats & toys. No water or electric hookups. Toilets and non-potable water located in each loop. FYI, this is bear country - we've had bears walk through camp and past us on the river. Read up on bear safety prior to staying at the Russian!

Sign up through Recreation.gov as soon as the registration window opens (6 months prior) since spaces fill up incredibly fast. If you're planning on fishing, try to book one of the loops closest to the Russian River or its confluence with the Kenai River. Otherwise it's quite a hike down to the water.

This is a dry campground, so all us camper/RV folks make sure to charge your phones up before coming out! The campgrounds are in numbered groups, with sites positioned in loops on each side of the road. Far enough apart for privacy, but close enough to know if wildlife is around. We have very spotty service when we’re out here, but we don’t mind because the views are far more note worthy than our phone screens. There are water fill up stations and dump stations at every camping loop, which was very convenient. The sites are very big (room for our 26ft camper, F-250 and trailblazer to fit) with a separate open area beside it with a fire pit, picnic table, and bear proof container to place our dogs food and portable grill. Quiet hours are from 10pm-6am so we were able to run our generator long enough for our boys to watch a movie before bed. Great sites, great price, great place to fish for salmon!