Searching for the perfect place to pitch your tent near McCarthy? Find the best information on tent campgrounds near McCarthy, including sites, reviews, and tips. Whether you're looking for a quiet, dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
This primitive camping area has no amenities. It is reached via foot travel only. Water is available from nearby streams (it should be treated before drinking) and there are bear boxes for storing food.
Of the 5,000 square miles of glacial ice in Wrangell-St. Elias, the Root Glacier is the most accessible. A moderate 1 ½ mile walk from the historic mining town of Kennecott along the Root Glacier Trail leads you onto the glacier. Be aware that glaciers can be dangerous. It is recommended to wear crampons or ice spikes on your shoes and go with an experienced guide.
There are countless backpacking trips that can be done in Wrangell-St. Elias. Most of the routes listed here are generally "known" and can be found in hiking books and in magazine articles. Other routes can be found through local guide services and air taxis. There are no maintained or marked routes in the park.
Approximately 1.5 miles after leaving Kennecott, the trail reaches the Root Glacier access trail. (Primitive campsites, along with an outhouse and food lockers, are available in this area.) To access the glacier, turn left at the sign and follow the trail as it winds down the moraine to the toe of the glacier. This trail crosses Amazon Creek, which is a seasonal stream. Depending on recent rainfall or spring melt, you may need to cross this stream.
Hazards: The Root Glacier can be very slippery and dangerous. Crampons are strongly recommended. Avoid walking along the edge of Root Glacier as rotting ice and swift, cold water are potentially dangerous. Bears are present along the entire route. For maximum safety, travel in groups, be noisy when you are walking, and never give any food to a bear.
Notes: If you are camping at the Jumbo Creek Camping Area or Donaho Basin, it is required that your food is stored in the bear-resistant food boxes or your own Bear Resistant Food Container (BRFC).
Guide
While this campsite might be basic in amenities, the views are unbeatable! This also give great access to McCarthy and Kennicott shuttles. Be very careful on the road here, we got a flat on the way out but some very kind Alaskans helped us out and got us on the way.
LegendThis place is so far out of the way and worth it. We only stayed one night but there was enough around and the site was so great, I wish we could have stayed for two. The road to get here isn't hard, just extremely long. When it's wet and the potholes are full of water, you have to treat each of them like they're a foot deep since you have no depth perception. It took us about 3 hours on Nabsena road in our rental jeep compass. We were here in shoulder season and had our pick of spots. We set up right along the water. It was extremely peaceful and relaxing. You could sit here to just enjoy the scenery. Walking into McCarthy is fun too and has a couple of dining options. The city's public outhouses are night, the home made pits on the campground are okay (the dimensions are a little off and they're awkward to sit on). I can't remember if they have wood available but don't count on any amenities. Being shoulder season, we were treated to less than 10 others in the campground (any RV's should be prepared to bondock). Plenty of bear tracks sited hiking in the area and locals said the grizzly's were coming out at night. We even got a glimpse of the Northern Lights but the stars alone are incredible here. This site was well worth travelling for.
LegendStopped here before our hike up to root glacier. The drive there was so beautiful but definitely challenging.
RangerGreat spot for families, only 1/2 from McCarthy and 5 miles from Kennicott. Over the footbridge you can take public shuttles for a fee to Kennicott.
Warning- McCarthy can attract a lot of partying, some visitor may be louder and stay up late.
LegendParking/campground at the end of the road. 25$ for very limited service. The view of the glacier is nice but the rest of the campground has no charm. If you have time, look for a dispersed site 10miles or so before McCarty.
Guide
This campground is only suitable for those with their own transportation as it is a considerable drive from the footbridge, but the trek is worth it. Nice level tent sites near the river with a picnic table and stone fire ring. Outhouse and showers are a short walk away. Guides for river rafting trips live in walled tents nearby if you need anything. Breeze near the river keeps insects at bay and some greenery between sites provide privacy. A nice place to camp away from the hubbub at the end of the road.
LegendThis is less of a campsite and more of a just roughing-in it (boondocking) on the side of the river on some gravel. Gorgeous views in every direction so worth the gravelly spots. Perfect Campground for the jumping off into Kennicott and McCarthy. Listen to the Raging River as you fall asleep. Friendly host went out of his way to let us use his phone to check up on grown kids at home. No real fire puts to speak of, we used rocks to enclose our fire and there were plenty of those. No table either but considering the price we really didnt mind for being close to the bridge into McCarthy.
TravelerThe host was really friendly and helpful, easy going guy who owns the property. It’s a flat rate and you can camp wherever you want! There is lots of space to have your own spot. There are lots of fire pits and picnic tables around, as well as outhouses. Great location right by the river and bridge and a short walk to the lake with amazing views of the glacier!
LegendI came to this campground in the middle of May. No one else seemed to be camping there. There were cars parked in the parking area but most of them seemed to be broke down. No one ever even acknowledged that we were there. You pay buy an honor system of filling out a white slip of paper and putting it on your dash. $20 for overnight camping and $5 for day parking. This campground is conveniently located right next to the foot bridge that goes into McCarthy. If you are tent camping you have to set up on the bare rocks. It can also get very windy. Outhouses did not seem to be set up so we drove a mile out of town to the NPS public pit toilets since they were clean and open. There are picnic tables and rock fire rings scattered around for public use. The views are stunning and I'm sure they are even better in the summer!
Ranger
I would stay here all summer long! This was a great campground with a beautiful waterfall. Our campsite had a short walk to a waterfall the family and I played in. It was an amazing experience. The showers/bathrooms here weren’t terrible. We filled up our camper with water and dumped our camper at this site with ease. I would 100% stay here again.
Legend
Like other national parks in Alaska that we encountered, there is often an expensive route and a very affordable route for exploring the park. Wrangell-St. Elias was no exception. While plenty of visitors stayed in the lodge, or in nearby McCarthy, we opted for the free Jumbo Creek Campground, only 1.5 miles from the heart of the park in Kennicott, Alaska.
Camping here requires a 1.5 trek to and from your site everyday, but if you can get past that, your time here will be unforgettable. Our site here provided possibly the best view we ever had while camping all across the U.S. last year.
At the “campground” -- a flexible term for an array of flat areas around the trail where you can find a place to camp -- is a bear box, and that’s about it. But it’s free, so what can you do?
We found the perfect place to pitch our tent, but we cooked a ways down the trail to take every precaution against bears in the area. We didn’t see any during our time here.
Hiking in and out of the campsite each day was a bit of a chore, but it was worth it to access some amazing hiking: we loved the hike to Bonanza Mine and out the other direction to Root Glacier (where we strapped on crampons with our guided tour.)
We also enjoyed hearing about the history of Kennicott from rangers in the many available ranger tours.
You can read much more about our three days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Wrangell-St. Elias)
RangerWe love coming back to this campground! If you have time for the trip, it's worth it. Very casual with no defined spots. Plenty of room, but arrive early on busy weekends to get the best space. No defined sites. Listen to running water at night and view the glacire from your tent
GuideChugach Mountains on one side, the Root Glacier on the other, and a rushing river on the third side. The MOST gorgeous scenery at a campsite I've ever been to. There is no NP campground in this remote part of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (the largest NP in the US). You can either drive the 30-mile gravel road for 3 hours or take a 4-seater plane in. The flight was our vacation splurge and it was breathtaking. We were dropped off by a shuttle at the other side of the river and used a wheeled cart to carry out gear and cross the pedestrian bridge to the campground. No one was there but we found a picnic table with instructions to put our $20/night cash in an envelope. We found a site on the other side (the side by the picnic table had cars/RV's that had driven in, our side had 3 tents the first night, none the next 2 nights). There aren't really any designated campsites, but there were a scattering of picnic tables, fire rings and plenty of land. Despite the remoteness, we were glad to discover an outhouse and a large container of potable water on site. The town of McCarthy (15 minute walk) had 1 restaurant open that we ate dinner at each night after exploring the Root Glacier and ice climbing. We bought sack lunches from the lodge in Kennicott and only had to cook breakfast. Bear containers are required here if you don't have a vehicle, and we were able to check one out for free from the NP visitor center (not on site, but several hours earlier in the day's drive). While the campground itself is very basic, the remote location and beauty make the effort and expense to get here absolutely worth it! Highly recommended!
GuideNice cabins to rent if you don't want to take a tent or RV! Watch out for wildlife. Check out a cool old mining town or just get out of your busy life and relax. Beautiful view, clean air, and quiet!
TravelerBeautiful views close to McCarthy's walking bridge. Picnic Benches. Very friendly host. Must try the Roadside Potatohead! It was about a 10 minute walk from our campsite.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near McCarthy, AK?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near McCarthy, AK is Jumbo Creek Camping Area — Wrangell-St. Elias National Park with a 5-star rating from 1 review.
