Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Whittier, AK

Cooper Creek is a great, smaller campground to choose when the popular nearby spots fill up with anglers. For some reason, this spot is not as in demand as the Russian River campground, despite having many of the same amenities.

This campground is great for group camping trips, as each site is rated for 8 people and a few can have up to 12. There are many ada-acessible sites to choose from as well, which was a great help when bringing along family in need.

The gravel roads can sometimes mean backing-in is a bit more strenuous than other paved campgrounds, but if you're camping in Alaska, you probably already know how to reverse park a camper! Picnic tables were always well maintained, and the deep firepits came in handy for our large fires. They even have grills built in!

Toilets are well maintained, but we always had to supply our own method of handwashing - hand santizer, in our case to leave as little trace as possible.

Don't forget to bring your fishing poles (get that permit first!) and keep an eye out for bear activity.

Campground Review:

Technically, this area is not a managed or maintained camping area, and like most remote beaches in Alaska it's first come, first served but you're not likely to have much competition. This spot is located in beautiful Prince William Sound, approximately an hour boat ride from Whittier, Alaska. We set up camp where the beach meets the wooded area  As always, it is up to campers to keep the areas free of garbage and pack in/pack out everything. Don't forget to bring along a little shovel to, ahem, bury your personal business and TP. Remember that the tide differential can be huge, so don't let your boat get stranded while exploring the area. 

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Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I am occasionally provided with products to test. We recently tested the Midland EX210VP E+Ready Bundle and ML500 LED Lantern with two of the harshest critics around– our 3 and 7 year olds.

EX210VP E+Ready Bundle – The items in this bundle are a pair of X-Talker T31 walkie talkies and the ER210 emergency weather alert crank radio. The walkie talkies were slightly smaller than others we’ve owned in the past, but they ended up being perfect for our kiddos and felt comfortable in the adults’ hands. The compact size means they fit perfectly in backpacks and jacket pockets, and can also attach via plastic clips. Often my husband will take one of the kids for a canoe ride and exploration in a nearby bay or cove and I’ll stay to beachcomb or hike with the other child, so it’s nice to have an option for keeping in touch while we’re separated, especially since we’ve encountered black bears and other wildlife in the past. Cell service is practically nonexistent in many parts of Alaska so we can’t always rely on our phones. 

I was most excited about the crank radio and it didn’t disappoint! First of all, it’s not heavy and pretty compact - about the size of a little camcorder. My kids loved the flashlight aspect and fought over whose turn it was to hold it. My husband loved the fact that it’s a NOAA weather band radio and he was able to easily access the sea forecast(does that weird computer voice creep anyone else out?) It took a bit of cranking before we could begin charging up a cell phone through the USB cord, but I’m happy as long as we have that capability. And if the battery or crank fail, you still have the option of running the device via solar power. 

ML500 LED Lantern – The light output on this is great, although we really didn’t need it since southcentral Alaska is currently seeing 21 hours of functional daylight. My daughter dropped the device on the some jagged beach rocks at low tide and the lantern still worked perfectly, even if the exterior plastic saw a few scuffs. The metal loop is perfect for hanging from the top of the tent. A wide base means it’s stable in a boat, camper, or on the picnic table. And yay for warranties, this is for one year. We didn’t need to run the lantern for long periods of time, but Midland says it’s good for 65/19 hours of illumination at low/high settings, respectively. Cons: This is very minor, but I do wish the lantern had come stocked with the three D batteries required to power the device. I realize Midland most likely went this route to lower the total cost of the light- a set of just two D batteries at our local store runs about $11. 

Overall I’d highly recommend all of these products from Midland. Our items were all color coordinated (red and black) which is kind of nice. We frequently camp with our young children on remote islands and areas only reachable by boat, so it appeals to my mom sensibilities to have gear that is reliable and can be used in a safety/communication capacity as well as for fun.

This is a double site in Williwaw Campground and it was great! The air was crisp and cool, close to a flowing creek and a trail, a hand pump for water was next to the site, and the triangular fire pit was cool! We were in a campervan and did have mosquitoes at times. There was a short walk to the restrooms. The campground was quiet but we could walk the Trail of Blue Ice which had an entrance in the campground. Cell service in Alaska is hit or miss but AT&T was pretty much useless and Verizon was not much better…..but who comes out here for that.😊 Girdwood is your closest town for ice and firewood but take the tunnel to Whittier for a cool experience and quick snack!

Porcupine was our third campground of our trip and it was a good one. We wish we had gotten a better site, but there is plenty of hiking around to see the water and mountains. Oddly, being so close to the water in the summer in Alaska, we expected a deluge of mosquitoes, but actually found none! We used Porcupine as a base camp for hiking Portage Pass and checking out Whittier. If you're anticipating on going to Whittier, be mindful of the tunnel; it's the one way in/out of Whittier and has a toll. No major complaints about the campground, there was plenty of sticks laying around to fuel our BioLite Campstove 2. On our second day, the water pump that was closest to us, broke, didn't seem to have been fixed for the duration of our stay there.