Established Camping
Tenderfoot Creek
About
National Forest
Chugach National Forest
Overview
Tenderfoot Creek Campground unveils views of the surrounding mountains from every direction and offers campsites that face the edge of a glistening lake. Perched along Summit Lake on the Eastern Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, Tenderfoot Creek provides an ideal destination for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, hiking and wildlife watching. Campers may experience morning wakeup calls from loons or view bald eagles fishing in the clear waters. Impressive wildlife inhabitants include moose, brown and black bears, mountain goats, lynx and wolves. Campsites are nicely spaced along the eastern shores of Summit Lake. Tenderfoot Creek passes through the campground and surrounding forest includes spruce and hemlock.
Recreation
The Summit Lake Trail heads south of Summit Lake and connects with the Resurrection Pass Trail, a wonderful 39-mile hiking and biking trail that climbs 2,100 feet of elevation, providing excellent views of the area. The lake is stocked with Dolly Varden and Rainbow trout. Winter recreation includes backcountry skiing, snow-boarding and snowshoeing.
Facilities
Tenderfoot Creek campers enjoy amenities such as drinking water, vault toilets, picnic tables, trash collection, fire pits and a boat ramp. The majority of campsites are pull-through and parking aprons are gravel. Firewood can be purchased onsite.
Natural Features
Summit Lake is a small cirque lake, or tarn, reaching a depth of 20 feet. This cirque was the beginning of a long-gone, alpine glacier. The surrounding terrain and unique mountain landscape is all glacially carved.
contact_info
For local information, please call (907) 522-8368 or call (907) 288-3178 for general information.
Nearby Attractions
Visit Portage Glacier in the Portage Valley, a 14-mile isthmus that connects the Kenai Peninsula to mainland Alaska. Glacial remnants that can be seen today are Explorer, Middle, Byron, Burns and Shakespeare glaciers.
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Drinking Water
- Toilets
- Alcohol
For Vehicles
- Pull-Through Sites
- Big Rig Friendly
Perfect BaseCAMP
We spent 4 nights in Tenderfoot Campground just on the other side of Summit Lake. It is hidden but located at the base of a tall mountain that would be in avalanche danger if snow were in season. This camp is closed in winter. Our site was a first come, first serve site but it was the perfect pull-through for our campervan! It was a site walk to the bathroom, water pump was located across the street, and you had plenty of space for spreading out. You can hear the creek close by as it was flowing rapidly from snow melt high up on the mountain. It was perfectly located on a hill, equidistant from Soldotna, Seward, and Anchorage, and the mosquitoes left us alone as opposed to the ones on the loop as you come in closer to the lake. My favorite site in the Kenai Peninsula ! Not much cell service out here in these woods.
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Campground with good Trout fishing
This campground sits right on a lake. Drop a kayak...very nice, clean, excellent sites. However, the noise from Seward highway echoes off the mountains so it's a bit noisy for a tent camper but very nice otherwise.
Summit Lake need I say more
This is a really different campground. Built on the side of a mountain it has some strange campsites. Its close proximity to Summit Lake and lake access earned it 4 stars. Really great place to take a kayak. If it was not for the water aspect it would have only gotten a 3 star review. Some of the sites have the picnic tables at a higher elevation than the parking pad. If you have accessibility issues this is something you will want to watch out for. There are lots of bugs so bring you bug dope. The spots are large so you can fit a big rig in them however the campground is a bit tight so you will have to watch the turning of these bigger rigs. Cell Service: no Internet: no 2020 Cost: $18 - $28 Distance from Anchorage: 75 miles Bug Factor (1 minimal to 10 too many to enjoy): 6
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Location
Tenderfoot Creek is located in Alaska
Directions
From Anchorage, go south on Seward Highway approximately 81 miles to Summit Lake. Turn at milepost 46 before Summit Lake Lodge.
Address
Seward Ranger District, 33599 Ranger Station Spur
Seward, AK 99664
Coordinates
60.6363889 N
149.4972222 W