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The OA Camping Guide

Check out the tabs below to see the different options from the OA Camping Guide. A PDF Version of the guide can be found here.

North of the Mat-Su

  • High adventure trip during the beginning of July, requiring LOTS of advanced planning.
  • Raft for about 105 miles down the Kobuk River above the Arctic Circle.
  • Fly into Ambler, fly out of Kiana – you need to charter your own airplanes and rent your own canoe rafts that need to be flown in with the rest of your equipment.
  • Camp on sandbars. Some are gravel, some are pristine sand.
  • GREAT fishing for sheefish.
  • Need to travel about 12 miles each day.
  • River is mostly shallow (about 4 ft deep), wide (mostly ¼ mile) and slow (about 3 MPH). Paddling will get you up to about 5 to 6 MPH. It is like canoeing on the longest lake in the world.
  • Build tripods with your paddles on the sand bars to hang gravity water filter bags.
  • Be prepared for afternoon headwinds, and afternoon downpours. Keep breakfast simple and get in the water EARLY each day before the afternoon weather starts.
  • Once you get off the sand bars and into the brush, be prepared for the worst mosquito conditions you have probably ever encountered! But the camping experience is worth it.
  • Visit Kobuk Sand Dunes – 3 miles hike from the Kobuk River up Kavet Creek (no trail access) through mosquito wonderland.
  • High adventure trip. Requires advanced planning.
  • Ike Waits book on hiking in Denali: “Denali National Park Alaska, Guide to Hiking, Photography, and Camping”, go to www.denaliguidebook.com. Great hikes to tops of mountains and great views.
  • Sun: Drive to Riley Creek
  • Mon: Drive to Teklanika, hike along Teklanika River
  • Tues: Shuttle bus to Tattler Creek, hike up creek to the top of Sable Mountain (Hike #17)
  • Wed: Shuttle bus to Polychome Pass, hike up Polychrome Ridge (Hike #20)
  • Thurs: Shuttle bus to Eielson Visitor Center, hike up Thoro Ridge to Thoro Peak (Hike #45)
  • Fri: Drive to Riley Creek, hike to Mount Healy over look (Hike #2) or Horseshoe Lakes and see beavers and a big beaver dam (Hike #1),
  • Sat: Go rafting with Denali Raft Adventures, visit Honolulu Creek slot canyon on the way back to Anchorage
  • Could be considered a high adventure trip. Recommended for older scouts only.
  • Lots of stone cairns mark the trail.
  • The accents and descents are very steep. Definitely best to go north to south on this trip. Also, the ridge is bisected by a deep valley, so it will be necessary to descend into it and accent out of it. Beautiful white granite outcrops and boulders. Breathtaking views. Pump your own water, lots of creeks and lakes.
  • Thurs: Drive to Denali North View, camp overnight
  • Fri: Little Coal Creek trailhead (leave cars at Byers Lake and Denali North View), camp at 10-Mile Tarn
  • Sat: Hike past Skinny Lake, climb the ridge above Skinny Lake, camp at one of the 3 tarns just below the summit.
  • Sun: End hike at Byers Lake, drive back to Anchorage.
  • For 3-day trip instead of a 4-day trip, you can descend the ridge using the Ermine Hill trail instead of the Byers Lake trail.
  • Good access to the lake for canoeing, and there is a place you can rent a canoe.
  • There are several public use cabins for rent.
  • Great hiking trails – hiking around the lake or out to the Cascades waterfall over a cable suspension bridge. The Kesugi Ridge hike is also accessible from here.
  • Some geocaches in the area.
  • Visit the Veterans’ War Memorial, which is a very short hike (less than a mile) from the main campground.

Mat-Su

  • Great place for winter camping.
  • Upper parking lot if the area is still closed to snowmachining, lower parking lot if the area is open to snowmachining.
  • Contact the ranger for a free camping permit.
  • Park vehicles in front of snow caves to prevent other vehicles from caving them in. All snow cave mouths must face the parking lot.
  • Mile-long sledding hill – drive scouts to the top, pick them up at the bottom. Check for safety – hill is not safe if the snow conditions are icy. Wear a helmet.
  • Many Public Use Cabins on the various lakes for rental.
  • Great canoeing trail with portages to multiple lakes! Go to Tanania Lake for canoe trailhead. Good tent camping sites at Lynx Lake (half-way around the loop).
  • Nancy Lake State Recreation Campground, with 30 campsites
  • South Rolly Lake Campground, Nancy Lake State Recreation Area:
    • Denali District has had the Fall Camporee here in the past.
    • There are 96 campsites.
    • Good access to the lake for canoeing, and there is a place you can rent a canoe.
    • Good volleyball sand pit.
    • Large open area up the hill from the camp site where you can do activities such as staging a geocaching hunt. It is also the trailhead for the Red Shirt Lake Trail (6-miles round-trip). There are 8 lakeside campsites at the end of this trail, and several public use cabins on the lake.

Anchorage Area

  • Ask the ranger to rent the large group campsite. This way your scouts can be loud but not disturb the rest of the general public camping at the regular campsites. Volunteer for a service project to pick up trash in the regular campsites for a few hours to get a waiver
    of the camping fee.
  • Great bike ride along the length of Eklutna Lake. 10.5 miles one way to reach a large bridge on the trail is a convenient place to stop and will count as two 10-milers toward Cycling merit badge, or go a little further for a 26-miler round-trip to the start of the Eklutna Glacier moraine trailhead. The last 2.5 miles are definitely worth the effort, as there are incredible views of towering mountains and huge waterfalls. The trail has mile markers.
  • Good beachcombing. Explore the dam at the mouth of the lake.
  • Good hiking trails:
    • Twin Peaks trail, 2.6 miles, trailhead at the main campsite area.
    • Bold Ridge trail, 4.2 miles, trailhead at Bold Creek bridge, about 5 miles down the lakeside trail.
  • Yuditna Public Use cabin at about mile 3 of the lakeside trail, and Serenity Falls Public Use Hut at about mile 12 toward the very end of the lakeside trail.
  • Remote campsites located at far end of the lake, about 8 miles down the lakeside trail.
  • Have ice cream on the way home at the ice cream shop just outside the park entrance.
  • Map at: http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/maps/eklutnalaketrailguide.pdf
  • Best access is from Glenn Alps trailhead above Anchorage.
  • Great scenery, beautiful string of lakes, good access to water to pump from. Hike can be a little muddy in places.
  • Can make the trip into a loop and return by hiking up and over the “football field” just west of O’Malley Peak. This leg of the hike will be much dryer (not muddy).
  • Good description with a link to a topo map at: http://www.romancingalaska.com/southcentral/SC_williwaw_lakes_hiking_trail.htm
  • Nearby access to Bird Ridge trailhead. Great hike.
  • On the bike trail – can bike to Bird Point or go all the way to Girdwood and have ice cream.
  • This is a privately owned location. Call and ask for permission to camp, ask to pick up trash for a service project to reduce or waive camping fees.
  • Go gold panning at Crow Creek Mine. Owners will give a discount for scout groups.
  • Good access to Winner Creek trail. Hand tram across Winner Creek at about a mile down the trail.
  • Good map at http://www.muni.org/Departments/parks/Documents/GWSummerTrlMap.pdf
  • Numerous campsites.
  • Good access to bike trail that runs the length of the Portage Valley road.
  • Portage Glacier Visitor Center at end of the road.
  • Be prepared for unpredictable weather.
  • Access is by the Alaska Railroad only.
  • Denali District had its Fall 2003 Camporee at this location.
  • Backpack in for about a mile, camp on the shore of Spencer Glacier Lake.
  • Hiking trail to the glacier.

Kenai Peninsula

  • Leave early Friday morning.
  • Start trip at north trailhead, milepost 64 Seward Highway. Stage vehicles for pickup at south trailhead, milepost 32.5 Seward Highway (just west of upper Trail Lake & the fish hatchery).
  • This is part of the historic Iditarod Trail. Hiking this trail can qualify your group for a special Iditarod historical trails medal specific for Alaska, as well as the BSA Historic Trails Award. A service project is required. Contact the ranger for details.
  • Lots of cow parsnip along trail. The sap can cause severe skin rashes and welts in sunlight, so be careful!
  • Fabulous views, including a huge gorge along Bench Creek.
  • Some snow on the trail, even during summer.
  • Numerous places to camp, but we camped for the first night (Friday) on a tundra meadow at a small designated campground at the summit of the pass, on the northeast end of Bench Lake (9 miles from the north trailhead). On the second night (Saturday) we camped only 3 miles away in a wooded area at the southwest end of Johnson Lake at a
    designated campground with lots of mosquitoes! I wore my raingear, headnet, and liner gloves at the campsites even though it wasn’t raining. Both locations had bear boxes.
  • Good fishing in both lakes.
  • Access is from Ptarmigan Creek Campground, milepost 23.3 Seward Highway.
  • Best campground is at the very start of the lake, access trail is to your right. There is also a bear box.
  • Palmer Creek Road
  • Swan Lake Canoe Trails, Sterling (4 day trip with 3 days of canoeing)
  • Hidden Lake Campground
  • Engineer Lake Cabin
  • Right Beach, Katchemak Bay State Park (4 days, we did Friday-Monday)
  • Childs Glacier, Chugach National Forest (7 days)

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