Summary

Best Campgrounds of 2024 and 2025 Plans

Spending 6 months on our Alaska trip was amazing! I wasn't sure how to do this blog as it really wasn't fair to try to pick my Top 10 Campsites as almost EVERY place we stayed in Alaksa was incredible.  Not to mention there were some great places we stayed January - April before we left.  I also wasn't sure if I wanted to combine my trip stats or keep them separate as I wanted stats just for Alaksa since the trip itself was totally different than regular years trips.  Since we spent so little time before and after Alaska, I really only have a Top 3 (US) since I decided to leave out the repeats.

When looking for campsites, we prefer privacy, easy access, gorgeous views, on or very near water for fishing and kayaking, nearby hiking and biking trails, not too far from towns for amenities, entertainment, good food and water/dump.  We love areas with history, breweries and other fun things.  We also love to boondock and love FREE camping.  If we have to pay, anything in the Twenties is what we shoot for.  Anything above $30 makes me cringe a bit but sometimes that's what it is.

Here are our favorite camping spots of 2024 (in no particular order):

BEFORE our Alaska Trip

1. Red Rock Canyon - Las Vegas, NV (HERE)
It was $25 to camp at this BLM run campground with a colorful view of the mountains behind us.  There are no Utilites but there are fire pits, bathrooms, water and nearby dump in town.

    

  Large spaced campsites.        The red rock is everywhere.              Canyons to hike in.

2. Boulder Beach Campground - Boulder City, NV (HERE)

$10 with a Senior Pass to camp here on Lake Mead.  Dry camping with fire rings, picnic tables, bathrooms and a dump station.  Scattered water spigots.  Close enough to Las Vegas if you want to visit or you can enjoy the lake and take some interesting drives around the area.

    
Pretty campsites and kayaking the crystal-clear lake.

3. Signal Rd. - Wikieup, AZ  (HERE)

A nice free boondocking site on BLM land.  We've driven past this lonely road over the years but never stayed here.  It's easy to get to and turn around.  It's a pretty area and very quiet.  There are some ghost towns out in the mountains if you have a razor or jeep.  Plenty of donkeys too.

  

Easy to get to and so quiet!

DURING our ALASKA TRIP

Our Favorite Camping Spots during our Alaska Trip may include Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon Territory, Alaska, Northwest Territories, Idaho & Nevada. Again, in no particular order.  I have to say that it was almost impossible to even pick favorites.  The criteria was so different on this trip. Almost every place we stayed was drop dead gorgeous.  Almost everyone was on a lake, river or ocean.  There is SO much water in Alaska. It's hard to say if they'd be on this list if the weather was bad or we couldn't hike, kayak or fish. Sometimes there was so much to do and other times we just chilled.  Sometimes we loved the campsite but there really wasn't anything to do so it was just an overnighter, but the scenery was so stunning we added it to the favorites list.  Sometimes the campsite wasn't the most spectacular and even though there were tons of things to do, it didn't make the list.  So don't really judge our trip itself on this list.  It's best to read the blog on the individual posts (once I get them all done!) to see why we added them.  Again, we stayed at almost 100 different places during these 6 months. Many of these places are hundreds of miles apart and they were just overnighters on our way to the next stop.  Prices are listed in US or CN (British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon or NWT) prices without conversion.

1. Marble Canyon PP - British Columbia (HERE)

$18/CN. We arrived at this Provincial Park in very early May and the ice had just melted.  It's a very small campground with sites that line one side of the lake.  Most sites fit only very small rigs/tents but have nice table/patio areas with firepits.  There is water available but only during warmer months.  No dump.  The fishing is fantastic and there is a waterfall on the opposite side you can kayak and hike to.  No cell reception.

    

Small sites right on the lake.  Waterfalls and fishing!

2. Bear Paw 2 - Valdez, Alaska

$60/US a night at this private park right on the bay/marina entrance.  Another very small park with maybe 20 sites, FHU, laundry and showers.  We backed right up to the water and watched all the fishing and pleasure boats of all kinds motoring back and forth.  A nice campground within walking distance of restaurants, museums, the marina & pier, shopping etc.  Very clean and well-kept with some trees and landscaping.  One of the very few private parks we stayed at for 4 days.  This campground was all about the location. We took a glacier/iceberg/whale boat tour here. Great cell reception.

    

We backed right up to the inlet of the marina.

3. Boya Lake PP- Stikine Region, British Columbia 

$20/CN. Boya Lake was one of our very favorite campgrounds on the entire trip.  A good-sized campground.  Dry camping with spring-fed water at the entrance.  There was a restriction to use it conservatively.  It came out so slow we didn't use it too often.  There are bathrooms, fire rings, picnic tables, hiking out of the campground, boat ramp, playground, kayak rentals and a covered picnic area with wood stove.  Mostly lake side campsites. No cell reception or dump.

      

Our lakeside site with us in the center  Plenty of beautiful lake to paddle on.  Nice hiking trails.

4. Fishing Hole Campground - Homer, Alaska

$30/US.  We spent a week at the Fishing Hole Municipal Campground.  There is central water/dump and sits toward the end of the spit.  Some sites, ours included, sit right along the Kachemak Bay where you can watch the tide go in and out.  There is fishing, firepits, tables, fish cleaning station, bathrooms and it's within walking distance along the spit.  The spit has the harbor, tours, restaurants and touristy stuff.  We took a Halibut fishing tour from here. Plenty of shopping and services back in town.

  

Our campsite backed up to the water.  You can walk to the marina, restaurants and shops.

5. Million Dollar Falls Campground - Haines Junction, Alaska

$20/CN. This was another top campground.  Dry camping, some riverside, bathrooms, garbage, fire rings, picnic table and FREE firewood.  Got to LOVE the government campgrounds (similar to USFS campgrounds in the US) in the Yukon! There is a wonderful platform hike along the river.  Other than some relaxation, there really isn't anything to do here.  A nice stopover on the way to Haines. No cell or dump.

      

We had the best campsite with this view of the river right behind us.  Waterfall hike.

6. Chilkoot Lake SRA Campground - Haines, Alaska

$20/CN. Dry camping, boat ramp, picnic tables, fire rings, bathrooms, trash, central water. This campground is under a heavy canopy of trees.  Beautiful, but difficult with solar.  It can be quite rainy here.  The huge draw is the bears that feed in the river during the salmon run.  We saw so many up close.  The town is also very cute.  No cell or dump but you can find both in town.

    

Our site under a heavy canopy.              Bears everywhere!                         Chilkoot Lake

7. Muncho Lake PP - Northern Rockies, British Columbia

$20/CN. Dry camping, boat ramp, picnic tables, fire rings, bathrooms, trash, central water. This campground is one of two provincial parks that sits on the turquoise waters of Muncho Lake.  The campsites are on the smaller side and have trees and plants separating them.  You are right on the water with most sites with easy access to fish, kayak or just stare at the mountains on the other side.  There is hiking nearby and a wonderful lodge to visit with fantastic food. No cell or dump.

    

One of the prettiest lakes in BC!  Fishing, kayaking and hiking nearby.

8. Slocum Creek Dispersed - Jordan Valley, Oregon

Free boondocking on Lake Owyhee (a wide spot on the river) was a magical place as you drive through the Leslie Gulch Canyon.  It's full of volcanic formations and meadows and crazy rocks.  That is, IF, you can survive the remote, treacherous 20 or so miles on a mostly horrible dirt road.  The quiet uniqueness of this place is worth it if you can get out here.  No trailers should even attempt to come out here.  The fishing was wonderful and we enjoyed some hiking too.  No cell or dump.  Come with water, gas and food!

    

9. Liard River Hot Springs PP - Liard River, British Columbia

$20 gets you the usual dry camping provincial park with picnic tables, fire rings, restrooms, trash and central water, although there is nothing "usual" about the hot springs.  It is the second largest hot spring in Canada and is surrounded by a lush boreal forest.  So beautiful it almost looks fake. There is a walkway that meanders from the campground to the spring through the marsh where we saw moose. No cell or dump.

    

10. Salmon Glacier - Hyder, Alaska/Stewart, British Columbia

    

Our #1 pick!  Boondocking for free overlooking the Salmon Glacier with the Aurora Borealis at night.  It was 20 miles or so up a steep, rough dirt road but so worth it!  We hiked beautiful mountain/marsh areas with lakes and absorbed as much as we could of this magical place before the upcoming snow chased us out.  Pure magic.  Nothing up here so come with empty tanks, water, gas and food.

Honorable Mentions:

Waterfront Park Campground - Seward, Alaska

$45. A large parking lot style campground but it's all about location.  Right on the ocean in a protected bay.  All types of amenities.  We had W/E.  There is a dump with water fill too. You can walk to the pier/marina. Eagles everywhere.

Smith Falls SRA - Northern Rockies, British Columbia

Free boondocking at the end of a long, narrow two-mile dirt road with some flooding.  It was a gorgeous drive we did twice.  The fall color was fantastic.  The road dead-ends with enough room for 4 or 5 cars/campers to overnight.  No amenities at all.  You can view the stunning waterfall from here or hike down to it.

Barnes Lake SRA - Ashcroft, British Columbia

Free boondocking. This spot is here simply for the Bass fishing!  It was a somewhat pretty lake in a nice setting and we camped right near the shore.  If it weren't for the fishing we probably wouldn't recommend it.  We caught them one after the other for two days in our kayak.  Incredible! We stayed at the far north end of the lake but there were some nice spots along the way too. No amenities.

For those that might be interested, here's a breakdown of the places we stayed, and the costs:

(This is in the US before and after our Alaska Trip)

	Stays	Nights	Total	AVG (per night cost)
Private Park	1	1	$30.00	$30.00
Fairgrounds	1	1	$30.00	$30.00
BLM	1	3	$75.00	$25.00
Elks	6	38	$945.00	$24.86
State Parks	6	31	$721.00	$23.25
Nat. Rec. Area	1	1	$10.00	$10.00
Thousand Trails	3	62	$250.00	$  4.03
Boondocking*	6	52	$0.00	$  0.00
National Forest	0	0	$0.00	$  0.00
TOTALS	25	189	$2,061.00	$10.90

(This is from our Alaska Trip)

	Stays	Nights	Total	AVG (per night cost)
Private Parks	9	17	$710.00	$41.76
City/County Parks	9	22	$587.00	$26.68
State Parks	6	12	$271.00	$22.58
Elks	3	6	$135.00	$22.50
Government CG	4	5	$96.00	$19.20
Provincial Parks	10	18	$292.00	$16.22
National Parks	3	8	$126.00	$15.75
National Forest	4	6	$86.00	$14.33
State Rec Area	11	22	$281.00	$12.77
BLM	5	8	$52.00	$6.50
Boondocking*	23	38	$0	$0
Other**	8	15	$0	$0
TOTALS	95	177	$2,636.00	$14.89

 Grand Totals           120        366        $4697.00    $12.89       

* Boondocking for us is anywhere we stay for free which is not an organized campground.  It can include time at family and friends (typically referred to as Moochdocking) and other areas. Usually most of our boondocking is at BLM, National Forest, etc, but I give them a separate category if they are paid locations.

** Includes stays at gravel pits, airstrip, moochdocking, gold mine, and Walmart.
 

We had 25 stops in 189 days averaging 7.5 days a stop before and after our Alaska Trip in CA, NV and AZ.

We had 95 stops in 177 days averaging 1.89 days a stop during our Alaska Trip.

We have 239,892 miles on the truck, driving 24,642K miles this year.  

10,609 miles were driven January - April and Oct - December.

14,033 miles were driven on our Alaska Trip April - October.

Yearly Comparison
2014 - (need to add)
2015 - (need to add)
2016 - Yearly Campsite Total: $3494.50
            Daily Average: $9.57
2017 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5090.50
            Daily Average: $13.94
2018 - Yearly Campsite Total: $4038.00
            Daily Average: $11.06

2019 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5530.00

            Daily Average: $15.15 

2020 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5075.50

            Daily Average: $13.90

2021 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5765.96

            Daily Average: $15.88

2022 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5725.96

            Daily Average: $15.69

2023 - Yearly Campsite Total: $5056.00

            Daily Average: $13.85

2024 - Yearly Campsite Total: $4697.00 (includes our AK trip with adjusted Canadian prices)

            Daily Average: $12.83

What was different?

- Steve retired this year! So now we don't have to worry about cell signal!  We go where we want.

- We got side-lined with two emergency eye surgeries for Steve in February and March which postponed our Alaska trip a couple of weeks. 

- Our Alaska Trip was 6 months.  Words and pictures can't really capture the true beauty.  Miles upon miles of wilderness with few roads or people.  We loved it.  Doing this in our truck camper allowed us to get to places we never would've been able to take our 5th wheel.  Definitely the way to do it if you want to get remote.  We didn't feel cramped at all.  Staying April - October gave us more time and less people.  We had much more boondocking too. We were lucky to have mostly warm, dry days in the 60s+ and less mosquitoes.  It's a loooong way to Alaska.  You can boogie through Canada and get there faster but we took a month to get there and get back and thoroughly enjoyed British Columbia. The spectacular mountains in British Columbia make us want to go back just to spend more time there.

- Gas prices weren't too bad in Canada after the conversion and they were much cheaper in Alaska. Usually in the $3.50 a gallon range.

- CA gas prices dropped from the $5-$6 range down to $4.50 when we returned from Alaska.

I won't bore you with all the costs we had, but if you're curious, here are some rough costs:

Groceries - $800mo.

Eating Out - $550mo.

Diesel Gas - $850mo.

Propane - $45mo.

Laundry - $15mo.

DEF - $25mo.

Excursions - $715mo.

We spent just under $5,000mo on average for those 6 months in Alaska.  That covered EVERYTHING.  Once I do catch up and finish the blog posts for 2024, I'll do a special re-cap just of the Alaska Trip with all the goodies and details.

Plans for 2025:
We'll be staying in California next year with a few shorter trips to neighboring states.

Did we get Lost in Alaska ??

Well sort of.

We’ve either been out of cell range or simply having too much fun!  We’re celebrating our 40th Anniversary today. The blog posts will be coming rapid fire once we get home in the end of October.

Thanks for waiting!!

The Pipeline, Moose, Arctic Grayling & the Denali Highway - Alaska

Gakona, Alaska
Sourdough Creek Campground

We arrived at Sourdough Creek Campground which is run by BLM after a 3 hour drive back north on the Glenn Hwy (AK1) turning west onto the Richardson Hwy (AK4).  It was mostly flat bogland.  We were hopeful to see some moose along the way but we didn't see any on this route.  The campground was nice and made up of back ins and pull throughs.  There was moose poop everywhere but not a one to be seen.  It's still early in the season and there were only a couple other people scattered about in the large campground.  BLM is half off for us so it only cost $7.50 a night.  We stayed in site #20, but I didn't get a picture.  Above is Rick and Angie's site.  The campground is between the large Matanuska River and the small Sourdough Creek.  It's supposed to be a great Arctic Grayling fishing area, but it's still too early for them as well.

We stayed 3 nights to relax and do a little fishing and hiking then continued north on the Richardson Hwy.  The scenery was gorgeous.  We stopped in at the Meiers Lake Roadhouse for a pitstop.

These little roadhouses are scattered all over Alaska.  They were originally places to stop to resupply, freshen horses, get mail, a hot meal and a room for the miners and travelers back in the day.  While many of them are closed and in disrepair, there are a several still open.  This one has gas and cabins too.  We stopped in to look around, use the bathroom and buy some homemade sourdough bread and snacks.

The roadhouse sits in front of the beautiful Meier's Lake.  Again, Arctic Grayling are supposed to be plentiful here.  We'd have loved to kayak here but we still had about 3 hours to go to get to our next stop.

The inside was full of old items from around the area.  We've always heard the roadhouses have great food.  We only had some baked goods but they were delicious.

The drive follows along many lakes and waterways like the Gulkana River and Phelan Creek.  Each summer the salmon travel as far as 300 miles up the Copper River watershed to spawn.

Trumpeter Swans use the area as they migrate.  We've only seen a few here and there.  Too early still I guess.  The ice was just melting off many of the higher elevation lakes and rivers.

Above is a pingo.  These are icecored hills of intrapermafrost.  They only grow in areas of permafrost such as the Arctic and subarctic.  It is a non-glacial landform.

We decided to try a dirt road off the highway to see if we could get closer to one of the many glaciers here.  The road was so awful and full of potholes, every couple of feet in all directions, we gave up.  But we did get pretty close.

A bit further up the road was Rainbow Mountain which has an elevation of 6,841 feet and is in the Delta Mountains.  It is made up of multi-colored talus which slides down its face. Yellow, pink and green colors are from volcanic eruptions whereas the brown and gray colors are from sandstone, siltstone and limestone layers.

(Later in the trip we actually travel by Pump Station 4)

We got to get out between Pump Station 10 and 11 and see the pipeline up close and learn a few things.

                    - The trans-Alaska pipeline is 800 miles long

                    - The diameter is 48 inches

                    - It crosses three mountain ranges and over 500 rivers and streams

                    - It cost $8 billion to build in 1977.  It was the largest privately funded, construction

                          project at that time.

                    - Construction began on March 27, 1975 and was complete on May 31, 1977.

                    - The first oil moved through the pipeline on June 20, 1977.

                    - The first tanker to carry crude oil from Valdez was the ARCO Juneau on August 1, 1977.

The pipeline is specially designed to prevent oil spill during an earthquake.  Wherever the pipeline is elevated (as it is in segments totaling 420 miles) the pipe is supported on horizontal cross-members suspended between two vertical members.  At the Denali Fault, since the span is further, the pipeline is directly on the ground placed in steel shoes which have Teflon pads to allow them to move freely.  The pipeline is made of a high-quality alloy, one half inch thick.  There was a 7.9 earthquake in November 2002.  The ground along the fault moved about 18 feet.  The pipeline performed exactly as designed without spilling a drop of oil.

It was really cool to see the pipeline, touch it and learn all about it.  We drove passed it for hundreds of miles during our time here.

In 1988 during peak production, it took 4-5 days for 2,000,000 barrels of oil to travel from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.  As production has slowed, they are implementing measures to help the declining output as it travels through the pipeline since the oil thickens as it travels at slower amounts.

Most parts of the pipeline are raised up.  This allows for wildlife to walk around and not even notice.  I was impressed how little the pipeline disrupted nature.  The trees and bushes grow naturally along the pipeline corridor.  The pipeline runs under some of the mountains, lakes and rivers.  Truly amazing!  This area is home to Caribou and Moose.  The Caribou like the treeless tundra as well as the mountains.  They must keep moving to find adequate food and will migrate long distances between summer and winter ranges.  Both male and female Caribou have antlers.  Domesticated Caribou are called Reindeer.

Moose are the largest of the deer family.  Adult moose can range in size from 800 pounds (a small female) to 1,600 pounds (a large male).  They can be almost six feet tall and can grow an 80 pound rack in one summer.  That's one inch of bone formation in a day.

The drive was gorgeous and much of our views looked like the one above.

As we pulled into Delta Junction, the end of the AlCan (Alaska Highway), we stopped to get some groceries, gas and dump/fill our tanks.

The Tesoro station here was huge and easy to navigate.  There was a place to dump our tanks, fill our fresh water and they even had an RV wash station.  No charge.  

What a great RV Wash Station!

Delta Junction, Alaska

Clearwater State Rec Area

This SRA campground was small but on the shores of Clearwater Creek.  It was $15 to camp, no hookups or dump, central water.  We were lucky to get 2 of the very few spots open since it is right out of town and it was Friday.  It's a very popular Arctic Grayling river.

It lived up to its name as the water was crystal clear.  Since the snow is still melting into the rivers, the current was pretty strong. We drifted downstream a bit and paddled back.  Not knowing what the current would be like further, we stayed closer to the wider part of the river which was like a small lake.  We took turns paddling while the other fished or else the current would take you away.

We all caught some our first Arctic Graylings!  Typically a smaller fish (3 lbs is considered trophy size), but very interesting with the sail fin on top.  We had to release anything over 18 inches. We kept the biggest that we caught later in the day so we could grill and taste one.  We heard they were very good but needed to be cooked the same day.  It was yummy!

What a great few days fishing and enjoying the weather.  

These mountain views were always so unbelievable.  Never got tired of seeing them.

This moose couldn't make up it's mind which side of the road she wanted to be on.  We stopped while she walked back and forth.

Why did the moose cross the road?  Who knows!

These guys couldn't wait to get onto the water and fish.  There was a small area along the shore where the ice had melted exposing the beautiful turquoise water. What a beautiful day to be out.

Time to head for a drive on the Denali Hwy (AK8).  It connects AK4 at Paxton to AK1 at Cantwell.  This drive of 135 miles is considered to be some one of the most spectacular drives in the world.  The road is above the timberline with the Alaska Mountain Range as your backdrop.   Many of the lakes and kettle ponds were still frozen. Most of the road is gravel and its usually closed from October - May.

Our first up close Alaska snow.  We had to play in it a bit.

Portions of the road are built on eskars.  Melting glaciers create eskars when they leave behind ridges of gravel and sand in a perfect form that can go on for miles.  They look manmade but is made by nature.

Each end of the highway is paved a bit.  We were surprised that the pavement lasted as long as it did.  Granted it was the usual wavy/bumpy road.  We heard it was recently graded for the season and we found that for the most part, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been.  I don't think we'll ever get used to these crazy roads.  Almost every day we say how glad we are that we have the camper instead of pulling a trailer.  We would have missed so much by not bringing our trailer on these types of roads.

It was far away, but so amazing to see this momma moose with twins.

Here is a short video where you can see the twin baby moose with Momma.

A beaver lodge.

The Susitna River way below.

We stopped at a lodge for lunch then closer to the 1/2 way point we stopped at the Susitna Lodge to visit and have a drink.  Most of these roadhouses and lodges are family owned.  They actually do more business in the winter with fly-ins by plane and helicopter and snowmobiles than they do in the summer.  We talked to the son for some time and he gave us a great spot to check out for boondocking.

I forget what he called these but they were delicious with chunks of very fresh pineapple in them.  We sat outside enjoying the view in the warm sun and playing with the resident dogs.

There was a long, meandering waterfall next to it that we visited.  It was impossible to get a picture of the entire length of it.

This is the Susitna Bridge.  We drove to it and then turned around to go to our camping spot for the next few days.  We had to break this drive in 1/2 because there are few main roads in Alaska and you will do a lot of backtracking if you want to visit most places.  We will do the other 1/2 from the other end later when we will be on that side visiting Denali National Park.

Matanuska-Susitna, Alaska

Swampbuggy Lake Boondocking

We were given some directions as you can't see it from the road.  Just take this small dirt road down about 1/4 mile and there is a small turnout that can fit 2 or 3 rigs.  Luckily we found it on the first try.  The approximate coordinates, 63.05518N, 147.42148W.  We sure love winging it with almost no plan where we'll be or where we'll camp!

It turned out to be a great spot that we had all to ourselves.

It was sunny and very warm.  Warm enough for shorts and sitting outside just enjoying more of the beautiful Alaska backcountry.

While we had a nice view of the lake, you couldn't get to the shore easily so we did not take out the kayaks.  We did try fishing, but didn't expect anything and didn't catch anything.

Relaxing, reading and taking walks is how we spent our time.  The sun stays out well past midnight.  We have blackout material that velcros on/off easily to cover the main windows and skylights.  We also have blackout curtains in the bedroom, so no problems getting a good night sleep.

Enjoying our "almost sunset" at midnight.  Some folks we talked with at a pull-out showed us a spectacular sunset picture around 2am with crazy red skies taken the night before.  We tried our best to get up at 2am but we didn't get the same colors.  We love that we are taking all these less traveled roads.  There are almost no other cars and people so it's nice when you're at a pull-out or lodge and everyone shares info about their adventure.

Absolutely!