Discovery Campground
Captain Cook State Recreation Area
Write a Review 39 Kenai-Spur Hwy. Kenai, AK 99611 907-522-8368 907-748-2553 Official WebsiteGPS: 60.8054, -151.0152
Overview of Discovery Campground
Last Price Paid: $20
Reported by Wendy on 8/14/2023
Longest RV Reported: 31 feet (Fifth Wheel)
Reported by Ozzie on 8/22/2018
Number of Sites 53
Pad Type gravel
Open Seasonally Yes
Elevation 65 ft / 19 m
Max Stay 14
Tent Camping Yes







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Reviews of Discovery Campground 13 people have reviewed this location.
“Great stay!”
Reviewed 8/14/2023
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 6 |
Site Number: | 15 |
Hidden gem, for sure. Beautiful views of Cook's Inlet from several of the sites. All sites wooded and private. Walk the beach at low tide and hunt for sea glass and agates. Fish the inlet, Swanson River, or Stormy Lake for salmon, trout, and dolly varden. Quiet day and night with only about half the sites occupied - all fcfs. It is ab... more
Hidden gem, for sure. Beautiful views of Cook's Inlet from several of the sites. All sites wooded and private. Walk the beach at low tide and hunt for sea glass and agates. Fish the inlet, Swanson River, or Stormy Lake for salmon, trout, and dolly varden. Quiet day and night with only about half the sites occupied - all fcfs. It is about 30 minutes from Soldotna but good road until you get to Capt Cook Park - then there are potholes but camping here is worth it.
Wendy would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great stay!”
Reviewed 8/14/2023
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 6 |
Site Number: | 15 |
Hidden gem, for sure. Beautiful views of Cook's Inlet from several of the sites. All sites wooded and private. Walk the beach at low tide and hunt for sea glass and agates. Fish the inlet, Swanson River, or Stormy Lake for salmon, trout, and dolly varden. Quiet day and night with only about half the sites occupied - all fcfs. It is ab... more
Hidden gem, for sure. Beautiful views of Cook's Inlet from several of the sites. All sites wooded and private. Walk the beach at low tide and hunt for sea glass and agates. Fish the inlet, Swanson River, or Stormy Lake for salmon, trout, and dolly varden. Quiet day and night with only about half the sites occupied - all fcfs. It is about 30 minutes from Soldotna but good road until you get to Capt Cook Park - then there are potholes but camping here is worth it.
Wendy would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Terrible Potholes ”
Reviewed 7/18/2023
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 1 |
Site Number: | 15 |
The gravel road entering and the campground road are just pathetic. The potholes should embarrass the State Park. One of the outhouse doors was propped open and swarming with mosquitoes. Yes, the views are beautiful. I can’t believe that the campsites are so not level.
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“What A Besotted Place To Camp. ”
Reviewed 7/15/2022
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 3 |
Site Number: | 9 |
Arrived about 1 pm and added one more to the other 5 camp sites being occupied. The large spaces and big trees make this quite relaxing.
Cook Inlet is right their!! Wow. We are staying 3 days, and wish it could be a week.
camper-717528 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Quite campground ”
Reviewed 6/1/2022
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 1 |
Site Number: | 18 |
RV Length: | 22' (Travel Trailer) |
Stayed here on a Tuesday night and the campground was mostly empty. The gnats were the worst in the morning but other than that this was a great place to stay. We took our dog on the interpretive trail thats near the entrance
kalyn29956 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Forested camp site with views of Cook Inlet”
Reviewed 6/14/2020
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 3 |
Site Number: | 5 |
RV Length: | 27' (Travel Trailer) |
Camped here three days to explore Captain Cook State Rec Area and the nearby beaches (yes, beaches in SCAK). Enjoyable small campground with updated facilities (outhouses). Spectacular views of Cook Inlet and volcanoes. Easy access to good beaches for walking and hanging out on. Rocks to climb if you're into that. Kinda buggy (prese... more
Camped here three days to explore Captain Cook State Rec Area and the nearby beaches (yes, beaches in SCAK). Enjoyable small campground with updated facilities (outhouses). Spectacular views of Cook Inlet and volcanoes. Easy access to good beaches for walking and hanging out on. Rocks to climb if you're into that.
Kinda buggy (present but not terrible) in mid-June. Our site had bit more dog poop than would have liked. Generator noise from the trailers and mohos (we were tent camping).
HagePhoto would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Good overall”
Reviewed 6/8/2020
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 4 |
Site Number: | 15 |
The park is at the end of the Kenai Spur road, about 39 miles from Soldotna, Alaska. There are 53 sites and some will accommodate large motorhomes and some are small and are better for tent camping or smaller units. There is a water pump and a dumpster for trash. I had 2 and 3 bars on my AT@T phone. All campsites had picnic table... more
The park is at the end of the Kenai Spur road, about 39 miles from Soldotna, Alaska. There are 53 sites and some will accommodate large motorhomes and some are small and are better for tent camping or smaller units. There is a water pump and a dumpster for trash. I had 2 and 3 bars on my AT@T phone.
All campsites had picnic tables and fire pits. There is no host this year (2020) due to the pandemic. We stayed from Thursday to Monday and the park was never full. On Friday and Saturday it was about 2/3 full.
The devil's club is taking over so watch out if you get off the trails. There are not a lot of trails but you have access to the beach and can go miles north or walk about 20 minutes south to the mouth of Swanson River. At high tide there is very little beach (depends on tide as some are very high) so walking is more difficult.
Bring bug repellent as this is Alaska and wooded area and they will eat you alive!
Overall, not a bad place and we enjoyed our stay.
Jim would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great but could be better”
Reviewed 5/27/2020
Nightly rate: | $20 |
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Days stayed: | 4 |
Site Number: | 3 |
We have camped there many times but this are starting to fall apart. The camp ground is starting to be overrun by devils club. There also wasn't a host. For the amount we payed I assumed there would be someone there to keep an eye out.
As for the location it was great. Really close to the beach. Great small walks for kids.
TheJY would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Very woodsy”
Reviewed 8/6/2019
Nightly rate: | $15 |
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Days stayed: | 2 |
Site Number: | 7 |
Site 7 is very nice. A path takes you right to an overlook cliff. However, everything is wildly overgrown ( welcome to Alaska ). No dump and no water other than a hand pump. Nice day use area on the bluff with views. Sites are tough to get leveled and minimal sun for solar. The beach and tides were amazing. Supposed to ... more
Site 7 is very nice. A path takes you right to an overlook cliff. However, everything is wildly overgrown ( welcome to Alaska ).
No dump and no water other than a hand pump.
Nice day use area on the bluff with views.
Sites are tough to get leveled and minimal sun for solar.
The beach and tides were amazing. Supposed to be a good agate beach. We’re still looking.
Verizon and ATT both worked ok.
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Liked it so much we stayed for an extra three days.”
Reviewed 8/22/2018
Nightly rate: | $15 |
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Days stayed: | 6 |
Site Number: | 9 |
RV Length: | 31' (Fifth Wheel) |
Good road, something of oddity in Alaska. The last five miles of the thirty mile drive past Kenai gets a little rough so slow down. No host on site the first day, but the family showed up the next. Great host with a very nice family. Had a unbelievable view of the Cook Inlet with Mt Spur on the other side. We had a back in site, the mo... more
Good road, something of oddity in Alaska. The last five miles of the thirty mile drive past Kenai gets a little rough so slow down. No host on site the first day, but the family showed up the next. Great host with a very nice family. Had a unbelievable view of the Cook Inlet with Mt Spur on the other side. We had a back in site, the most popular site, that was just a twenty yard walk to the cliff edge overlook. They have a small deck and benches with a trail coming from both directions. One takes you down a steep hill to the beach. Its steep but slow moving gets you down without getting hurt or take a short drive around to the day use parking. All day use areas in Alaska are five dollars which will get you into as many as you can visit in one day.
Cook Inlet has the second highest tides and the fastest tides in the world. While there all four of the active volcanoes came out from the clouds. Mt Spur, Mt Redoubt, Mt lliamna and Mt Augustine. We were only staying for the week end but liked it so much that we spent six days. Sad to leave.
Some bigger sites. Seen all sizes come though. Gravel, which was a little off level. Still it was the nicest campground of our entire trip.
Ozzie would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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Mali Mish – Captain Cook State Recreation Area, Alaska.
Last night we spent the night at a Walmart, tired from trying to decide where to go. In the morning, with fresh coffee in hand, expensive (Walmart) groceries in the Airstream and even more overpriced c...
Captain Cook State Rec Area | Van-Tramp.com
Instead of staying in the hustle and bustle of the town of Kenai the past week, we spent it at Captain Cook State Recreation Area where we hung out on the beach, worked, saw our first sunset in mont...
Just Finding Our Way: From One End of the Road to Another – 6/15/2013
The grandson and I paddled the perimeter of Rainbow Lake Saturday morning. Saw a few minnows jumping, but nothing of significance. We decided to shift from the end of the Swanson River Road to t...
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Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
Recreation
- fishing
- picnic area
- recreation trail
- water access
Site Amenities
- big rig
- fire ring
- picnic table
Facilities
- restrooms: vault
- trash
- water available
Pets
- pets
Nearby
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