Kelly Lake Campground

This is a small lake with a gravel area. There are a couple of picnic tables, and room for a few campers. The surrounding area was heavily affected by the 2019 wildfire, but is still beautiful and peaceful. We are getting both ATT and Verizon, and our friends are getting connection to Starlink. Just a few miles into Stirling and Soldotna. We are 40' DP. No motorized boats allowed.

It's good to be back to the tucked away, free campsites at Kelly (and Peterson) Lake. We staged Sunday at Trail River with the hope of snagging the primo lakefront site on Monday morning. Dropped off our two ardent fishermen at the Russian River zoo (aka campground) and continued on in hopes of peace and quiet. Found the place deserted except for the vehicle of someone renting the cabin .5 mile down the trail. We tucked our two rigs in tight to not block any of the other spaces. Thought we might be here for as many as 14 days but the Russian River fish return was much higher than expected and the limit has doubled and then tripled. The end result is that the fisher people now have all the reds they need for the year so we may leave earlier than anticipated.

Sometimes we've had clear skies, mountains reflecting on the water, and the resident loons calling each other, but other times we've been enveloped in smoke from the Swan Lake fire. We've had quiet neighbors each night, but generally have the place to ourselves during the day.

Unlike last time I was at Peterson Lake, I now have a Google Fi phone (zero bars of 3G on T-Mobile tower) and 3 bars of very slow AT&T on my Mobley. It's taken hours to prep a blog post and do three campground reviews, so without an amplifier expect to enjoy the silence rather than working all day!

The sign at the highway (MP68.8) is miniscule which cuts way down on the number of people that know about the place. The gravel road in has some potholes, but isn't bad. Please don't tell anyone else about this place!

There’s room for 4 or 5 campers there depending on the size of your equipment. We were nice and squished together our motorhomes to take up as little space as possible. There is a vault toilet.

Super quiet and away from the road. There are three other campgrounds in the area, but this one is the best of the three.

While it exists, the cell phone signal here is minimal, and data speeds are slow. Trying to use the internet for anything but text will be frustrating.

Another great find thanks to Campendium. Kelly Lake ticked all boxes for a quiet weekend away from the dip-netting crowds. Water-front camping for kayaking, a trailhead to explore, and stunning views all hours of the day. People would pay millions to live like this, and we got it for free!

If you are trying to decide which of the 3 free campgrounds to stay at in this area, my recommendation is as follows; Kelly Lake, Peterson Lake, and then Watson Lake. Kelly is the furthest from the highway so zero road-noise and less people. Peterson is the next closest so more people were there but still no road noise. Watson was full (lots of kids) and within a few hundred feet of the highway so constant road noise (but still nice).

Four level sites scattered around the perimeter of a large gravel lot on the shores of Kelly Lake. I stopped by here to see if the prices had changed since I stayed at Peterson Lake two years ago, but it's still free. There is a pitcher pump for drinking water, and a tandem, vented outhouse off to one side. No power or dump, but several of the sites are solar friendly.First come, First served with a 14 day limit.

This campground sits on the shore of Kelly Lake and has a trail from the campground to a cabin and on to intersect the Seven Lakes trail. Canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddle boards would be right at home! The road to the campground from the highway is gravel but much of it was amazingly smooth. Don't get too complacent - there are a few serious chuckholes.