Riley Creek Campground
Denali National Park & Preserve
Write a Review Mile 0.25, Denali Park Rd. Healy, AK 99743 902-535-2032 Reservations: 866-761-6629 Official WebsiteGPS: 63.7306, -148.8937
Overview of Riley Creek Campground
Reservations are strongly recommended during the summer.
RVs and trailers up to 40 ft. long may camp at Riley Creek. Each large site can accommodate up to two vehicles (or one long trailer and a vehicle).
The yearly goal is turn on the dump / fill station and water spigots in Riley on May 15 each year. However, weather can delay that date.
Last Price Paid: $21
Reported by carl2591 on 6/28/2023
Longest RV Reported: 33 feet (Class A)
Reported by Kandt on 7/30/2019
Number of Sites 142
Pad Type gravel
Reservations yes
Elevation 1,607 ft / 489 m
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Riley Creek Campground
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 902-535-2032
Turnbull's Travels asked on 6/20/2022
Does anyone know if the water fill has a threaded connection for hoses?
Reviews of Riley Creek Campground 11 people have reviewed this location.
“Great campground just inside the Denali NP. nice A site was wide and deep.. ”
Reviewed 6/28/2023
Nightly rate: | $21 |
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Days stayed: | 4 |
Site Number: | A14 |
RV Length: | 30' (Travel Trailer) |
nightly rate is with lifetime pass rate. yours may be higher. So here's the thing.. you do reserve a spot but you are not assigned a spot.. when you reserve you are asked 30 ft or under , 30 ft and over. This is you trailer/ MH length. When you check in you are given a paper and told to either look at A sites (over 30ft) or B f... more
nightly rate is with lifetime pass rate. yours may be higher.
So here's the thing.. you do reserve a spot but you are not assigned a spot.. when you reserve you are asked 30 ft or under , 30 ft and over. This is you trailer/ MH length. When you check in you are given a paper and told to either look at A sites (over 30ft) or B for under.. most of the B sites I have seen in Bear loop are for like 25 and under and some less so make sure you are asking for the correct site.
Many of the sites seem to be levelish that we saw but did not go to other loops. (to much to do)
This was good site for solar.. A-14 Bear loop, we had good sun and was charge by 10am.. plus with the long days you get charging till like 10 local time. :) the front is sorta west and side get a lot of southern exposure and not a lot of tall trees.. (good for star link as well but not sure)
Someone posted in 2019 it was easy to get next day reservations.. maybe for one day but we had CAMPGROUND FULL signs out every day 26-30 june 2023. I would not bet on getting more than a night was we check at bus depot/ camping reservation center for some more days later in the week and there was no spaces till late july was told, for A SITES..
Dump station, 3 lanes on site with fresh water.
Our site was very wide and deep with large picnic table and tall fire pit.. Wood was 11 a bundle.. yes $11.. did not see many fires.. 30 ft airstream with pickup and room for both end to end.
Bear loop is closest to the check inn at Mercantile store, and the nice showers and flush toilets. About the showers.. they are $4.50 for 10 mins.. (.25 cent a min) you get a token in store to use. they are low flow showers. standard single handle lever deals. store sells Ice Cream, beer , wine and some other items.
You may hear some road noise but not much, you may hear the train whistle but only a couple times a day and not at night. you may hear dogs barking and that annoying as heck but there are inconsiderate pet owner EVERYWHERE.
The nightly ranger talks are nice.. take a picture of the schedule at the welcome center,,watch the movies, walk around etc. lots to see there.
We did the Wilderness tour on bus to MM 42.. Saw moose, caribou and a bearaboo.. long story from bus trip.. LOL..
excellent ATT and suppose Verizon.. no T-mobile in state of alaska anywhere.. your roam on att and only get like 5 g on t-mobile.
try to get at least 6 days as there is a lot to do and it's a hugh park to explore..
:)
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Awesome Campground inside Forest ”
Reviewed 6/23/2023
Nightly rate: | $33 |
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Days stayed: | 2 |
Site Number: | 24 |
We stayed on Site B24 at the Bear Loop. I could recommend this site to everyone who is looking for a quiet place. It’s only a little walk to the Store and Showers.
camper-781911 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great experience!”
Reviewed 7/15/2022
Nightly rate: | $31 |
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Days stayed: | 3 |
We really enjoyed our time here. Check in and check out time are both at 11:00. We found a great B site after arriving at 11:00. I think it’s the best type of reservation system there is. You “reserve” a spot, but you get to pick the spot, it’s like a guarantee you will get a spot at a FCFS campground. There were both flush and pit... more
We really enjoyed our time here. Check in and check out time are both at 11:00. We found a great B site after arriving at 11:00. I think it’s the best type of reservation system there is. You “reserve” a spot, but you get to pick the spot, it’s like a guarantee you will get a spot at a FCFS campground.
There were both flush and pit toilets. Sites were clean and well spaced for a NP campground. Sites were fairly level. They are very serious about you keeping your campsite bear proof, camp hosts make the rounds. Limited generator hours. You will hear the highway, the train and flight seeing aircraft during the day. Campers were quiet, everyone was out and about enjoying the park.
Lots of trails, free shuttle bus system to the visitor’s center and out to MP 15 with stops in between to access a few hiking trails. We attended the NP dog kennel show, hiked, biked and visited the village shops outside the park. Lots of rental RV’s!
Oh, and we saw Denali!
FourFeetFourPaws would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great Experience Inside the Park”
Reviewed 7/2/2021
Days stayed: | 1 |
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No hookups, but a fantastic campground. Clean, and quiet (even the week preceding July 4th weekend). We would have stayed here longer had we not wanted hookups.
JCinTN would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Standard Natl Park Campground”
Reviewed 8/17/2020
Nightly rate: | $27 |
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Days stayed: | 1 |
Site Number: | 24B |
RV Length: | 27' (Travel Trailer) |
Arrived a day before our backcountry trip and needed place to overnight. Good environment with kids playing and local critters (don't feed the red squirrels). Entrance trail network is top notch for an evening walk. Clean outhouses and sites. Some tables are strangely warped.
HagePhoto would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“As empty as I have ever seen it - due to Covid and lack of out of state tourists”
Reviewed 7/20/2020
Nightly rate: | $13 |
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Days stayed: | 3 |
RV Length: | 23' (Travel Trailer) |
Very nice campground with many trees separating campsites. Many empty sites, although I believe they are limiting the number of campers. The Mercantile store was open, but the building containing the restrooms, showers and laundry was closed. The restrooms in the campground itself were open. This is my favorite spot to go in Alaska. Ma... more
Very nice campground with many trees separating campsites. Many empty sites, although I believe they are limiting the number of campers. The Mercantile store was open, but the building containing the restrooms, showers and laundry was closed. The restrooms in the campground itself were open. This is my favorite spot to go in Alaska. Masks and social distancing were the rule. Good AT&T cell coverage at the campground and facilities near the entrance, but you loose it when you go into the park.
Gary would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great site, great location”
Reviewed 7/30/2019
Nightly rate: | $30 |
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Days stayed: | 2 |
Site Number: | A16 Bear Loop |
RV Length: | 33' (Class A) |
We moved to Riley from Teklanika so were there early in the day and got a great spot. It was on the outside and basically a double site. We were able to park our toad beside the RV with plenty of room to spare. As noted in previous reviews, the A,B, and C designations have quite a bit of variation between them. There were some A si... more
We moved to Riley from Teklanika so were there early in the day and got a great spot. It was on the outside and basically a double site. We were able to park our toad beside the RV with plenty of room to spare. As noted in previous reviews, the A,B, and C designations have quite a bit of variation between them. There were some A sites that we could not have used. Level, partially shaded - we had a good angle for our solar panels and only needed to run the generator twice for specific functions.
The campground is very close to the entrance so it was easy to run out for an errand but also convenient for the bus and visitor center area. Although i didn’t use it, the laundry area was clean and only 2/each for wash and dry.
We attended a Ranger Talk which was great and right in the campground.
We did have cell service while at Riley.
Kandt would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Hit the Jackpot”
Reviewed 7/25/2019
Nightly rate: | $12 |
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Days stayed: | 4 |
Site Number: | 123 |
RV Length: | 19' (Fifth Wheel) |
Riley Creek is a large campground with three separate loops, operated under contract. Reservations are essential during the middle of the summer season. All four days we were here the check-in desk at Riley Creek Mercantile had signs posted about no RV/Trailer sites available. Reservations are for a class of site, not a specific site. ... more
Riley Creek is a large campground with three separate loops, operated under contract. Reservations are essential during the middle of the summer season. All four days we were here the check-in desk at Riley Creek Mercantile had signs posted about no RV/Trailer sites available. Reservations are for a class of site, not a specific site. In theory, A class sites are for over 31', B class are for under 31', and C class are for walk-in tent sites. Prices vary - in 2019 the A class sites were $40, the B class were $24 with both available for 50% discount for individuals holding the Senior (or some other) pass.
Sites are NOT created equal. The classification seems a bit loose with a few B sites being more expansive than some A sites. Early arrival will work in your favorite, especially if you're sporting a larger rig and need an A site that is truely an A site. We picked up our paperwork at the Merchantile about 10 a.m. and were chatting with another molded fiberglass trailer owner who was leaving and told us to check out the site they'd had. Large (likely should have/could have been classified an A site) on a corner with NO immediately adjacent neighbors.
In my opinion, some of the best sites are on the south side of the Caribou (third) loop since they don't have any development beyond their sites. Sites on the center of the loops, OR sites backing to adjacent loops will have close neighbors. Tents seem to especially have a problem staying anywhere close to their site. When we arrived there were in excess of 20 tents scattered through the center of the Caribou loop but none on the outer edges.
The area is known for rainy weather. Even 18 hours after it quit raining, the Wolf (second) loop had the loop road flooded in a couple spots and some sites still had LARGE mud puddles. In spite of reservations, late arrivals may be the lucky recipient of such a site.
Noise control has been amazingly good. Sometimes a crowd of kids will be heard, and you will hear both the train and the aircraft which are nearby, but overall, it has been quieter than many NP campgrounds.
I was lucky to occasionally have 1 bar of "E" on my Google Fi phone, but we have surprisingly fast AT&T on our Mobley device, and the Verzion phone had adequate to good service.
While we haven't seen any animals in the campground, there was a pile of recent bear scat within 30 feet of the picnic table. You are expected to (and will want to) keep a clean camp!
John & BJ would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Lots of beautiful trees and nice fire pit and picnic table but spaces are tight”
Reviewed 6/4/2019
Nightly rate: | $15 |
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Days stayed: | 3 |
Site Number: | A105 |
Love this beautiful park! Lots of trees and clear forest floor covered in pine needles and moss. Sites are a bit short and tight but nicely spaced. Plenty of room to swing our 5th wheel in and around all 3 loops. Easy to get reservations for next day arrival in early June. No hookups. Nice wide 3 spaces dump area with potable water. Ve... more
Love this beautiful park! Lots of trees and clear forest floor covered in pine needles and moss. Sites are a bit short and tight but nicely spaced. Plenty of room to swing our 5th wheel in and around all 3 loops. Easy to get reservations for next day arrival in early June. No hookups. Nice wide 3 spaces dump area with potable water. Very nice staff!
Carol PR would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“I mean…it’s Denali. What else is there to say?”
Reviewed 8/7/2018
Days stayed: | 3 |
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The campground is nice, the guests are quite and respectful. There’s a general store with showers and laundry and it even sells beer. There are bike paths from the campground to the nearby visitor attractions.
Great stay.
kjtaylor473 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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Denali National Park - Riley Campground - Alaska - Those Young Guys
Denali National Park – Riley Campground – Alaska Posted By lisa, On July 1, 2010 What can you say about this, it’s Denali! Beautiful scenery and wildlife. The campground is one of many bu...
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Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
Recreation
- recreation trail
Site Amenities
- fire ring
- picnic table
Facilities
- dump station
- general store
- recycle
- restrooms: flush
- showers
- trash
- water available
Pets
- pets
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