Waterfront Park Campground

We had this campground booked for a trip in 2020 that we had to reschedule for 2021 due to Covid. When I rebooked for 2021, the rates had DOUBLED since 2020 from $20 to $40 per night for dry camping. I know these campgrounds had a tough year, but wow! But I went ahead and booked due to the great reviews and some YouTube videos I had seen about the campground, specifically the Iditarod section near the Sea Life Center. This was the last stop of our 2+ week trip of a lifetime to Alaska, and I thought I had saved the best for last. I was so wrong!
The “campground” is an unlevel gravel lot with tons of mud holes (it rains a LOT in Seward, so count on them being full). If it’s full, the sites will be super snug (we have a van beside us, so it wasn’t as much of an issue). There are no picnic tables or fire rings at sites (there’s 2 random tables and I saw one legit fire ring at a middle spot, but otherwise it’s all just areas where folks have made their own). I don’t mind primitive camping, but I certainly don’t want to pay nearly full hookup prices for it!
There are a couple of pros…the view is very nice, and this part of the campground does seem to be more secluded from other campers, but you are sitting right beside the parking lot for the sea life center which stays super busy and has a lot of folks coming in and out throughout the day and evening (it seems to quiet down around 8-9pm). And of course, you’re within walking distance of the sea life center.
The thing that really bothered us is that the campground doesn’t seem to be monitored at all. Throughout our stay, we saw multiple folks come in for various amounts of time that we were sure had not paid for a spot. There was one couple who camped 2 nights in a pickup truck in different spots (the second one being in a non-spot beside of our corner spot, blocking our view). Since there are no bathroom facilities at this campground, we got the pleasure of witnessing them just pee beside their truck. They also left their bag of garbage outside overnight, so the gills were having a big party around 5:30am. Makes for a fantastic experience, right?
We are actually on our last day here now and considering just losing the $40 for tonight and going somewhere else. I’m so bummed that this is how we are ending our trip, but I refuse to let it dampen an otherwise amazing time (with many other great campground experiences).
I would suggest the City of Seward to do some things to justify these crazy rates if they are going to continue to charge this much for dry camping. Otherwise, I would suggest future campers to look elsewhere. The views are great, but spend some time during the day on the waterfront and then camp somewhere with way more to offer for way less money (or FREE).

We arrived here about 10 on a Friday in August and were able to get a beautiful spot on the overlook. We had great views without the foot traffic at the front of our site (public path which runs between the sites and their fire pits). The site are tight and not necessarily well defined (the city repainted them on the Monday) but everyone was friendly so any overlap was ok. The park is a favourite for local Alaskans so it was full by noon on the weekend but not until after 5 during the week when it was more just tourists. It was an easy walk into town for restaurants, breweries, laundry and the Sea Life Center. Hiking at the Exit Glacier/Harding Ice Field and other locations were just a short drive away. It was great to sit outside (we had fire pit but no picnic table, our neighbour had the opposite) and look at the mountains and the glaciers across the bay - we spotted a few otters as well.
Dry camping is $20 but there are electric sites available for $40. The nearby dump station charged $5 and was well used.

We stayed at Waterfront campground in Seward for one week. Located right on the waterfront with stunning views of Resurrection Bay. We even saw otters floating by and a few cruise ships.

RVs are $20/night, and there’s a pay station right in the campground.  NO hookups at this section of the waterfront campgrounds. There is a dump station close by for $5.00 and FREE potable water to fill your rig.

The spots are close to each other, but we didn't have a problem with any of our neighbors. People are coming and going all the time, but it was pretty quiet even though there is a lot going on down on the waterfront during the days. Nights were peaceful and we enjoyed being outdoors walking the trail and walking downtown, Seward.

This campground is within walking distance to restaurants, downtown Seward, The Sea Life Center, Breweries, The Harbor and more! The trail was well kept and goes the entire length of the waterfront about 2 miles or so along Resurrection Bay.

We would definitely stay at The Waterfront Campground again when in Seward Alaska since it is very convenient to the local attractions and the walking trail we used every day walking our dog!

We enjoyed our stay at the waterfront park in Seward. We got to watch otters, sea lions and whales from our back window. The campground is all along the waterfront and fills up quickly for the weekends. The spaces are very tight with no distance at all once everyone's slides are out. I would recommend this area simply for the amazing few and walkability of the whole town.

I’m not a fan of this campground. It is small!!!! Like so small you’re on top of people and can hardly put your awning out. No fire pits of you plug in. Hookups are partial. But you’re at the water and the best pet is you can walk to downtown Seward. He’ll, you can walk anywhere in seward, which is what makes this campsite doable. Showers are good. Always a long line though. I prefer millers landing where the sites are bigger and it feels more remote.
This one has the playground, which is epic!!!

It’s not overall bad and really depends why you’re in Seward.

The town campgrounds operate on a FCFS basis except that they don't require that you occupy your site so it's possible to pay for a spot for two weeks just so that you can spend 3 days over the 4th of July in Seward as the folks in the next site did. It did make it quieter for part of our stay!

Knowing that the town was crazy over the 4th, we arrived Sunday morning, June 30th, an hour before check-out time, hoping to snag a spot during the weekend roll-over. We were amazed at the number of spots that had reserved markers of various types. We were also amazed at the number of people that were just starting to think about breaking camp at noon, the posted departure time. The final amazement was the increased number of W/E sites that used to be dry sites. We ended up getting a site on our second pass through the campground by talking to someone who was starting to break camp. Confirmed they were leaving, got our reciept and folding chair to mark the spot, and then got out of the way for a while. Normally we would opt for a dry site, but were happy to get any site at all. DRY SITES $20, WATER/ELECTRIC SITES $40

With a place to stay, we settled into the small town holiday spirit. Lots of places to walk, lots of murals in town and a number of places to eat within walking distance. I figured the 4th of July might be a bit raucous with the town fireworks display scheduled for 12:05 a.m., but after watching the display on the beach, everyone quickly quieted down until it was time to head to town for the races and parade.

Seward for the 4th was nearly last minute idea, but we're glad we did it. Yes, the campground was a zoo but it was well worth it for the chance to enjoy the celebrations. We're glad we came back.

The city has several connected waterfront parks here. We ended up in the Iditarod section. This is the very last section next to the Sea Life Center. Only 10 spots in this section and it was perfect.

Dump and water right up the road $5.

Old downtown is minutes away walking. The harbor are is an easy 1.2 mile walk/ bike ride.

Yep it’s gravel. Yep your going to be very close to your neighbor. Yep it’s right on the water and the heart of everything.

In Seward, we lucked out at an excellent spot right on Resurrection Bay and a short walk to the little downtown area.

There are campgrounds all along the bay, but Iditarod Campground seems to be the smallest. As you roll along the water, it’s the last campground before you get to the Alaska SeaLife Center.

There are no hook-ups, but the views were amazing! RVs are $20/night, and there’s a pay station right in the campground by the dumpster.

Every day we saw sea otters float by the front of our RV. That doesn’t happen everywhere!

One pro-tip for visiting Seward, check the cruise ship schedule before you go. We’ve heard the cell towers can become overloaded when a cruise ship is in port. So we planned our visit to avoid docked ships. A boat went out right after we arrived and another came in just before we left town.