City of Whittier Campground

This campground is pretty bare-bones. It is a gravel lot with relatively flat sites. The views are absolutely gorgeous particularly on the south end of the campground. The campground is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and waterfalls. The $20 a night is paid at the Harbor Master office in town and strictly enforced by police that run through the lot periodically checking mirror tags. There is no close access to town from this site. It’s immediately to the left as you come out of the tunnel at the end of some unused train tracks.

Our experience was not as good as the previous reviewer, it was just okay, mostly due to crowding neighbors and rock quarry noise. The view is hard to beat, for sure.

I think we were expecting more of the town of Whittier as well. We did love the Portage Pass hike down to Portage Lake though, and this was very convenient for that.

Clean pit toilets and a dumpster. Camping was along the perimeter of a large, relatively level gravel parking area located to the left after you come out of the tunnel. It is quite some distance to the payment kiosk in town.

The campground is a large open gravel lot with site numbers on fence posts. Most sites had a fire ring and picnic table in the grass strip surrounding the lot. No water. Pit toilet and dumpster. (If you’re in Alaska, please learn to use bear proof dumpsters. This one was a little tricky to open with a small metal latch at the base of the bar lock you have to flip to raise the bar and open the lid. People kept leaving it open, which could end up attracting a bear and ultimately having the bear put down. I witnessed a grizzly shot by a ranger in Denali State Park because it was getting into the dumpster people left open.)

To pay for the site, you have to use the parking fee kiosk in town (next to the harbor master office). The payment isn’t site specific, so you might want to pay first if you don’t have a tow vehicle or bike to get there.

There is a rock quarry or something nearby that operates at night, so that can cause some loud noise with large trucks driving down the dirt road. I only noticed it 1 of 3 nights.

The scenery is beautiful- mountains, beach, creeks, glaciers. I saw a large black bear walking on the beach. There is a beautiful glacier view hike across the street. Whittier is also a cool little town to visit. 5 stars for the view and location.

Great cell coverage and data.

There are two sites to stay in Whittier, Alaska. The is the best of the two.
Large gravel lot with designated spots. Registration is quick on the app. There are shared tables and fire pits. Pit toilets, and bear proof trash. Noise is a bit of an issue with the train, up until 11pm, but starting early in the morning. Probably better than the other RV site in Whittier though.
Great views!

As you come out of the tunnel, the City of Whittier Campground is on the left right on the water. Pull into your site for beautiful views.

The sites were numbered and had fire pits. There were bathrooms and a dumpster. And there was a beach right next to the campground, but we didn’t check it out.

It’s $20 a night for dry camping. You pay down the road at the harbormaster or one of the self-pay kiosks. And there is cell phone service here!

I can not speak highly enough of this free camping location in Whittier. If you have a means to enjoy the water (boat, canoe, kayak, etc) then you can't go wrong here. Easy to get too (first left as you come out of the tunnel) and only a few short miles out of town itself (which has only one RV park it is looks awful) camp here to explore the tiny fishing town of Whittier.

Be warned, while the cell signal is good, if a cruise ship comes into port all cell signal will go away. Whittier has a population of 200, so the infrastructure of the town is built to that number. The cruise ships have 2000+ and crushes the cell/data towers. So, go enjoy the waters or take a hike while the ship is in port.

The campground itself is just a gravel lot, but you can back your mono-large rig right onto the beach itself. Smaller rigs can go further down the dirt road and get to more secluded areas, still along the shoreline. The airstrip parking lot (no overnight camping allowed) does have vault toilets an trash bins. The only down side is the road leading in had a lot of pot holes which rocked us back and forth. Take them slow and all is fine.

The town is worth exploring, but you have a few outdoor options too. Visit Cove Creek to watch the Salmon run up the stream (reach in an pick up a few), or hike Portage Pass trail for a bigger workout. Drive down Shotgun Cove Trail which ends at a grand waterfall.