Camp at Teklanika River Campground

Teklanika campground offers a place to camp where you really get to experience Denali with very few people around. The campground sits right along the Teklanika River with incredible hikes and views of the park. Vehicles are not allowed past Mile 15 at the Savage River point, but if you are camping at Teklanika, you may bring your own vehicle all the way to the campground which sits at Mile 29 (Everything in Alaska is marked by the mile so this is how you refer to where all points of interest are). If you bring your personal vehicle to the campground, you must stay a minimum of three nights and your car cannot leave the campsite until your stay ends (you must also get a road permit with your camp permit to drive to Teklanika).  If you do not have a car, or do not wish to bring your car to the campground, you may use the camper bus service offered by the park. There is no minimum stay if you do not bring a personal vehicle. 

You can tent camp or RV camp here. Just know if you have an RV, there are no hookups. If you are tent camping, you will have to deal with RVs running their generators part of the time (it is still totally worth it in my opinion as overall it was really peaceful). There are pit toilets here and absolutely no stores or places to purchase anything. Before traveling to the campground, make sure you have everything you need for your stay. Firewood and last minute supplies can be purchased at the Riley Creek Mercantile at the Riley Creek Campground. We had to stop here for a few things and also took the opportunity to grab a shower on the way in and way back out we got showers and did laudry here at this campground since there are no shower or laundry facilities  available at Teklanika campground. However, the solitude and beauty more than make up for not having any amenities. 

There are plenty of trails right from the campground that you can walk to from your campsite. Please always have bear spray readily available with more than just one of them for your group - and know how to use it. This is really important for keeping both you and the grizzlies safe in the park. While we didn't see any grizzlies on our hikes here, we had fresh tracks all along the river near our campsite. They are definitely around so be very careful to not leave food or scented items out at any time. We were able to see foxes, ptarmigans, snow-shoe hare and even a lynx right in this area. 

You will want to become familiar with the bus system in the park and book at least a day on it as it is definitely something worth doing. I suggest you get a Tek pass for the park and learn as much as you can about the different options. This was a fairly confusing step initially, but start at the link above and do your research. We purchased our bus tickets as soon as we booked the campsite. There are different options, but we enjoyed just having access to the shuttle bus that took us further into the park and closer to views of Denali (the mountain). We were able to see grizzlies, wolves and caribou from the shuttle bus (the driver will stop for them for photos but not for very long) and you can also get off wherever you want and walk along the road or hike and catch another bus later. 

I would also recommend a stay at Riley campground on your way in or out to Teklanika as it is a fun campground and you can drive those few miles into the park for some incredible views and great hikes where we saw Dall sheep and lots of moose too. And again, showers and laundry are always nice after 3-4 days in the interior of the park. 

For information on reserving the campground, please go here.